Here's a detailed step-by-step solution to the given question based on the numerical results provided:
#### Question Analysis:
Patrick's experiment aims to determine if fish that eat microwaved food can swim through a maze faster compared to fish that eat regular food.
1. Hypothesis:
Patrick's hypothesis is: "Fish exposed to microwaved food will be able to swim through the maze faster."
2. Control Group:
The control group consists of fish that received regular food. These fish's maze times are recorded as:
[tex]\[100, 145, 130, 120, 200, 125, 100, 204, 134\][/tex]
3. Independent Variable:
The independent variable in the experiment is the "Type of food," which can be either microwaved food or regular food.
4. Dependent Variable:
The dependent variable is the "Time taken to swim through the maze." This is the outcome that Patrick measures to determine if there is a difference caused by the type of food.
5. Conclusion Based on Results:
The results from the experiment for the control group (regular food) and the experimental group (microwaved food) are given. The average time for each group has been calculated:
- Average time for the control group (regular food): approximately 139.78 seconds
- Average time for the experimental group (microwaved food): approximately 146.33 seconds
Since the average time for the experimental group (146.33 seconds) is greater than the average time for the control group (139.78 seconds), Patrick should conclude that fish fed with microwaved food did not swim through the maze faster.
#### Summary:
Given the experimental results, Patrick's hypothesis that "Fish exposed to microwaved food will be able to swim through the maze faster" was not supported. The fish in the control group (those that ate regular food) swam through the maze faster on average compared to the fish that ate the microwaved food. So, the conclusion is that microwaved food did not improve the fish's ability to swim through the maze faster.
