Thread: Quantum Theory
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Old 20-04-2011, 08:08 PM
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CraigS
Unpredictable

CraigS is offline
 
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: Australia
Posts: 3,023
Here ya go .. a bunch of reasonable definitions:

Fact: A basic statement established by experiment or observation. All facts are valid under specific conditions. Some facts may not be valid when re-tested with better instruments.

Law: A logical relationship between two or more things that is based on a variety of facts and hypotheses. It is often a mathematical statement of how two or more quantities relate to each other. A law is a phenomenon that has been observed many times, and no contrary examples found, that it is accepted as a universal phenomenon.

Hypothesis: A tentative statement such as ‘if A happens then B must happen’ that can be tested by direct experiment or observation. A repeatedly verified hypothesis can be expressed as a law or a theory. A disproven hypothesis can sometimes be re-tested and found to be subsequently verified, as measurements improve.

Theory: An explanation for why/how certain laws and facts exist, that can be tested to determine its accuracy. It takes only one negative example to to disprove a theory and you can't examine all examples of a phenomenon throughout all time and space (the problem of induction). Theories are used to make predictions.

Belief: A statement that is not scientifically provable in the same way as facts, laws, hypotheses or theories. Scientifically disproven beliefs can still be held to be true, (unfortunately ).

Cheers

Last edited by CraigS; 21-04-2011 at 12:56 PM.
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