Why do you not want any of the water on the outside of the test tube to drip off into the calorimeter?

It will alter the calculated mass of water and also add heat that is unrelated to the sample.

Explanation:

In a specific heat test experiment, a mass of water is measured and poured into the calorimeter, in which the water remained there until it reached room temperature, A beaker filled with water is placed on an hot plate and a sample of the material to carry experiment on is placed in a  test tube and set in a standing position so that the majority of the tube was submerged in the beaker, without touching the bottom or the sides of the beaker

you do not want any of the water on the outside of the test tube to drip off into the calorimeter, because It will alter the calculated mass of water and also add heat that is unrelated to the sample.

what's the

the dependant variable is spilled water

the independent is the heat