Monday, May 16, 2016

soft question - What's the difference between hypothesis, theory and law?



What's the difference between hypothesis, theory and law? I think I'm confused now because I exactly learned the misconception one as explained below in high school.


According to this university's website it says that what I learned from school is a misconception. Is this explanation generally accepted among the scientists.



MISCONCEPTION: If evidence supports a hypothesis, it is upgraded to a theory. If the theory then garners even more support, it may be upgraded to a law.


CORRECTION: This misconception may be reinforced by introductory science courses that treat hypotheses as "things we're not sure about yet" and that only explore established and accepted theories. In fact, hypotheses, theories, and laws are rather like apples, oranges, and kumquats: one cannot grow into another, no matter how much fertilizer and water are offered. Hypotheses, theories, and laws are all scientific explanations that differ in breadth — not in level of support. Hypotheses are explanations that are limited in scope, applying to fairly narrow range of phenomena. The term law is sometimes used to refer to an idea about how observable phenomena are related — but the term is also used in other ways within science. Theories are deep explanations that apply to a broad range of phenomena and that may integrate many hypotheses and laws. To learn more about this, visit our page on the different levels of explanation in science.


http://undsci.berkeley.edu/teaching/misconceptions.php#b12






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