which variable is dependent??

Question

an individual is hosting a cookout for the kick ball team.The individual wants to have two hotdogs for each guest and 6extra hot dogs in case some teammates bring friends.Which variable is dependent????

Answer 1

If we assume that the individual knows how many team members are on the kick ball team and needs to purchase the correct number of hot dogs, then in this case, the number of hot dogs depends on the number of guests.

y = 2x + 6

where y is the number of hot dogs and x is the number of guests. Y is the dependent variable and x is the independent variable.

However, if the individual has a certain number of hot dogs, and wants to determine how many teammates can be invited to the cookout, then the number of invitees depends on the number of hot dogs:

x = (y-6) / 2

with x as the number of invitees and y as the number of hot dogs.

I would assume that the expected answer is the former because we would expect the individual to know how many teammates are on the kick ball team and invite all of them. Thus, the number of hot dogs is the dependent variable.