CAU Section 1 Key Words Flashcards
What is the dependent variable?
The change you measure in an investigation ( it may depend on what you have changed).
What are control variables?
Changes that are kept the same to ensure they do not influence the outcome (a fair test is conducted).
What does accuracy mean?
The value you measure is very close to the true value. There is very little or no error in the measurement. Like hitting the bull’s eye in darts!
What does it mean if an investigation is repeatable?
The results collected again and again are very similar, or show the same trend again and again when tests are repeated by the same person or group.
What does reproducible mean?
Similar results or the same trend is obtained by another person or group conducting the same investigation as you.
What is resolution?
This is the smallest measurable change the measuring device can show. E.g. 1mm on a ruler, 0.1 degree C using a digital thermometer, 0.01 second using a stop watch.
What is precision?
This is an indicator of how close your measured values for one test are together. If you repeat a measurement three times the difference between the 3 values will be your precision. The smaller the difference the more precise your measurements have been.
What is an interval?
This is the difference between each value of independent variable. The difference between the minimum value and maximum is the range. An interval is suitable if there is enough results to observe an overall trend in the data collected.
What is the independent variable?
The variable you change in an investigation.
