Agroup of scientists are studying the effects of different fertilizers on the growth of pea plants. they began their study with 10 pea plants. they gave each plant a different type of fertilizer and tracked their growth over a period of 2 months. what’s the independent variable in this experiment? a. the plants b. the amount of fertilizer c. the growth of the plants d. the type of fertilizer

The answer is D. The type of fertilizer.

An independent variable is variable that is not affected in the experiment. It is what experimenter controls. On the other side, a dependent variable is called dependent because it depends on the independent variables. It is what is affected during the experiment.
In this case, the growth of pea plants depends on different types of fertilizer. So, the growth of pea plants is the dependent variable. Since different types of fertilizer affect the growth of pea plants, they are the independent variable.