Answer:
Dependent variable: Amount of oranges (
), measured in pounds.
Independent variable: Money (
), measured in US dollars.
Equation:

Explanation:
According to the statement, Maria pays money to buy oranges at the grocery and there is a direct proportionality between money (
), measured in US dollars, and the amount of oranges (
), measured in pounds. That is:


Where
is the proportionality constant, measured in US dollars per pound.
The dependent variable is the amount of oranges (
), whereas money (
) represents the independent variable. If we know that
, then the equation is:

In a nutshell, the answer is:
Dependent variable: Amount of oranges (
), measured in pounds.
Independent variable: Money (
), measured in US dollars.
Equation:
