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FSC 112
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
 Outlines
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➢ Science and technology

➢ Scientific methods
➢ Hypothesis, theory and laws with
appropriate examples.
➢ Nature of matter, the four states of matter.
 SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
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➢ What is Science?
➢ Science is about discovering new things about
nature, and about how nature works.
➢ Science is an exciting and dynamic process for
discovering about nature and the universe and
incorporating the knowledge into powerful and
coherent frameworks.
 SCIENCE IS
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➢ Learning new facts.

▪ For instance, how plants grow, constituents of
petroleum, why rain falls.
➢ Science is solving problems.
▪ Asking questions, collecting information, finding
answers.
➢ Science is inventing new things.
▪ Television, Laptops, new phones,
 SCIENCE IS
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❖ The process of science is exciting, complex, and

unpredictable.
❖ It involves many different people, engaged in
many different activities, in many different orders.
❖ Science is based on fact, not opinion or
preferences.
 TECHNOLOGY
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❖ Technology is the practical application of science

❖ Technology is the application of scientifically gained
knowledge for practical purposes.
❖ Technology is about using scientific discoveries to
make (hopefully) practical structures and devices for
society.
❖ Technology is used to advance scientific knowledge.
 TECHNOLOGY
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❖ Technology is the innovation, change, or

modification of the natural environment in order to
satisfy perceived human wants and needs.
❖ Technology is the process by which humans
modify nature to meet their needs and wants.
 THE SCIENTIFIC METHODS
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❖ What is the scientific method?

➢ The scientific method is a logical, systematic approach to
the solution of a scientific problem.
➢ In science NOTHING (well, hardly anything) is ever
“proven once and for all”.
➢ The success of science has more to do with an attitude
common to scientists than with a particular method.
➢ This attitude is one of inquiry, experimentation, and
humility before the facts.
 THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD
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❖ What is steps in the scientific method?

❖ Steps in the scientific method include observing things,
proposing and testing hypotheses, and developing
theories.
 OBSERVATION
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❖ An observation is something you notice.

❖May be casual or even accidental

❖May be formal - experimental data are observations.

❖ Not all observations are correct - people make mistakes.
 SCIENTIFIC OBSERVATIONS
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❖ The primary way we have to tell if an observation

is correct is to repeat it, and have other competent
people repeat it.
❖ Therefore, scientific observations must be
repeatable.
❖ Non-repeatable observations are called “anecdotal

evidence”.
 THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD
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❖ Make an observation or observations.

➢ We observed to know the properties of things. We use our
senses- taste, smell, touch, hearing and sight.
➢ When
you use your senses to obtain information, you make
an observation.
❖ Ask questions about the observations and gather
information.
❖ Form a hypothesis — a tentative description of what's
been observed, and make predictions based on that
hypothesis.
 THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD
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❖ Test the hypothesis and predictions in an experiment

that can be reproduced.
❖ Analyze the data and draw conclusions; accept or reject
the hypothesis.
❖ Reproduce the experiment until there are no
discrepancies between observations and theory.
 THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD
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➢ 1. ASK A QUESTION
❖Develop a question or problem that can be solved through
experimentation.
❖The scientific method starts when you ask a question about
something that you observe: How, What, When, Who,
Which, Why, or Where?
➢ 2. BACKGROUND RESEARCH
❖Rather than starting from scratch in putting together a
plan for answering a question, research can help one find
the best way to do things and ensure not to repeat
mistakes from the past.
 THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD

➢ 3. HYPOTHESIS
❖A hypothesis is an educated guess about why something happens.
❖ It is an attempt to answer a question that can be
tested. A good hypothesis allows one to make a
prediction:
"If _____[I do this] _____, then _____[this]_____ will
happen."
 THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD

➢ 4. Test Your Hypothesis by Doing an Experiment:

❖Experiment tells whether prediction is accurate
and the hypothesis is supported or not.
❖ Experiments should be repeated several times to
make sure that the first results are not by accident.
 THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD

➢ 5. ANALYZE YOUR DATA AND DRAW A CONCLUSION

❖analyze the data to see if they support the hypothesis or
not.
❖If predictions are accurate and the hypothesis is
supported, communicate the results
❖If predictions are not accurate and the hypothesis is not
supported, communicate the results of the experiment and
then go back and construct a new hypothesis and
prediction based on the information learned during the
 THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD

➢ 6. COMMUNICATE YOUR RESULTS

❖To complete a science fair project, results must be
communicated to others in a final report and/or a display
board or publishing the final report in a scientific journal or
by presenting on a poster or during a talk at a scientific
meeting.
❖In science, findings are communicated regardless of whether
or not they support your original hypothesis.
 THINKING LIKE A SCIENTIST

❖ Observation
➢Suppose you try to turn on a flashlight and you notice that
it does not light.
❖ Testing Hypotheses
➢Ifyou guess that the batteries in a flashlight are dead,
you are making a hypothesis.
➢A hypothesis is a proposed explanation for an
observation.
 What is a hypothesis?

