Scientific Method


Scientific Method

The scientific method is a systematic approach used by scientists to investigate the natural world. It involves observation, formulating testable questions, creating hypotheses, conducting experiments, collecting and analyzing data, and drawing conclusions. This process is dynamic and self-correcting, allowing for the accumulation of knowledge about the natural world.

Models

  • A model is a representation of an idea, event, structure, or object that helps people better understand it.

  • Scientist use models when an object that is too large or too small, a process that takes too much time to see completely, or a material that is hazardous.

  • Ex.Quantum Model of the Atom , Gravitational Field Model,and Ray Model of Light

Scientific theory

  • is an explanation of things or events based on knowledge gained from many observations and investigations.

  • This is not a hypothesis, this is what a hypothesis becomes after numerous trials of data supporting the hypothesis.

  • A theory is never permanent, it can change as new data and information

Scientific law

  • A scientific law is a statement about what happens in nature and seems to be true all the time.

  • Laws tell you what will happen under certain conditions, but they do not explain why or how something happens.

  • Ex. Newton's laws of motion , Law of conservation of energy, Second Law of Thermodynamics, and Coulomb's law for electric charge objects

Controlled group and experimental group

  • The control group represents the baseline or reference condition and is subjected to the normal or unchanged physical environment or conditions.

  • The experimental group is exposed to the specific physical conditions or factors being investigated.

  • Example: In an experiment studying the effect of temperature on the expansion of a material, the control group might be kept at a constant room temperature while the experimental group is subjected to varying temperatures.

Independent and Dependent Variables

  • The independent variable is the factor that the researcher deliberately manipulates or changes in the experiment.

  • The dependent variable is the factor that is observed, measured, or affected as a result of changes in the independent variable.

  • Example: In an experiment studying the effect of temperature on the expansion of a material, the independent variable is the temperature and the dependent variable is the expansion of the material.