Scientific law

Scientific laws or laws of science are

statements, based on repeated
experiments or observations, that describe
or predict a range of natural phenomena.[1]
The term law has diverse usage in many
cases (approximate, accurate, broad, or
narrow) across all fields of natural science
(physics, chemistry, astronomy,
geoscience, biology). Laws are developed
from data and can be further developed
through mathematics; in all cases they are
directly or indirectly based on empirical
evidence. It is generally understood that
they implicitly reflect, though they do not
explicitly assert, causal relationships
fundamental to reality, and are discovered
rather than invented.[2]

Scientific theories explain why something happens, whereas scientific law describes what happens.

Scientific laws summarize the results of

experiments or observations, usually
within a certain range of application. In
general, the accuracy of a law does not
change when a new theory of the relevant
phenomenon is worked out, but rather the
scope of the law's application, since the
mathematics or statement representing
the law does not change. As with other
kinds of scientific knowledge, scientific
laws do not express absolute certainty, as
mathematical theorems or identities do. A
scientific law may be contradicted,
restricted, or extended by future
observations.

A law can often be formulated as one or

several statements or equations, so that it
can predict the outcome of an experiment.
Laws differ from hypotheses and
postulates, which are proposed during the
scientific process before and during
validation by experiment and observation.
Hypotheses and postulates are not laws,
since they have not been verified to the
same degree, although they may lead to
the formulation of laws. Laws are
narrower in scope than scientific theories,
which may entail one or several laws.[3]
Science distinguishes a law or theory from
facts.[4] Calling a law a fact is ambiguous,
an overstatement, or an equivocation.[5]
The nature of scientific laws has been
much discussed in philosophy, but in
essence scientific laws are simply
empirical conclusions reached by
scientific method; they are intended to be
neither laden with ontological
commitments nor statements of logical
absolutes.

Overview
A scientific law always applies to a
physical system under repeated
conditions, and it implies that there is a
causal relationship involving the elements
of the system. Factual and well-confirmed
statements like "Mercury is liquid at
standard temperature and pressure" are
considered too specific to qualify as
scientific laws. A central problem in the
philosophy of science, going back to David
Hume, is that of distinguishing causal
relationships (such as those implied by
laws) from principles that arise due to
constant conjunction.[6]

Laws differ from scientific theories in that

they do not posit a mechanism or
explanation of phenomena: they are
merely distillations of the results of
repeated observation. As such, the
applicability of a law is limited to
circumstances resembling those already
observed, and the law may be found to be
false when extrapolated. Ohm's law only
applies to linear networks; Newton's law of
universal gravitation only applies in weak
gravitational fields; the early laws of
aerodynamics, such as Bernoulli's
principle, do not apply in the case of
compressible flow such as occurs in
transonic and supersonic flight; Hooke's
law only applies to strain below the elastic
limit; Boyle's law applies with perfect
accuracy only to the ideal gas, etc. These
laws remain useful, but only under the
specified conditions where they apply.

Many laws take mathematical forms, and

thus can be stated as an equation; for
example, the law of conservation of energy
can be written as , where is
the total amount of energy in the universe.
Similarly, the first law of thermodynamics
can be written as , and
Newton's second law can be written as
dp⁄
dt. While these scientific laws
explain what our senses perceive, they are
still empirical (acquired by observation or
scientific experiment) and so are not like
mathematical theorems which can be
proved purely by mathematics.

Like theories and hypotheses, laws make

predictions; specifically, they predict that
new observations will conform to the given
law. Laws can be falsified if they are found
in contradiction with new data.
Some laws are only approximations of
other more general laws, and are good
approximations with a restricted domain
of applicability. For example, Newtonian
dynamics (which is based on Galilean
transformations) is the low-speed limit of
special relativity (since the Galilean
transformation is the low-speed
approximation to the Lorentz
transformation). Similarly, the Newtonian
gravitation law is a low-mass
approximation of general relativity, and
Coulomb's law is an approximation to
quantum electrodynamics at large
distances (compared to the range of weak
interactions). In such cases it is common
to use the simpler, approximate versions
of the laws, instead of the more accurate
general laws.

Laws are constantly being tested

experimentally to increasing degrees of
precision, which is one of the main goals
of science. The fact that laws have never
been observed to be violated does not
preclude testing them at increased
accuracy or in new kinds of conditions to
confirm whether they continue to hold, or
whether they break, and what can be
discovered in the process. It is always
possible for laws to be invalidated or
proven to have limitations, by repeatable
experimental evidence, should any be
observed. Well-established laws have
indeed been invalidated in some special
cases, but the new formulations created to
explain the discrepancies generalize upon,
rather than overthrow, the originals. That
is, the invalidated laws have been found to
be only close approximations, to which
other terms or factors must be added to
cover previously unaccounted-for
conditions, e.g. very large or very small
scales of time or space, enormous speeds
or masses, etc. Thus, rather than
unchanging knowledge, physical laws are
better viewed as a series of improving and
more precise generalizations.
Properties
Scientific laws are typically conclusions
based on repeated scientific experiments
and observations over many years and
which have become accepted universally
within the scientific community. A
scientific law is "inferred from particular
facts, applicable to a defined group or
class of phenomena, and expressible by
the statement that a particular
phenomenon always occurs if certain
conditions be present."[7] The production
of a summary description of our
environment in the form of such laws is a
fundamental aim of science.
Several general properties of scientific
laws, particularly when referring to laws in
physics, have been identified. Scientific
laws are:

