Back to Home

Blackholes Forum Message

Forums: Atm · Astrophotography · Blackholes · Blackholes2 · CCD · Celestron · Domes · Education
Eyepieces · Meade · Misc. · God and Science · SETI · Software · UFO · XEphem
RSS Button

Home | Discussion Forums | Blackholes I | Post
Login

Be the first pioneers to continue the Astronomy Discussions at our new Astronomy meeting place...
The Space and Astronomy Agora
Law Vs Theory

Forum List | Follow Ups | Post Message | Back to Thread Topics | In Response To
Posted by Jim on January 30, 2001 18:31:07 UTC

Actually, I think you're talking about "Laws". Scientific laws are mathematical descriptions of observable facts (the Laws of Planetary Motion, the Laws of Thermodynamics, etc). Theories are explanations that are supported by the facts (the Theory of Evolution, the Theory of Plate Techtonics, etc.). A law gives you an equation to work with but doesn't tell you why it is so. A theory explains how it works (mathematical equations may be part of the theory, of course, such as Einstein's Relativity Theories). A hypothesis is an educated (hopefully) supposition/expectation that you set out to support or refute through experimentation.

Follow Ups:

Login to Post
Additional Information
Google
 
Web www.astronomy.net
DayNightLine
About Astronomy Net | Advertise on Astronomy Net | Contact & Comments | Privacy Policy
Unless otherwise specified, web site content Copyright 1994-2024 John Huggins All Rights Reserved
Forum posts are Copyright their authors as specified in the heading above the post.
"dbHTML," "AstroGuide," "ASTRONOMY.NET" & "VA.NET"
are trademarks of John Huggins