What would have to happen for an idea to become a scientific law?
- Posted:
- 3+ months ago by arturoshe...
- Topics:
- idea, law, laws, scientific
Answers (1)
No connection. A law is something you observe that does not depend on anything else.
~ An object at rest tends to remain at rest unless it is acted upon by a force.
~ An object in motion tends to remain in motion in a straight line unless it is acted upon by a force.
~ Every mass attracts every other mass with a force proportional to the product of the masses and inversely proportional to their distance apart.
These are laws. They have nothing to do with ideas.
What you are thinking of is called "scientific method".
1. Observe something.
2. Formulate a hypothesis.
3. Devise a test.
4. If the test fails, go to #2.
5. If the test passes and is confirmed, the hypothesis might be promoted to a theory and used to prove other hypotheses. And it might not.
In modern practice, a very different method is used, but scientists will only insult you if you point it out.
1. Formulate a theory.
2. Make a computer simulation.
3. Compare the simulation to observed data.
4. If they don't agree, find some way to adjust the data. If you can't adjust the data, ignore it.
5. Be sure your fellow scientists will agree with your findings, then publish.