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If you stop to think about it, you will realise
that the scientific method is also useful
in everyday problem-solving. For example:
How do you find out the reason that your
internet connection is down? Is it due to
a disconnected cable? Or perhaps your modem
is broken? Maybe your internet service provider
is down? The process you go through to solve
this problem could very well involve scientific
thinking, and the results might contradict
your initial guess!
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To most people, a theory is just a vague and fuzzy
sort of fact, and the term "hypothesis" is often used
as a fancy word for a "guess". However, to the true scientist,
a theory is a conceptual framework that explains why things are
the way they are (observations), and also predicts new explanations
and observations. For instance, imagine you are watching a sun rise.
This is an observation which is explained by the theory
of gravity proposed by Newton. This theory explains many phenomena
such as the path followed by the sun as it moves across the sky,
and the phases of the moon and the tides. Today, you can use this
theory to perform amazing calculations, and to predict the actual
position of the sun, the phases of the moon, and even guide a space
shuttle across the Solar System!
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| A hypothesis is better described as
a "working assumption". A scientist usually comes up with a hypothesis
and then checks if it ``holds water'' by testing it in experiments.
If the hypothesis is proven to be true, the scientist declares it
to be a theory. |
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