independent variable

[ in-di-pen-duhnt vair-ee-uh-buhl ]

noun

Mathematics. a variable in a functional relation whose value determines the value or values of other variables, as x in the relation y = 3x2.: Compare dependent variable (def. 1).
Statistics. (in an experiment) a variable that is intentionally changed to observe its effect on the dependent variable.: Compare dependent variable (def. 2), control variable (def. 1).

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independent variable vs. dependent variable

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Origin of independent variable

First recorded in 1850–55

Words Nearby independent variable

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use independent variable in a sentence

How long the food lays on the floor is the independent variable.
Scientists Say: Experiment | Maria Temming | December 6, 2021 | Science News For Students
The thing that the person manipulates is the independent variable.
Scientists Say: Experiment | Maria Temming | December 6, 2021 | Science News For Students
In an idealized scenario where the only independent variable is time, the second law is effectively an “ordinary differential equation,” which one can solve to calculate the position or velocity of the object at any moment in time.
Latest Neural Nets Solve World’s Hardest Equations Faster Than Ever Before | Anil Ananthaswamy | April 19, 2021 | Quanta Magazine
We took the independent variables and measured it against the fatalities.
Cuomo’s Nursing Home Scandal Raises Questions for One of His Senior Aides | by Joe Sexton | March 10, 2021 | ProPublica
Pains and pleasures give us what mathematicians call the 'independent variable.'
The English Utilitarians, Volume I. | Leslie Stephen

Let x be the independent variable, y the correlative variable which depends upon it.
The philosophy of mathematics | Auguste Comte
In other words, mind cannot exist as an "independent variable" in the world; it must always accompany a human brain.
The Problems of Psychical Research | Hereward Carrington
An ordinary differential equation involves only one independent variable, a partial differential equation involves more than one.
The New Gresham Encyclopedia | Various

British Dictionary definitions for independent variable

independent variable

noun

Also called: argument a variable in a mathematical equation or statement whose value determines that of the dependent variable: in y = f(x), x is the independent variable
Also called: predictor statistics the variable which an experimenter deliberately manipulates in order to observe its relationship with some other quantity, or which defines the distinct conditions in an experiment: See also experimental condition

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Scientific definitions for independent variable

independent variable

[ ĭn′dĭ-pĕn′dənt ]

In mathematics, a variable whose value determines the value of other variables. For example, in the formula for the area of a circle, A = πr2, r is the independent variable, as its value determines the value of the area (A). Compare dependent variable.

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