True, at least within their regime of

validity. By definition, there have never
been repeatable contradicting
observations.
Universal. They appear to apply
everywhere in the universe.[8]: 82 
Simple. They are typically expressed in
terms of a single mathematical
equation.
Absolute. Nothing in the universe
appears to affect them.[8]: 82 
Stable. Unchanged since first
discovered (although they may have
been shown to be approximations of
more accurate laws),
All-encompassing. Everything in the
universe apparently must comply with
them (according to observations).
Generally conservative of quantity.[9]: 59 
Often expressions of existing
homogeneities (symmetries) of space
and time.[9]
Typically theoretically reversible in time
(if non-quantum), although time itself is
 irreversible.[9]
Broad. In physics, laws exclusively refer
to the broad domain of matter, motion,
energy, and force itself, rather than more
specific systems in the universe, such
as living systems, i.e. the mechanics of
the human body.[10]

The term "scientific law" is traditionally

associated with the natural sciences,
though the social sciences also contain
laws.[11] For example, Zipf's law is a law in
the social sciences which is based on
mathematical statistics. In these cases,
laws may describe general trends or
expected behaviors rather than being
absolutes.

In natural science, impossibility assertions

come to be widely accepted as
overwhelmingly probable rather than
considered proved to the point of being
unchallengeable. The basis for this strong
acceptance is a combination of extensive
evidence of something not occurring,
combined with an underlying theory, very
successful in making predictions, whose
assumptions lead logically to the
conclusion that something is impossible.
While an impossibility assertion in natural
science can never be absolutely proved, it
could be refuted by the observation of a
single counterexample. Such a
counterexample would require that the
assumptions underlying the theory that
implied the impossibility be re-examined.

Some examples of widely accepted

impossibilities in physics are perpetual
motion machines, which violate the law of
conservation of energy, exceeding the
speed of light, which violates the
implications of special relativity, the
uncertainty principle of quantum
mechanics, which asserts the
impossibility of simultaneously knowing
both the position and the momentum of a
particle, and Bell's theorem: no physical
theory of local hidden variables can ever
reproduce all of the predictions of
quantum mechanics.

Laws as consequences of
mathematical symmetries
Some laws reflect mathematical
symmetries found in Nature (e.g. the Pauli
exclusion principle reflects identity of
electrons, conservation laws reflect
homogeneity of space, time, and Lorentz
transformations reflect rotational
symmetry of spacetime). Many
fundamental physical laws are
mathematical consequences of various
symmetries of space, time, or other
aspects of nature. Specifically, Noether's
theorem connects some conservation
laws to certain symmetries. For example,
conservation of energy is a consequence
of the shift symmetry of time (no moment
of time is different from any other), while
conservation of momentum is a
consequence of the symmetry
(homogeneity) of space (no place in space
is special, or different than any other). The
indistinguishability of all particles of each
fundamental type (say, electrons, or
photons) results in the Dirac and Bose
quantum statistics which in turn result in
the Pauli exclusion principle for fermions
and in Bose–Einstein condensation for
bosons. The rotational symmetry between
time and space coordinate axes (when
one is taken as imaginary, another as real)
results in Lorentz transformations which in
turn result in special relativity theory.
Symmetry between inertial and
gravitational mass results in general
relativity.

The inverse square law of interactions

mediated by massless bosons is the
mathematical consequence of the 3-
dimensionality of space.
One strategy in the search for the most
fundamental laws of nature is to search
for the most general mathematical
symmetry group that can be applied to the
fundamental interactions.

Laws of physics

Conservation laws

Conservation and symmetry

Conservation laws are fundamental laws

that follow from the homogeneity of
space, time and phase, in other words
symmetry.
Noether's theorem: Any quantity with a
continuously differentiable symmetry in
the action has an associated
conservation law.
Conservation of mass was the first law
to be understood since most
macroscopic physical processes
involving masses, for example,
collisions of massive particles or fluid
flow, provide the apparent belief that
mass is conserved. Mass conservation
was observed to be true for all chemical
reactions. In general, this is only
approximative because with the advent
of relativity and experiments in nuclear
and particle physics: mass can be
transformed into energy and vice versa,
so mass is not always conserved but
part of the more general conservation of
mass-energy.
Conservation of energy, momentum and
angular momentum for isolated
systems can be found to be symmetries
in time, translation, and rotation.
Conservation of charge was also
realized since charge has never been
observed to be created or destroyed and
only found to move from place to place.
Continuity and transfer

