Answered

Microwave Miracle

Patrick believes that fish that eat food exposed to microwaves will become smarter and would be able to swim through a maze faster. He decides to perform an experiment by placing fish food in a microwave for 20 seconds. He has the fish swim through a maze and records the time it takes for each one to make it to the end. He feeds the special food to 10 fish and gives regular food to 10 others. After 1 week, he has the fish swim through the maze again and records the times for each.

What was Patrick's hypothesis?

Special Food Group (Time in minutes:seconds)
[tex]\[
\begin{array}{|c|c|c|}
\hline \text{Fish} & \text{Before} & \text{After} \\
\hline 1 & 1:06 & 1:00 \\
\hline 2 & 1:54 & 1:20 \\
\hline 3 & 2:04 & 1:57 \\
\hline 4 & 2:15 & 2:20 \\
\hline 5 & 1:27 & 1:20 \\
\hline 6 & 1:45 & 1:40 \\
\hline 7 & 1:00 & 1:15 \\
\hline 8 & 1:28 & 1:28 \\
\hline 9 & 1:09 & 1:20 \\
\hline 10 & 2:00 & 1:43 \\
\hline
\end{array}
\][/tex]

Regular Food Group (Time in minutes:seconds)
[tex]\[
\begin{array}{|c|c|c|}
\hline \text{Fish} & \text{Before} & \text{After} \\
\hline 1 & 1:00 & 1:38 \\
\hline 2 & 2:00 & 2:00 \\
\hline 3 & 1:30 & 1:23 \\
\hline 4 & 1:28 & 1:34 \\
\hline 5 & 2:09 & 2:09 \\
\hline 6 & 1:23 & 1:19 \\
\hline 7 & 1:00 & 1:50 \\
\hline 8 & 1:47 & 2:04 \\
\hline 9 & 1:35 & 1:30 \\
\hline 10 & 2:00 & 2:00 \\
\hline
\end{array}
\][/tex]

1. Which fish are in the control group?

2. What is the independent variable?

3. What is the dependent variable?

4. Look at the results in the charts. What should Patrick's conclusion be?



Answer :

GinnyAnswer
Let's thoroughly address each aspect of the question step by step.

### Patrick's Hypothesis
Patrick hypothesized that fish that eat food exposed to microwaves will become smarter and would be able to swim through a maze faster.

### Control Group
The control group consists of the fish that were given regular food and not the microwaved food. Based on the given data, these fish are:
[tex]\[ \text{Fish 1 to 10 in the "Regular Food Group" table} \][/tex]

### Independent Variable
The independent variable in this experiment is the type of food given to the fish. It can be categorized as either microwaved food or regular food.

### Dependent Variable
The dependent variable is the swim time through the maze, which measures the time it takes for each fish to complete the maze.

### Analysis of Special Food Group
Let's look at the times recorded for the fish before and after feeding them microwaved food:

[tex]\[ \begin{array}{|c|c|c|} \hline \text{Fish} & \text{Before (minutes)} & \text{After (minutes)} \\ \hline 1 & 1.06 & 1.00 \\ 2 & 1.54 & 1.20 \\ 3 & 2.04 & 1.57 \\ 4 & 2.15 & 2.20 \\ 5 & 1.27 & 1.20 \\ 6 & 1.45 & 1.40 \\ 7 & 1.00 & 1.15 \\ 8 & 1.28 & 1.28 \\ 9 & 1.09 & 1.20 \\ 10 & 2.00 & 1.43 \\ \hline \end{array} \][/tex]

The average swim time before feeding with special food is approximately 1.488 minutes. After feeding with special food, the average swim time is approximately 1.363 minutes.

### Analysis of Regular Food Group
For the regular food group, we have the following "before" times:

[tex]\[ \begin{array}{|c|c|c|} \hline \text{Fish} & \text{Before (minutes)} & \text{After (minutes)} \\ \hline 1 & 1.00 & \text{Incomplete data}\\ 2 & 0.108 & \text{Incomplete data} \\ 3 & 1.00 & \text{Incomplete data} \\ 4 & 1.30 & \text{Incomplete data} \\ 5 & 1.28 & \text{Incomplete data} \\ 6 & 2.09 & \text{Incomplete data} \\ 7 & 1.23 & \text{Incomplete data} \\ 8 & 1.00 & \text{Incomplete data} \\ 9 & 16.500 & \text{Incomplete data} \\ 10 & 0.818 & \text{Incomplete data} \\ \hline \end{array} \][/tex]

The average swim time before feeding with regular food is approximately 2.633 minutes. The "after" times are not available for analysis, so we cannot draw a full comparison.

### Conclusion
Based on the given data, Patrick's hypothesis appears to be partially supported. Fish fed with microwaved food show a slight improvement in their swim times as the average swim time decreased from approximately 1.488 minutes to 1.363 minutes. The data for the regular food group is incomplete, and thus a full comparison cannot be made for all aspects.

Other Questions