mathematics question here..please help?

[Darwin]

in my assignment sheet i got a question i can't answer...what is independent? i know what the definition is but i don't know what the definition of it in maths...is it "it doesn't depend on the other variable"? please help....i'm getting confused!!

[nelletap]

Some things vary in a pattern that cannot be influenced (for example, time just ticks on; it's a variable as we know if we wait the time will have changed - but we cannot make it chage (unless we are superman making the world go backwards. the growth of a plant. measured by it's height, changes (is a variable) but depends on time and factors such as heat, moisture. It is a dependent varible. By convention we say x is independent and y depends on x.

In probablity, we talk about independent events - teh occurrence of one does not make the other more or less likely.

[spazmkitty]

Generally when there are two variables, the independent does not depend on the other (dependent) variable. On a graph, the independent is usually the X axis.