Conservation laws can be expressed using

the general continuity equation (for a
conserved quantity) can be written in
differential form as:

where ρ is some quantity per unit volume,

J is the flux of that quantity (change in
quantity per unit time per unit area).
Intuitively, the divergence (denoted ∇•) of a
vector field is a measure of flux diverging
radially outwards from a point, so the
negative is the amount piling up at a point;
hence the rate of change of density in a
region of space must be the amount of
flux leaving or collecting in some region
(see the main article for details). In the
table below, the fluxes flows for various
physical quantities in transport, and their
associated continuity equations, are
collected for comparison.
 Physics, conserved Conserved Volume density ρ
Flux J (of q) Equation
quantity quantity q (of q)

ρ u, where
Hydrodynamics, ρ = volume mass
m = mass (kg) u = velocity field
fluids density (kg m−3)
of fluid (m s−1)

ρ = volume electric
Electromagnetism, q = electric charge J = electric current
charge density (C
electric charge (C) −3
density (A m−2)
m )

Thermodynamics, u = volume energy q = heat flux (W

E = energy (J)
energy density (J m−3) m−2)

ρ = ρ(r, t) = |Ψ|2 =
probability density
Quantum P = (r, t) = ∫|Ψ|2d3r function (m−3),
j = probability
mechanics, = probability
Ψ = wavefunction current/flux
probability distribution
of quantum
system

More general equations are the

convection–diffusion equation and
Boltzmann transport equation, which have
their roots in the continuity equation.
Laws of classical mechanics

Principle of least action

Classical mechanics, including Newton's

laws, Lagrange's equations, Hamilton's
equations, etc., can be derived from the
following principle:

where is the action; the integral of the

Lagrangian
of the physical system between two times
t1 and t2. The kinetic energy of the system
is T (a function of the rate of change of the
configuration of the system), and potential
energy is V (a function of the configuration
and its rate of change). The configuration
of a system which has N degrees of
freedom is defined by generalized
coordinates q = (q1, q2, ... qN).

There are generalized momenta conjugate

to these coordinates, p = (p1, p2, ..., pN),
where:
The action and Lagrangian both contain
the dynamics of the system for all times.
The term "path" simply refers to a curve
traced out by the system in terms of the
generalized coordinates in the
configuration space, i.e. the curve q(t),
parameterized by time (see also
parametric equation for this concept).

The action is a functional rather than a

function, since it depends on the
Lagrangian, and the Lagrangian depends
on the path q(t), so the action depends on
the entire "shape" of the path for all times
(in the time interval from t1 to t2). Between
two instants of time, there are infinitely
many paths, but one for which the action
is stationary (to the first order) is the true
path. The stationary value for the entire
continuum of Lagrangian values
corresponding to some path, not just one
value of the Lagrangian, is required (in
other words it is not as simple as
"differentiating a function and setting it to
zero, then solving the equations to find the
points of maxima and minima etc", rather
this idea is applied to the entire "shape" of
the function, see calculus of variations for
more details on this procedure).[12]

Notice L is not the total energy E of the

system due to the difference, rather than
the sum:

The following[13][14] general approaches to

classical mechanics are summarized
below in the order of establishment. They
are equivalent formulations. Newton's is
commonly used due to simplicity, but
Hamilton's and Lagrange's equations are
more general, and their range can extend
into other branches of physics with
suitable modifications.
 Laws of motion

Principle of least action:

The Euler–Lagrange equations are: Hamilton's equations

Using the definition of generalized

momentum, there is the symmetry:
The Hamiltonian as a function of
generalized coordinates and momenta
has the general form:

Hamilton–Jacobi equation

Newton's laws

Newton's laws of motion

They are low-limit solutions to relativity. Alternative formulations of Newtonian

mechanics are Lagrangian and Hamiltonian mechanics.

The laws can be summarized by two equations (since the 1st is a special case of the
2nd, zero resultant acceleration):

where p = momentum of body, Fij = force on body i by body j, Fji = force on body j by
body i.

For a dynamical system the two equations (effectively) combine into one:
 in which FE = resultant external force (due to any agent not part of system). Body i
does not exert a force on itself.

From the above, any equation of motion in

classical mechanics can be derived.

Corollaries in mechanics
Euler's laws of motion
Euler's equations (rigid body dynamics)
Corollaries in fluid mechanics

Equations describing fluid flow in various

situations can be derived, using the above
classical equations of motion and often
conservation of mass, energy and
momentum. Some elementary examples
follow.
 Archimedes' principle
Bernoulli's principle
Poiseuille's law
Stokes's law
Navier–Stokes equations
Faxén's law

Laws of gravitation and relativity

Some of the more famous laws of nature

are found in Isaac Newton's theories of
(now) classical mechanics, presented in
his Philosophiae Naturalis Principia
Mathematica, and in Albert Einstein's
theory of relativity.
Modern laws

Special relativity

The two postulates of special relativity are

not "laws" in themselves, but assumptions
of their nature in terms of relative motion.

They can be stated as "the laws of physics

are the same in all inertial frames" and "the
speed of light is constant and has the
same value in all inertial frames".

