All the things in an experiment that must be the same to determine if the results are truly due to the experiment are called

In a game of pool, ball a is moving with a velocity v0 of magnitude v0 = 15 ft/s when it strikes balls b and c, which are at rest and aligned as shown. knowing that after the collision the three balls move in the directions indicated and assuming frictionless surfaces and perfectly elastic impact (that is, conservation of energy), determine the magnitudes of the velocities va, vb, and vc.