Which term describes a proposed explanation that can be tested?

Which term describes a proposed explanation that can be tested?

• A. Theory
• B. Law
• C. Observation
• D. Hypothesis

Answer: (D)

A hypothesis is a proposed explanation that can be tested. In science, it’s a specific statement that links cause and effect and makes a prediction you can check with experiments or observations. A good hypothesis is testable and falsifiable, meaning you can collect evidence that could show it’s false even if it ends up being supported by the results. For example, you might hypothesize that increasing sunlight will increase the rate of photosynthesis in a plant; you would test this by varying light levels and measuring the plants’ growth or photosynthetic rate. This idea differs from a theory, which is a well-supported framework that explains a wide range of observations and phenomena, and from a law, which describes consistent, observable relationships in nature, often in mathematical terms. Observations are simply data you gather, which can lead to forming a hypothesis but are not by themselves an explanatory statement.

A hypothesis is a proposed explanation that can be tested. In science, it’s a specific statement that links cause and effect and makes a prediction you can check with experiments or observations. A good hypothesis is testable and falsifiable, meaning you can collect evidence that could show it’s false even if it ends up being supported by the results. For example, you might hypothesize that increasing sunlight will increase the rate of photosynthesis in a plant; you would test this by varying light levels and measuring the plants’ growth or photosynthetic rate.

This idea differs from a theory, which is a well-supported framework that explains a wide range of observations and phenomena, and from a law, which describes consistent, observable relationships in nature, often in mathematical terms. Observations are simply data you gather, which can lead to forming a hypothesis but are not by themselves an explanatory statement.