The said postulates lead to the Lorentz

transformations – the transformation law
between two frame of references moving
relative to each other. For any 4-vector
this replaces the Galilean transformation
law from classical mechanics. The Lorentz
transformations reduce to the Galilean
transformations for low velocities much
less than the speed of light c.

The magnitudes of 4-vectors are invariants

- not "conserved", but the same for all
inertial frames (i.e. every observer in an
inertial frame will agree on the same
value), in particular if A is the four-
momentum, the magnitude can derive the
famous invariant equation for mass-
energy and momentum conservation (see
invariant mass):
in which the (more famous) mass-energy
equivalence E = mc2 is a special case.

General relativity

General relativity is governed by the

Einstein field equations, which describe
the curvature of space-time due to mass-
energy equivalent to the gravitational field.
Solving the equation for the geometry of
space warped due to the mass distribution
gives the metric tensor. Using the
geodesic equation, the motion of masses
falling along the geodesics can be
calculated.
 Gravitomagnetism

In a relatively flat spacetime due to weak

gravitational fields, gravitational analogues
of Maxwell's equations can be found; the
GEM equations, to describe an analogous
gravitomagnetic field. They are well
established by the theory, and
experimental tests form ongoing
research.[15]
 Einstein field equations (EFE): Geodesic equation:

where Λ = cosmological constant, Rμν = where Γ is a Christoffel symbol of the

Ricci curvature tensor, Tμν = Stress– second kind, containing the metric.
energy tensor, gμν = metric tensor

GEM Equations

If g the gravitational field and H the gravitomagnetic field, the solutions in these limits
are:

where ρ is the mass density and J is the mass current density or mass flux.

In addition there is the gravitomagnetic Lorentz force:

where m is the rest mass of the particlce and γ is the Lorentz factor.

Classical laws

Kepler's Laws, though originally discovered

from planetary observations (also due to
Tycho Brahe), are true for any central
forces.[16]
Newton's law of universal gravitation: Gauss' law for gravity:

For two point masses: An equivalent statement to Newton's law

is:

For a non uniform mass distribution of

local mass density ρ (r) of body of
Volume V, this becomes:

Kepler's 1st Law: Planets move in an ellipse, with the star at a focus

where

is the eccentricity of the elliptic orbit, of semi-major axis a and semi-minor axis b, and
l is the semi-latus rectum. This equation in itself is nothing physically fundamental;
simply the polar equation of an ellipse in which the pole (origin of polar coordinate
system) is positioned at a focus of the ellipse, where the orbited star is.

Kepler's 2nd Law: equal areas are swept out in equal times (area bounded by two
radial distances and the orbital circumference):

where L is the orbital angular momentum of the particle (i.e. planet) of mass m about
the focus of orbit,

Kepler's 3rd Law: The square of the orbital time period T is proportional to the cube of
the semi-major axis a:

where M is the mass of the central body (i.e. star).

Thermodynamics

Laws of thermodynamics

First law of thermodynamics: The Zeroth law of thermodynamics: If

change in internal energy dU in a
closed system is accounted for
entirely by the heat δQ absorbed
by the system and the work δW
done by the system:
two systems are in thermal
equilibrium with a third system,
then they are in thermal
equilibrium with one another.

Third law of thermodynamics:

Second law of thermodynamics:
As the temperature T of a
There are many statements of this
system approaches absolute
law, perhaps the simplest is "the
zero, the entropy S approaches
entropy of isolated systems never
a minimum value C: as T → 0,
decreases",
S → C.

meaning reversible changes have

zero entropy change, irreversible
process are positive, and
impossible process are negative.

For homogeneous systems the

first and second law can be
combined into the Fundamental
thermodynamic relation:

Onsager reciprocal relations: sometimes called the Fourth Law of

Thermodynamics
;
.
Newton's law of cooling
Fourier's law
Ideal gas law, combines a number of
separately developed gas laws;
Boyle's law
Charles's law
Gay-Lussac's law
Avogadro's law, into one
now improved by other equations of
state
Dalton's law (of partial pressures)
Boltzmann equation
Carnot's theorem
Kopp's law
Electromagnetism

Maxwell's equations give the time-

evolution of the electric and magnetic
fields due to electric charge and current
distributions. Given the fields, the Lorentz
force law is the equation of motion for
charges in the fields.
 Maxwell's equations Lorentz force law:

Gauss's law for electricity

Gauss's law for magnetism

Faraday's law

Ampère's circuital law (with Maxwell's

correction)

Quantum electrodynamics (QED): Maxwell's equations are generally true and

consistent with relativity - but they do not predict some observed quantum
phenomena (e.g. light propagation as EM waves, rather than photons, see Maxwell's
equations for details). They are modified in QED theory.

These equations can be modified to

include magnetic monopoles, and are
consistent with our observations of
monopoles either existing or not existing;
if they do not exist, the generalized
equations reduce to the ones above, if they
do, the equations become fully symmetric
in electric and magnetic charges and
currents. Indeed, there is a duality
transformation where electric and
magnetic charges can be "rotated into one
another", and still satisfy Maxwell's
equations.

