scientific method

(noun)

A method of discovering knowledge about the natural world based in making falsifiable predictions (hypotheses), testing them empirically, and developing peer-reviewed theories that best explain the known data.

Related Terms

Examples of scientific method in the following topics:

  • Introduction: Physics and Matter

    • Physics uses the scientific method to help uncover the basic principles governing light and matter, and to discover the implications of those laws.

  • Models, Theories, and Laws

    • Physicists operate under the assumption that all scientific laws and theories are valid until a counterexample is observed.
    • A theory is an explanation for patterns in nature that is supported by scientific evidence and verified multiple times by various groups of researchers.
    • A law uses concise language to describe a generalized pattern in nature that is supported by scientific evidence and repeated experiments.
    • Laws and theories are similar in that they are both scientific statements that result from a tested hypothesis and are supported by scientific evidence.
    • And, whereas a law is a postulate that forms the foundation of the scientific method, a theory is the end result of that process.

  • Physics and Other Fields

    • Physics is the foundation of many disciplines and contributes directly to chemistry, astronomy, engineering, and most scientific fields.
    • What differentiates physics from biology is that many of the scientific theories that describe living things ultimately result from the fundamental laws of physics, but cannot be rigorously derived from physical principles.
    • What is most useful is the knowledge of the basic laws of physics and skill in the analytical methods for applying them.

  • Scientific Notation

    • Scientific notation is a way of writing numbers that are too big or too small in a convenient and standard form.
    • Scientific notation is a way of writing numbers that are too big or too small in a convenient and standard form.
    • Scientific notation is a less awkward and wordy way to write very large and very small numbers such as these.
    • Scientific notation displayed calculators can take other shortened forms that mean the same thing.
    • Convert properly between standard and scientific notation and identify appropriate situations to use it

  • Atomic Theory of Matter

    • Atomic theory is a scientific theory of the nature of matter which states that matter is composed of discrete units called atoms.
    • Atomic theory is a scientific theory of the nature of matter which states that matter is composed of discrete units called atoms , as opposed to the obsolete notion that matter could be divided into any arbitrarily small quantity.
    • Philosophical proposals regarding atoms have been suggested since the years of the ancient Greeks, but John Dalton was the first to propose a scientific theory of atoms.
    • This marked the first truly scientific theory of the atom, since Dalton reached his conclusions by experimentation and examination of the results in an empirical fashion.

  • The Discovery of the Parts of the Atom

    • Modern scientific usage denotes the atom as composed of constituent particles: the electron, the proton and the neutron.
    • Though originally viewed as a particle that cannot be cut into smaller particles , modern scientific usage denotes the atom as composed of various subatomic particles.

  • Motivation

    • Fourier was also a scientific adviser to Napoleon's army in Egypt.

  • Converting Units

    • One commonly used method is known as the Factor-label method for converting units, or the "railroad method. "
    • The factor-label method is the sequential application of conversion factors expressed as fractions and arranged so that any dimensional unit appearing in both the numerator and denominator of any of the fractions can be cancelled out until only the desired set of dimensional units is obtained.
    • A limitation of the factor-label method is that it can only convert between units that have a constant ratio that can be multiplied, or a multiplication factor.
    • This method cannot be used between units that have a displacement, or difference factor.

  • Adding and Subtracting Vectors Graphically

    • The head-to-tail method of vector addition requires that you lay out the first vector along a set of coordinate axes.
    • The graphical method of vector addition is also known as the head-to-tail method .
    • To subtract vectors the method is similar.
    • The head-to-tail method of vector addition requires that you lay out the first vector along a set of coordinate axes.
    • Vector Addition Lesson 1 of 2: Head to Tail Addition Method

  • Mass

    • In scientific terms, 'weight' refers to the gravitational force acting on a given body.