Video Transcript
A solar panel manufacturer plans to
carry out an experiment to investigate how two different transparent protective
coatings deposited on solar panels affect their efficiency. The first part of the question
asks, which of the following is the treatment variable in this experiment? Choices are A) transparent
protective coating, B) protective coating thickness, C) weather conditions, D) solar
panel efficiency, and E) sun exposure. The second part of the question
asks, which of the following is the response variable in this experiment? The options being A) solar panel
efficiency, B) protective coating thickness, C) weather conditions, D) transparent
protective coating, and E) sun exposure.
So if we look to answer the first
part of the question first, in the first part, we’re asked to decide which is the
treatment variable. But what is the treatment
variable? Well, the treatment variable can
also be known as the independent variable. And, therefore, it’s the variable
whose variation does not depend on that of another. So what it means is it’s the
variable that the experimenter or the investigator is going to be changing.
So if we take a look at our study
or our experiment, we can see that the transparent protective coatings are going to
be the independent variables because these do not vary with anything else changing
them. They’re varied because the
investigator changes them because there are two different types. And he wants to see how these will
affect another variable. So therefore in answer to the
question, which of the following is the treatment variable in this experiment, the
correct answer is answer A, the transparent protective coating.
So now, we’re gonna move on to the
second part of the question. In the second part, we’re asked,
which of the following is the response variable in this experiment? So in order to answer this second
part of the question, we need to know what the response variable is. Well, a response variable is
another name for the dependent variable. So this means that this variable is
dependent on something else. So it’s gonna be dependent on our
independent variable. So we can say that when we change
our independent variable, this variable will change as well.
Well, if we take a look at our
scenario again, we can see that our independent variable was the transparent
protective coatings. And we’re looking at two different
types. But what we want to see is how
these will affect the solar panel efficiency. So when we change the two different
types of transparent protective coatings, will it affect the efficiency of the solar
panels?
So, therefore, the solar panel
efficiency is going to be our response variable or dependent variable. And this is because the efficiency
of the solar panels will depend on the type of protective coating that’s been
used. So therefore in answer to the
question, which of the following is a response variable in this experiment, the
correct answer is A, the solar panel efficiency.