Pre-Maxwell laws

These laws were found before the

formulation of Maxwell's equations. They
are not fundamental, since they can be
derived from Maxwell's Equations.
Coulomb's Law can be found from Gauss'
Law (electrostatic form) and the Biot–
Savart Law can be deduced from Ampere's
Law (magnetostatic form). Lenz' Law and
Faraday's Law can be incorporated into the
Maxwell-Faraday equation. Nonetheless
they are still very effective for simple
calculations.

Lenz's law
Coulomb's law
Biot–Savart law
Other laws
Ohm's law
Kirchhoff's laws
Joule's law
Photonics

Classically, optics is based on a variational

principle: light travels from one point in
space to another in the shortest time.

Fermat's principle

In geometric optics laws are based on

approximations in Euclidean geometry
(such as the paraxial approximation).

Law of reflection
Law of refraction, Snell's law

In physical optics, laws are based on

physical properties of materials.
 Brewster's angle
Malus's law
Beer–Lambert law

In actuality, optical properties of matter

are significantly more complex and require
quantum mechanics.

Laws of quantum mechanics

Quantum mechanics has its roots in

postulates. This leads to results which are
not usually called "laws", but hold the
same status, in that all of quantum
mechanics follows from them.
One postulate that a particle (or a system
of many particles) is described by a
wavefunction, and this satisfies a quantum
wave equation: namely the Schrödinger
equation (which can be written as a non-
relativistic wave equation, or a relativistic
wave equation). Solving this wave
equation predicts the time-evolution of the
system's behaviour, analogous to solving
Newton's laws in classical mechanics.

Other postulates change the idea of

physical observables; using quantum
operators; some measurements can't be
made at the same instant of time
(Uncertainty principles), particles are
fundamentally indistinguishable. Another
postulate; the wavefunction collapse
postulate, counters the usual idea of a
measurement in science.
Quantum mechanics, Quantum field
theory
Schrödinger equation (general form):
Describes the time dependence of a
quantum mechanical system.
Wave–particle duality
Planck–Einstein law: the energy of
photons is proportional to the frequency
of the light (the constant is Planck's
constant, h).

De Broglie wavelength: this laid the

The Hamiltonian (in quantum mechanics) foundations of wave–particle duality, and
H is a self-adjoint operator acting on the was the key concept in the Schrödinger
state space, (see Dirac notation) is equation,
the instantaneous quantum state vector
at time t, position r, i is the unit imaginary
number, ħ = h/2π is the reduced Planck's
constant. Heisenberg uncertainty principle:
Uncertainty in position multiplied by
uncertainty in momentum is at least half
of the reduced Planck constant, similarly
for time and energy;

Wave mechanics

Schrödinger equation (original form):

The uncertainty principle can be
generalized to any pair of observables -
see main article.

Pauli exclusion principle: No two identical fermions can occupy the same quantum
state (bosons can). Mathematically, if two particles are interchanged, fermionic
wavefunctions are anti-symmetric, while bosonic wavefunctions are symmetric:

where ri is the position of particle i, and s is the spin of the particle. There is no way to
keep track of particles physically, labels are only used mathematically to prevent
confusion.
Radiation laws

Applying electromagnetism,
thermodynamics, and quantum
mechanics, to atoms and molecules, some
laws of electromagnetic radiation and light
are as follows.

Stefan–Boltzmann law
Planck's law of black-body radiation
Wien's displacement law
Radioactive decay law

Laws of chemistry
Chemical laws are those laws of nature
relevant to chemistry. Historically,
observations led to many empirical laws,
though now it is known that chemistry has
its foundations in quantum mechanics.

Quantitative analysis

The most fundamental concept in

chemistry is the law of conservation of
mass, which states that there is no
detectable change in the quantity of
matter during an ordinary chemical
reaction. Modern physics shows that it is
actually energy that is conserved, and that
energy and mass are related; a concept
which becomes important in nuclear
chemistry. Conservation of energy leads to
the important concepts of equilibrium,
thermodynamics, and kinetics.

Additional laws of chemistry elaborate on

the law of conservation of mass. Joseph
Proust's law of definite composition says
that pure chemicals are composed of
elements in a definite formulation; we now
know that the structural arrangement of
these elements is also important.

Dalton's law of multiple proportions says

that these chemicals will present
themselves in proportions that are small
whole numbers; although in many systems
(notably biomacromolecules and minerals)
the ratios tend to require large numbers,
and are frequently represented as a
fraction.

The law of definite composition and the

law of multiple proportions are the first
two of the three laws of stoichiometry, the
proportions by which the chemical
elements combine to form chemical
compounds. The third law of
stoichiometry is the law of reciprocal
proportions, which provides the basis for
establishing equivalent weights for each
chemical element. Elemental equivalent
weights can then be used to derive atomic
weights for each element.
More modern laws of chemistry define the
relationship between energy and its
transformations.

