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Spoiler Alert: A Scientific Hypothesis, Theory, and Law Are Not the Same ThingDefining ScienceWhen reading scientific articles, you’ll likely to come across the terms “hypothesis,” “theory,” and “law.” In the scientific community, these words have very specific definitions; however, once you get outside the scientific community, these definitions can be unclear, as the same terms are used differently in a colloquial context. This is a bit of a problem. People frequently try to discredit Charles Darwin’s greatest work by saying that “evolution is just a theory.”?— and those people are idiots because they don’t understand what a scientific theory is.So, what does it mean when you call something a hypothesis, a theory, or a law?HypothesisA hypothesis is a reasonable guess based on something that you observe in the natural world. And while hypotheses are proven and disproven all the time, the fact that they are disproven shouldn’t be read as a statement against them. In truth, hypotheses are the foundation of the scientific method. As a refresher, here’s how the scientific method works: After making an observation and formulating a question, a scientist must create a hypothesis — a potential answer to the question. They then make a testable prediction, test this prediction (over and over and over), and analyze the data. Once this is done, they can then state whether or not their hypothesis was correct. Even then, a hypothesis needs to be tested and retested many times by many different experts before it is generally accepted in the scientific community as being true. Example: You observe that, upon waking up each morning, your trash is overturned and junk is spread around the yard. You form a hypothesis that raccoons are responsible. Through testing — maybe you stay up all night to watch for raccoons?— the results will either support or refute your hypothesis.TheoryA scientific theory consists of one or more hypotheses that have been supported by?repeated testing. Theories are one of the pinnacles of science and are widely accepted in the scientific community as being true. Theories are updated all the time with new evidence. This doesn’t mean the old theory was wrong. It’s just that new information was discovered. The evolution from?Newtonian physics to general relativity?is a good way to explain how new information can cause a theory to evolve into a?more complete theory:When Sir Isaac Newton discovered the theory of gravity and wrote laws that explained the motions of objects, he was not wrong about how the world worked, but he wasn’t fully right either. Albert Einstein later discovered the theories of special and general relativity?— that the force of gravity exists due to the bending of space time, which is caused by massive objects. This created?a more complete theory of gravity. In fact, when you stay far below the speed of light, many of the equations in general and special relativity give you Newton’s results, so Newton wasn’t incorrect. He just had a partial answer.LawScientific laws are short, sweet, and always true. They’re often?expressed in a single statement and generally rely on?a concise mathematical equation. Laws are accepted as being universal and are the cornerstones of science. They must never?be wrong (that is why there are many theories and few laws). If a law were ever to be shown false, any science built on that law would also be wrong. Examples of scientific laws (also called “laws of nature”) include the laws of thermodynamics, Boyle’s law of gasses, the laws of gravitation. A law isn’t better than a theory, or vice versa. They’re just different, and in the end, all that matters is that they’re used correctly. A law is used to describe an action under certain circumstances. For example, the Law of Universal Gravitation— the law tells us that it happens but doesn’t describe how or why. A theory describes how and why something happens. For example, evolution by natural selection is a theory. It provides a host of descriptions for various mechanisms and describes the method by which evolution works. Another?example is Einstein’s famous equation E=mc^2. The equation is a law that describes the action of energy being converted to mass.?The theories of special and general relativity, on the other hand, show how and why something with mass is unable to travel at the speed of light. Hopefully, this has helped expand your understanding of?what it means when scientists call something a hypothesis, a theory, or a law. How are scientific theories formed?How are scientific theories modified?Is it possible for a theory to become a law?Provide 3 examples of theories you have studied. Provide 3 examples of laws you have studied.Create a double bubble or Venn diagram showing similarities and differences between theories and laws. Choose one of the following theories and create a time line showing how it has been modified to accommodate new evidence: Theory of Evolution and Natural Selection; Cell Theory; Theory of Plate Tectonics; Heliocentric Theory. Some research may be required. Must have 3-4 points on the timeline. Please include names of contributors to the theory. Explain the difference between the Law of Universal Gravitation and the Theory of Gravity. ................
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