Detailed
Answers to Additional Practice:
Variables, Constants, and Their Relationships
- An ice cream shop sells a single scoop
cone for $2.00. If you wish to have more than a single scoop
cone, additional scoops can be added at the cost of $1.00 each.
The relationship between the variables is given by the equation:
p
= 1.00s + 2.00
In this case the total price (p)
of a cone is dependent upon the number of additional scoops you
select (s). Therefore:
- the total price of a cone is the dependent
variable.
- You must select the number of scoops
to put on the cone, therefore it is the independent variable.
- A warehouse packs 28 boxes of cereal
in a carton. The number of boxes of cereal that get packed is
given by the relationship:
y
= 28x
In this question the number of cartons
(x) used determines the number of boxes (y) of
cereal packed. Therefore:
- the number of boxes of cereal packed
is the dependent variable and
- the number of cartons is the independent
variable.
If you got any of these wrong and still do not understand why,
read through the definitions given in the unit again. When you
are comfortable with the definitions of dependent variable and
independent variable, move on to the next unit.