Reaction kinetics and equilibria

In equilibrium, molecules exist in
mixture defined by the transformations
possible on the timescale of the
equilibrium, and are in a ratio defined by
the intrinsic energy of the molecules—
the lower the intrinsic energy, the more
abundant the molecule. Le Chatelier's
principle states that the system
opposes changes in conditions from
equilibrium states, i.e. there is an
opposition to change the state of an
equilibrium reaction.
Transforming one structure to another
requires the input of energy to cross an
energy barrier; this can come from the
intrinsic energy of the molecules
themselves, or from an external source
which will generally accelerate
transformations. The higher the energy
barrier, the slower the transformation
occurs.
There is a hypothetical intermediate, or
transition structure, that corresponds to
the structure at the top of the energy
barrier. The Hammond–Leffler postulate
states that this structure looks most
similar to the product or starting
material which has intrinsic energy
closest to that of the energy barrier.
Stabilizing this hypothetical
intermediate through chemical
interaction is one way to achieve
catalysis.
All chemical processes are reversible
(law of microscopic reversibility)
although some processes have such an
energy bias, they are essentially
irreversible.
The reaction rate has the mathematical
parameter known as the rate constant.
The Arrhenius equation gives the
temperature and activation energy
dependence of the rate constant, an
empirical law.
Thermochemistry
Dulong–Petit law
Gibbs–Helmholtz equation
Hess's law
Gas laws
Raoult's law
Henry's law
Chemical transport
Fick's laws of diffusion
Graham's law
Lamm equation
Laws of biology

Ecology

Competitive exclusion principle or

Gause's law

Genetics

Mendelian laws (Dominance and

Uniformity, segregation of genes, and
Independent Assortment)
Hardy–Weinberg principle

Natural selection

Whether or not Natural Selection is a “law

of nature” is controversial among
biologists.[17][18] Henry Byerly, an American
philosopher known for his work on
evolutionary theory, discussed the problem
of interpreting a principle of natural
selection as a law. He suggested a
formulation of natural selection as a
framework principle that can contribute to
a better understanding of evolutionary
theory.[18] His approach was to express
relative fitness, the propensity of a
genotype to increase in proportionate
representation in a competitive
environment, as a function of adaptedness
(adaptive design) of the organism.
Laws of Earth Sciences

Geography

Arbia's law of geography

Tobler's first law of geography
Tobler's second law of geography

Geology

Archie's law
Buys-Ballot's law
Birch's law
Byerlee's law
Principle of original horizontality
Law of superposition
 Principle of lateral continuity
Principle of cross-cutting relationships
Principle of faunal succession
Principle of inclusions and components
Walther's law

Other fields
Some mathematical theorems and axioms
are referred to as laws because they
provide logical foundation to empirical
laws.

Examples of other observed phenomena

sometimes described as laws include the
Titius–Bode law of planetary positions,
Zipf's law of linguistics, and Moore's law of
technological growth. Many of these laws
fall within the scope of uncomfortable
science. Other laws are pragmatic and
observational, such as the law of
unintended consequences. By analogy,
principles in other fields of study are
sometimes loosely referred to as "laws".
These include Occam's razor as a principle
of philosophy and the Pareto principle of
economics.

History
The observation and detection of
underlying regularities in nature date from
prehistoric times - the recognition of
cause-and-effect relationships implicitly
recognises the existence of laws of
nature. The recognition of such
regularities as independent scientific laws
per se, though, was limited by their
entanglement in animism, and by the
attribution of many effects that do not
have readily obvious causes—such as
physical phenomena—to the actions of
gods, spirits, supernatural beings, etc.
Observation and speculation about nature
were intimately bound up with
metaphysics and morality.

In Europe, systematic theorizing about

nature (physis) began with the early Greek
philosophers and scientists and continued
into the Hellenistic and Roman imperial
periods, during which times the intellectual
influence of Roman law increasingly
became paramount.

The formula "law of nature" first

appears as "a live metaphor"
favored by Latin poets
Lucretius, Virgil, Ovid, Manilius,
in time gaining a firm
theoretical presence in the prose
treatises of Seneca and Pliny.
Why this Roman origin?
According to [historian and
classicist Daryn] Lehoux's
persuasive narrative,[19] the idea
was made possible by the pivotal
role of codified law and forensic
argument in Roman life and
culture.

