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A scientific law is not a law in the sense that it must be obeyed. It is a law by virtue of the fact that no one has yet found an instance where the law does not hold. A scientific law, despite its apparent immutability, is still only a theory and can never be proven since, as Karl Popper demonstrated, one can make observe a thousand swans and then make a law saying that all swans are white, but the first example of a black swan will invalidate that law.

Gravity follows this example in that no one has yet found an instance where the universal law of gravitation has not held true, but that does not mean that in some distant corner of the universe or some billion years in the past or future the law of gravitation must hold true.

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Is gravity an example of a scientific law?

Gravity is a fundamental force of nature, not a scientific law. Scientific laws describe how nature behaves under certain conditions, while gravity is a force that causes objects to be attracted to each other. The law that describes gravity is Newton's law of universal gravitation.


Define a scientific law and give an example?

A scientific law is a statement that describes a consistent relationship observed in nature without providing an explanation for why the relationship occurs. For example, Newton's Law of Universal Gravitation states that every mass attracts every other mass in the universe with a force proportional to the product of their masses and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them.


How are a theory and scientific law the same?

A theory is a hypothesis that been tested and proven correct every time; a scientific law is a formula that embodies the principle of that theory in symbols, constants and units. For example, Newton's law of gravity says that the force of gravity between two objects is proportional to the product of the two masses and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them. In formula, Fg = GMm/d2


The statement The law of gravity has held every day of your life therefore you expect the law of gravity to hold tomorrow is an example of?

This statement is an example of inductive reasoning, where a general principle is inferred based on specific observations or experiences. The assumption is that because the law of gravity has held true in the past, it will continue to hold in the future.


How is Scientific law and scientific theory diffrent?

A scientific law is the description of a recurring event that occurs in nature. A scientific theory is an explanation of the law. The law does not change, but the theory may change when new data indicate that it needs to.

Related Questions

What is an example of a scientific law?

One example of scientific law, is The Law Of Gravity.


What is a example of scientific law?

One example of scientific law, is The Law Of Gravity.


Does a scientific law become a scientific theory?

A theory, when proven over time, can become a law. Example: Law of Gravity and Theory of Evolution


Is gravity an example of a scientific law?

Gravity is a fundamental force of nature, not a scientific law. Scientific laws describe how nature behaves under certain conditions, while gravity is a force that causes objects to be attracted to each other. The law that describes gravity is Newton's law of universal gravitation.


An example of a scientific law?

The acceleration of gravity is 9.8 meters per second squared A+ students


What is the difference in theory and scientific law?

A scientific law is an indisputable fact: there are no observances dictating it. For example, gravity is a scientific law. A scientific theory is simply a generally accepted explanation for a particular phenomenon or idea that cannot currently be proven or disproven. The structure of the atom and evolution are theories.


Give an example of scientific explanation that regards a scientific consensus?

becuase of the gravity


Why is the law of gravity a scientific law- not a scientific theory?

In general, a scientific theory is a proposed explanation that has not been fully proven yet, while a law is a theory that has been proven to be true by lots of experimentation. The theory of Gravity has been tested and shown to be correct so much that it is at this point clearly a scientific law.


Why is gravity example of a scientific law?

Actually gravity is not a law; it's a fundamental force of nature. One of four. The other three are electro-magnetic, strong nuclear, and weak nuclear forces. There are gravity laws that describe how gravity works however. The most popular one is Newton's Law of Gravity that states the force of gravity is proportional to the product of the target and source mass, and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between the two masses. It is a scientific law because it was based on scientific data and observation by Isaac newton. And it results have been repeatedly validated by scientific experiment. We can write the law as F = kMm/r^2; where k is the proportionality constant, m and M are the two masses, and r is the distance between them.


How would you distinguish a scientific theory from from a scientific law?

A scientific law is something that has been proved again and again under experimentation, and is always true. A scientific theory is an educated guess made based off of a group of data that is not proven to be true. For example, Newton's Laws are scientific laws since they have been proven to be always true. The theory of gravity is a scientific theory because gravity itself has not been completely proven to exist.


A black hole is the ultimate example of what law?

The law of gravity.


What is the difference between scientific law and state law?

Scientific Law is proven by the demoonstration of an irrefutable fact - for instance The Law of Gravity. Legal law refers to the body of man-made statutes passed by mankind in order to govern and control civilization and humanity.