What Is A Control In A Science Experiment
Camila Farah
Controlled experiment a controlled experiment is simply an experiment in which all factors are held constant except for one.
A control setup in a scientific experiment is separate from the main experiment and is a setup in which the independent variable under investigation cannot affect the results. The function of an experimental control is to hold constant the variables that an experimenter isn t interested in measuring. All variables are identical between the two groups except for the factor being tested. A common type of controlled experiment compares a control group against an experimental group.
This isolates the effect of the independent variable and helps eliminate alternative explanations of the investigation results. By definition the control in a science experiment is a sample that remains the same throughout the experiment. In an experiment a control is used to establish a baseline to compare the results of the main experiment to. This helps scientists ensure that there have been no deviations in the environment of the experiment that could end up influencing the outcome of the experiment besides the variable they are investigating.
A scientific control is an experiment or observation designed to minimize the effects of variables other than the independent variable. Having a control group rules out any environmental variables such as temperature and humidity from affecting the conclusion of the experiment. Controls are a vital part of a science experiment. This increases the reliability of the results often through a comparison between control measurements and the other measurements.
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You can have as many controls as necessary to achieve results. Control experiment is a parallel simultaneous experiment in which you do not change any thing in order to show that changes in your independent variable are not caused by an unknown phenomena but they are a response to the changes in the independent variable.Source : pinterest.com