For the Romans . . . the place par

excellence where ethics, law,
nature, religion and politics
overlap is the law court. When
we read Seneca's Natural
Questions, and watch again and
again just how he applies
standards of evidence, witness
evaluation, argument and proof,
we can recognize that we are
reading one of the great Roman
rhetoricians of the age,
thoroughly immersed in forensic
method. And not Seneca alone.
Legal models of scientific
judgment turn up all over the
place, and for example prove
equally integral to Ptolemy's
approach to verification, where
the mind is assigned the role of
magistrate, the senses that of
 disclosure of evidence, and
dialectical reason that of the law
itself.[20]

The precise formulation of what are now

recognized as modern and valid
statements of the laws of nature dates
from the 17th century in Europe, with the
beginning of accurate experimentation
and the development of advanced forms
of mathematics. During this period, natural
philosophers such as Isaac Newton (1642-
1727) were influenced by a religious view -
stemming from medieval concepts of
divine law - which held that God had
instituted absolute, universal and
immutable physical laws.[21][22] In chapter
7 of The World, René Descartes (1596-
1650) described "nature" as matter itself,
unchanging as created by God, thus
changes in parts "are to be attributed to
nature. The rules according to which these
changes take place I call the 'laws of
nature'."[23] The modern scientific method
which took shape at this time (with Francis
Bacon (1561-1626) and Galileo (1564-
1642)) contributed to a trend of separating
science from theology, with minimal
speculation about metaphysics and ethics.
(Natural law in the political sense,
conceived as universal (i.e., divorced from
sectarian religion and accidents of place),
was also elaborated in this period by
scholars such as Grotius (1583-1645),
Spinoza (1632-1677), and Hobbes (1588-
1679).)

The distinction between natural law in the

political-legal sense and law of nature or
physical law in the scientific sense is a
modern one, both concepts being equally
derived from physis, the Greek word
(translated into Latin as natura) for
nature.[24]

See also
Empirical research
Empirical statistical laws
 Formula
List of laws
Law (principle)
Nomology
Philosophy of science
Physical constant
Scientific laws named after people
Theory

References
1. "law of nature" (https://oed.com/search?se
archType=dictionary&q=law+of+nature) .
Oxford English Dictionary (Online ed.).
Oxford University Press. (Subscription or
participating institution membership (https://
 www.oed.com/public/login/loggingin#withyo
urlibrary) required.)

2. William F. McComas (30 December 2013).

The Language of Science Education: An
Expanded Glossary of Key Terms and
Concepts in Science Teaching and Learning
(https://books.google.com/books?id=aXzG
BAAAQBAJ) . Springer Science & Business
Media. p. 58. ISBN 978-94-6209-497-0.

3. "Definitions from" (http://ncse.com/evolutio

n/education/definitions-fact-theory-law-scie
ntific-work) . the NCSE. Retrieved
2019-03-18.
4. "The Role of Theory in Advancing 21st
Century Biology: Catalyzing Transformative
Research" (http://dels.nas.edu/resources/st
atic-assets/materials-based-on-reports/rep
orts-in-brief/role_of_theory_final.pdf)
(PDF). Report in Brief. The National
Academy of Sciences. 2007.

5. Gould, Stephen Jay (1981-05-01). "Evolution

as Fact and Theory" (http://www.inf.fu-berli
n.de/lehre/pmo/eng/Gould-Fact&Theory.pd
f) (PDF). Discover. 2 (5): 34–37.
6. Honderich, Bike, ed. (1995), "Laws, natural
or scientific", Oxford Companion to
Philosophy (https://archive.org/details/oxfo
rdcompaniont00hond/page/474) , Oxford:
Oxford University Press, pp. 474–476 (http
s://archive.org/details/oxfordcompaniont0
0hond/page/474) , ISBN 0-19-866132-0

7. "Law of nature" (https://oed.com/search?se

archType=dictionary&q=Law+of+nature) .
Oxford English Dictionary (Online ed.).
Oxford University Press. (Subscription or
participating institution membership (https://
www.oed.com/public/login/loggingin#withyo
urlibrary) required.)
8. Davies, Paul (2005). The mind of God : the
scientific basis for a rational world (https://
archive.org/details/mindof_dav_1992_00_1
584) (1st Simon & Schuster pbk. ed.). New
York: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 978-0-671-
79718-8.

9. Feynman, Richard (1994). The character of

physical law (Modern Library ed.). New
York: Modern Library. ISBN 978-0-679-
60127-2.
10. Frisch, Mathias (May 2014). "Laws in
Physics | European Review | Cambridge
Core" (https://doi.org/10.1017%2FS106279
8713000768) . European Review. 22 (S1):
S33–S49.
doi:10.1017/S1062798713000768 (https://
doi.org/10.1017%2FS106279871300076
8) . S2CID 122262641 (https://api.semantic
scholar.org/CorpusID:122262641) .

11. Andrew S. C. Ehrenberg (1993), "Even the

Social Sciences Have Laws (http://www.nat
ure.com/nature/journal/v365/n6445/pdf/3
65385a0.pdf) ", Nature, 365:6445 (30),
page 385.(subscription required)

12. Feynman Lectures on Physics: Volume 2,

R.P. Feynman, R.B. Leighton, M. Sands,
Addison-Wesley, 1964, ISBN 0-201-02117-X
13. Encyclopaedia of Physics (2nd Edition),
R.G. Lerner, G.L. Trigg, VHC Publishers,
1991, ISBN (Verlagsgesellschaft) 3-527-
26954-1 (VHC Inc.) 0-89573-752-3

14. Classical Mechanics, T.W.B. Kibble,

European Physics Series, McGraw-Hill (UK),
1973, ISBN 0-07-084018-0

15. Gravitation and Inertia, I. Ciufolini and J.A.

Wheeler, Princeton Physics Series, 1995,
ISBN 0-691-03323-4

16. 2.^ Classical Mechanics, T.W.B. Kibble,

European Physics Series, McGraw-Hill (UK),
1973, ISBN 0-07-084018-0

17. Reed ES: The lawfulness of natural

selection. Am Nat. 1981; 118(1): 61–71.
18. Byerly HC: Natural selection as a law:
Principles and processes. Am Nat. 1983;
121(5): 739–745.