A. information obtained from an experiment

B. a proposed explanation for observations

C. a concise statement that summarizes the results of many

experiments

D. a thoroughly tested model

 What is a hypothesis?

A. information obtained from an experiment

B. a proposed explanation for observations

C. a concise statement that summarizes the results of many

experiments

D. a thoroughly tested model

 THINKING LIKE A SCIENTIST

❖ Testing Hypotheses
➢ Replacing the batteries is an experiment, a procedure that
is used to test a hypothesis.
➢ The variable that you change during an experiment is the
independent variable, also called the manipulated
variable.
➢ The variable that is observed during the experiment is the
dependent variable, also called the responding variable.
 THINKING LIKE A SCIENTIST

❖ Testing Hypotheses
➢For the results of an experiment to be accepted, the
experiment must produce the same result no matter
how many times it is repeated, or by whom.
➢Hence the reason why scientists are expected to
publish a description of their procedures along with
their results.
 Collaboration and Communication

➢ What role do collaboration and communication

play in science?
✓ No matter how talented the players on a team
may be, one player cannot ensure victory for the
team.

✓ Individuals must collaborate, or work together,

for the good of the team.
 THINKING LIKE A SCIENTIST

❖ Testing Hypotheses
➢Sometimes the experiment a scientist must
perform to test a hypothesis is difficult or
impossible.
➢For example, atoms and molecules, which are some
of the smallest units of matter, cannot be easily seen.
➢Models are used to study chemical reactions and
processes by chemists
 THINKING LIKE A SCIENTIST

❖ Developing Theories
➢Once a hypothesis meets the test of repeated
experimentation, it may be raised to a higher level
of ideas.
➢It may become a theory.
➢A theory is a well-tested explanation for a broad
set of observations.
 THINKING LIKE A SCIENTIST

❖ Developing Theories
➢When scientists say that a theory can never be
proved, they are not saying that a theory is
unreliable.
➢It implies that a theory may need to be changed at
some point in the future to explain new observations
or experimental results.
Hypothesis, Theory, and Law ?
 HYPOTHESIS
➢ A hypothesis is a prediction that can be tested or an educated
guess.
➢ A hypothesis is a tentative explanation or idea about how
things work.
➢ A hypothesis is a statement that can be tested.

➢ It describes what you expect will happen in your study. It is a

tentative statement that proposes a possible explanation to

some events.
 HYPOTHESIS

➢ A scientific hypothesis must be testable by observation

– there must be observations that we can make to tell
whether the hypothesis is correct or not.

➢ A hypothesis that is not testable is called “speculation”.

 HYPOTHESIS

➢ Hypotheses play a strong role in the scientific method.

➢ Where you formulate a question, make a testable prediction,

test, and then analyze the data.

➢ Hypothesis needs to be tested and retested many times before

it is generally accepted in the scientific community as being

true.
➢ It guides you in further work to get a better answer.
 THEORY

➢ A scientific theory consists of one or more hypotheses

that have been supported with repeated testing.
➢ A scientific theory is NOT a wild guess.

➢ It must be consistent with known experimental results

and it must have predictive power.

 THEORY

➢ As new knowledge is gained, theories are refined to

better explain the data.

➢ Theories are widely accepted in the scientific

community as being true.
 THEORY

❖ To remain a theory, it must never be shown to be

wrong; if it is, the theory is disproven (this also
happens).
❖ Theories can also evolve. This means the old theory
wasn’t wrong, but it wasn’t complete either.
 THEORY

➢ Within the context of science, a theory is a well-substantiated

explanation of some aspect of the natural world, based on a
body of facts that have been repeatedly confirmed
through observation and experiment.
➢ Further, a scientific theory must be able to be used to make

predictions about natural events and phenomena that are

consistently accurate.
 SCIENTIFIC THEORIES

➢ A simple way of thinking about a theory is that it is what we

use to explain the facts we observe in the world.
➢ As experimental evidence (observations) accumulates, we
can become more confident that a hypothesis is true.

➢ A theory is a synthesis (powerful combination) of well-

tested hypotheses.
 THEORY

➢ Scientific theories tend to explain why scientific laws

operate the way they do - theories are often called “models”.

➢ The theory of evolution

➢ The theory of relativity
➢ The atomic theory
➢ The quantum theory

➢ Physical theories tend to be highly mathematical in nature.

