Earth Sciences 1086F/G Chapter Notes - Chapter 1: Maple Syrup, Scientific Law, Big Crunch
13 Jan 2020
School
Department
Course
Professor
Document Summary
Hypothesis: an educated guess based upon observation, usually can be supported or rejected through experimentation or more observation, while it can be supported or rejected, it cannot be proven to be true. Theory: summarizes a hypothesis that is supported by repeated testing and observation, considered valid as long as there is no firm evidence to dispute it. Law: explains a body of observations, at the time it is made, no exceptions will have been found to that law, scientific law explains things, but do not describe them. Theory vs law: a quick way to tell the difference between a theory and a law is to ask if the statement explains why something happened. If it describes how something happens, then it is a law: typically go hand in hand. Newton developed a law of gravity, which predicts the behaviour of an object as it falls, but does not explain why an object falls.