19. in Daryn Lehoux, What Did the Romans

Know? An Inquiry into Science and
Worldmaking (Chicago: University of
Chicago Press, 2012), reviewed by David
Sedley, "When Nature Got its Laws", Times
Literary Supplement (12 October 2012).

20. Sedley, "When Nature Got Its Laws", Times

Literary Supplement (12 October 2012).
21. Davies, Paul (2007-11-24). "Taking Science
on Faith" (https://www.nytimes.com/2007/
11/24/opinion/24davies.html) . The New
York Times. ISSN 0362-4331 (https://www.
worldcat.org/issn/0362-4331) . Retrieved
2016-10-07. "Isaac Newton first got the
idea of absolute, universal, perfect,
immutable laws from the Christian doctrine
that God created the world and ordered it in
a rational way."
22. Harrison, Peter (8 May 2012). "Christianity
and the rise of western science" (http://ww
w.abc.net.au/religion/articles/2012/05/08/
3498202.htm) . ABC. "Individuals such as
Galileo, Johannes Kepler, Rene Descartes
and Isaac Newton were convinced that
mathematical truths were not the products
of human minds, but of the divine mind.
God was the source of mathematical
relations that were evident in the new laws
of the universe."

23. "Cosmological Revolution V: Descartes and

Newton" (http://bertie.ccsu.edu/naturesci/
Cosmology/Cosmo5Newton.html) .
bertie.ccsu.edu. Retrieved 2016-11-17.
24. Some modern philosophers, e.g. Norman
Swartz, use "physical law" to mean the laws
of nature as they truly are and not as they
are inferred by scientists. See Norman
Swartz, The Concept of Physical Law (New
York: Cambridge University Press), 1985.
Second edition available online [1] (https://
www.sfu.ca/philosophy/physical-law/) .

Further reading
John Barrow (1991). Theories of Everything:
The Quest for Ultimate Explanations. (ISBN 0-
449-90738-4)
Dilworth, Craig (2007). "Appendix IV. On the
nature of scientific laws and theories".
Scientific progress : a study concerning the
nature of the relation between successive
scientific theories (4th ed.). Dordrecht:
Springer Verlag. ISBN 978-1-4020-6353-4.
Francis Bacon (1620). Novum Organum.
Hanzel, Igor (1999). The concept of scientific
law in the philosophy of science and
epistemology : a study of theoretical reason.
Dordrecht [u.a.]: Kluwer. ISBN 978-0-7923-
5852-7.
Daryn Lehoux (2012). What Did the Romans
Know? An Inquiry into Science and
Worldmaking. University of Chicago Press.
(ISBN 9780226471143)
Nagel, Ernest (1984). "5. Experimental laws
and theories". The structure of science
problems in the logic of scientific explanation
(2nd ed.). Indianapolis: Hackett. ISBN 978-0-
915144-71-6.
 R. Penrose (2007). The Road to Reality.
Vintage books. ISBN 978-0-679-77631-4.
Swartz, Norman (20 February 2009). "Laws
of Nature" (http://www.iep.utm.edu/lawofna
t/) . Internet encyclopedia of philosophy.
Retrieved 7 May 2012.

External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related
to Scientific laws.
Physics Formulary (http://www.xs4all.n
l/~johanw/contents.html) , a useful
book in different formats containing
many or the physical laws and formulae.
Eformulae.com (http://www.eformulae.c
om/) , website containing most of the
formulae in different disciplines.
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy:
"Laws of Nature" (http://plato.stanford.e
du/entries/laws-of-nature/) by John W.
Carroll.
Baaquie, Belal E. "Laws of Physics : A
Primer" (http://www.srikant.org/core/ph
y11sep.html) . Core Curriculum,
National University of Singapore.
Francis, Erik Max. "The laws list". (http://
www.alcyone.com/max/physics/law
s/) . Physics (http://www.alcyone.com/
max/physics/) . Alcyone Systems
Pazameta, Zoran. "The laws of nature".
(http://www.csicop.org/si/show/laws_of
 _nature_a_skeptics_guide) Committee
for the scientific investigation of Claims
of the Paranormal.
The Internet Encyclopedia of
Philosophy. "Laws of Nature" (http://ww
w.utm.edu/research/iep/l/lawofnat.ht
m) – By Norman Swartz
"Laws of Nature" (https://www.bbc.co.u
k/programmes/p00546x5) , In Our Time,
BBC Radio 4 discussion with Mark
Buchanan, Frank Close and Nancy
Cartwright (Oct. 19, 2000)

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