Hich of the following is not a step used to perform a scientific inquiry?
a. determining manipulated and responding variables
c. developing a hypothesis
b. designing an uncontrolled experiment
d. drawing conclusions

The one that is not a step used to perform a scientific inquiry would be :
B. designing an uncontrolled experiment
There is no point in designing uncontrolled experiment because it will be very likely to provide ambiguous and uninterpreted answers

b. designing an uncontrolled experiment

Explanation:

A scientific inquiry is aims in determining the cause of a natural phenomena by utilizing suitable scientific methodology. A typical scientific inquiry involves framing a relevant question, formation of hypothesis, designing an experiment using control, independent and dependent variables, collection of data, deducing a conclusion and result of the experimental study.

On the basis of the above information this can be said that b. designing an uncontrolled experiment is the correct option as the experiment is done under control conditions by maintaining standards of an experimental setup.

The charge on the capacitor had increased

Explanation:

The expression for the capacitance of an air-filled parallel-plate capacitor is as follows as;

 

Here, C is the capacitance, is the permittivity of free space, A is the area and d is the distance between the parallel plate capacitor.

When a slab of dielectric material is placed between the plates of the capacitor then the expression for the capacitance is as follows;

Here, K is the dielectric constant.

In the given problem, a slab is inserted between the plates of the capacitor then the capacitance of the capacitor will increase in this case. Therefore, the option (a) is true.

The expression for the charge stored in the capacitor is as;

Q= CV

Here, Q is the charge and V is the potential.

The charge will also increase in this case as the charge stored in the capacitor is directly proportional to the capacitance. Therefore, the option (d) is not true.

The expression for the energy stored in the capacitor is as follows;

The voltage is constant in the given problem but the capacitance increases then the energy stored in the capacitor will increase. Therefore, the option (b) is not true.

The voltage across the capacitor will remain same as the capacitor is still connected to the battery. Therefore, the option (c) is not true.

Therefore, only option (a) is true.