what is the difference between a Hypothesis of theory?
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For example, when was the last time there was gasoline in the can, and how much was in it? Full, half way, just a bit at the bottom? What was the size of the opening through which you dropped in the match? And many other questions, all of which must be addressed in the testing. The hypothesis is refined as you ask and answer the questions, until you develop a statement that is always true or false with every test. For example: “Dropping a lit match into an empty gasoline container of any size that was at least 10% full of gasoline within 30 days of dropping in the match will cause the gasoline vapors to explode and destroy the container.” And THAT statement could be tested over and over again.
The hypothesis about the exploding gas can comes FROM a theory, which might be this: “Igniting a volume of air which contains at least 20% gasoline vapors confined within a vessel whose flexxing limit is 1/16th inch or less within 1 millisecond will produce an explosion of the vapors which will cause the vessel to break apart during the explosion, such that it will no longer be able to confine gasoline vapors in sufficient density to produce a similar explosion.” That theory is a general statement that could apply to plastic gas cans, undergound tanks or coffee cans and coke bottles for that matter. And so, we could apply the theory to anything at all that met the general criteria. And each test would be an hypothesis, based on the theory.
Likewise, if we run a test that does not result in a way the theory predicted, we would need to revise the theory.
Sometimes, an hypothesis does not come from a particular theory; investigators simply want to “see what happens” when they run an experiment or make an observation. Recent examples are found in observations about the moons of Jupiter. Based on observations through telescopes on earth, astronomers predicted what the moons were made of and how they would look close up. When actual machines were sent for a closer look, they reported results which were vastly different than what the scientists had previously predicted. So, their theories about the chemistry and processes on the moons were revised.
Over time, each revision based on new tests and observations makes the theory more accurate as a predicting tool. This works “backwards,” too. As more and more fossils are discovered and studied, expectations about as yet undiscovered fossils and geologic formations are revised. The theory of evolution is revised accordingly.
To sum up, an hypothesis is a single statement about specific conditions that may be shown as true or false when tested. A theory is a systematic application of facts built up on many hypotheses which have been repeatedly tested and always found to produce the same result.
Think of it this way: an hypothesis is a piece of the puzzle; the theory is a the puzzle itself; which has been completed enough to allow an accurate statement of what it will look like when finished. And a fact is a completed puzzle, or one that is so close to being complete that it is regarded as complete.
I hope this helps.
consists either of a suggested explanation for a phenomenon or of a reasoned proposal suggesting a possible correlation between multiple phenomena. The term derives from the Greek, hypotithenai meaning “to put under” or “to suppose.” The scientific method requires that one can test a scientific hypothesis. Scientists generally base such hypotheses on previous observations or on extensions of scientific theories.
The word theory
has a number of distinct meanings in different fields of knowledge, depending on their methodologies and the context of discussion.
In common usage, people often use the word theory to signify a conjecture, an opinion, or a speculation. In this usage, a theory is not necessarily based on facts; in other words, it is not required to be consistent with true descriptions of reality. True descriptions of reality are more reflectively understood as statements that would be true independently of what people think about them. In this usage, the word is synonymous with hypothesis.
In science, a theory is a mathematical or logical explanation, or a testable model of the manner of interaction of a set of natural phenomena, capable of predicting future occurrences or observations of the same kind, and capable of being tested through experiment or otherwise falsified through empirical observation. It follows from this that for scientists “theory” and “fact” do not necessarily stand in opposition. For example, it is a fact that an apple dropped on earth has been observed to fall towards the center of the planet, and the theories commonly used to describe and explain this behaviour are Newton’s theory of universal gravitation (see also gravitation), and general relativity.