 SCIENTIFIC LAWS

➢ A scientific law is a powerful summary of many facts.

➢ Laws describe what happens, they don’t generally
explain why they happen.
➢ Laws can often be expressed very conveniently and

concisely in mathematical form.

 LAW

➢ A law, within the context of science, is a statement that is based on

repeated experimental observation that describes some aspect of
natural phenomenon.

➢ As such, laws are often expressed using mathematics.

➢ It should be noted that a theory can never be “upgraded” to a law as

they are completely different things.

➢ Theories and laws may have to be replaced as new evidence

becomes available.
 LAW

➢ A law is a mathematical relationship that is consistently

found to be true.
➢ Laws generally rely on a concise mathematical equation
OFTEN expressed in a single expression.

➢ PV=nRT, Ideal gas law

➢ A=Єbc, Beer’s law
 LAW

➢ Laws are accepted as being universal and are the

cornerstones of science.

➢ Some examples of scientific laws (also called the laws

of nature) include the laws of thermodynamics,
Boyle’s law of gases, Avogadro’s law, etc.
How are these concepts related to each other?

Theories

Hypotheses Laws
 HYPOTHESIS, THEORY, AND LAW

❖ A theory is more like a scientific law than a

hypothesis.

❖ A theory is an explanation of a set of related

observations or events based upon proven
hypotheses and verified multiple times by
detached groups of researchers.
 HYPOTHESIS, THEORY, AND LAW

❖ A law governs a single action, whereas a

theory explains an entire group of related
phenomena.

❖ One scientist cannot create a theory; he/she

can only create a hypothesis.
 HYPOTHESIS, THEORY, AND LAW

➢ A scientific hypothesis is a testable explanation about

some phenomenon.

➢ This could range from an explanation as to why apples

fall from trees to why homo-sapiens walk on upright on
two legs and well beyond.
 Of Hypothesis, Theory, and Law

➢ A theory is simply the most elaborate form of

consistent scientific knowledge.

➢ A theory is a synthesis (powerful combination) of well-

tested hypotheses.
➢ In experimental sciences, a theory can never be

"proved", it can only be "disproved" by experiment

 PROBLEM

not yet
HYPOTHESIS tested

EXPERIMENT
EXPERIMENTS
EXPERIMENTS
EXPERIMENTS
well-
supported
THEORY LAW
L A W (fact)
When proven that it
always works

THEORY
When supported
over time

HYPOTHESIS
 Laws Theories
Ideal gas law: PV=nRT Kinetic molecular theory: Matter consists
Describes the relationship between pressure, of tiny particles in constant motion, whose
volume, moles, and temperature of a gas. speed is proportional to the absolute
temperature. Explains gas laws.

Law of conservation of matter: First clearly Atomic theory: All matter is composed of
stated by 18th century chemist Antoine elements made from indestructible particles
Lavoisier, this law describes that in a closed called atoms. Explains why matter is
system, matter is neither created or destroyed. conserved in chemical reactions.

Newton’s second law of motion: F=ma Theory of plate tectonics: Earth’s crust is
Describes the relationship between force, mass, divided into plates that move. Explains why
and acceleration. earthquakes and volcanoes occur in certain zones.
 Thinking Science

➢ Scientists observe nature, then develop or revise

hypotheses about how things work.
➢ The hypotheses are tested against evidence collected

from observations and experiments.

➢ Any hypothesis that correctly accounts for all of the

evidence from the observations and experiments is a

potentially correct theory.
 Thinking Science

➢ A theory is continually tested by collecting new and

different evidence.
➢ One piece of evidence that does not agree with a

theory forces scientists to return to step one.

 Thinking Science

❖ Why are articles in scientific journals the most reliable source

of information about new scientific discoveries?

➢ A. The articles are reviewed by experts in the author’s field.

➢ B. Any article that is submitted is published.

➢ C. Everyone has access to the information.

➢ D. The articles are short and easy to read.

 Thinking Science

❖ Why are articles in scientific journals the most reliable source

of information about new scientific discoveries?

➢ A. The articles are reviewed by experts in the author’s field.

➢ B. Any article that is submitted is published.

➢ C. Everyone has access to the information.

➢ D. The articles are short and easy to read.

 Thinking Science

➢ The figure below shows how scientific experiments can

lead to laws as well as theories.
Observations Hypothesis Experiments Theory
A hypothesis may be An experiment can lead to A theory is tested by more
revised based on observations that support or experiments
experimental data. disprove a hypothesis. and modified if necessary.

Scientific Law
A scientific law summarizes the
results of many observations and
experiments.
The Scientific Method