Gregor Mendel's Experiment on Seed Color

What is the independent variable in Mendel's experiment?

Color of seeds Mendel chose to cross

How many tall plants resulted from Mendel's cross

How many yellow plants resulted from Mendel's cross

Answer:

The independent variable in Mendel's experiment is the color of seeds. He crossed true-breeding plants with yellow seeds (YY) and true-breeding plants with green seeds (yy). The dependent variable is the color of the seeds in the offspring. Mendel found that all of the offspring had yellow seeds, which suggests that the yellow seed color is dominant over the green seed color.

Gregor Mendel, known as the father of genetics, conducted experiments on pea plants to study how traits are inherited. One of his famous experiments involved crossing true-breeding plants with yellow seeds (YY) and true-breeding plants with green seeds (yy). By observing the offspring of this cross, Mendel was able to determine the inheritance pattern of seed color.

The color of seeds that Mendel chose to cross is the independent variable in his experiment. This means that it is the factor that Mendel manipulated and controlled. In this case, the independent variable was the color of the seeds (yellow or green) in the parent plants.

On the other hand, the number of tall plants resulting from the cross, the number of yellow plants resulting from the cross, and the height of the plants Mendel chose to cross are all dependent variables. They are the outcomes or results of Mendel's experiment, influenced by the manipulation of the independent variable (seed color).

Mendel's observation that all offspring had yellow seeds indicated that the yellow seed color is dominant over the green seed color in pea plants. This established the principles of dominant and recessive traits in genetics, which laid the foundation for our understanding of heredity.

By carefully designing and conducting his experiments, Mendel was able to uncover the fundamental laws of inheritance, which revolutionized the field of genetics. His work continues to inspire and inform scientific research to this day.