A theory is what in the following

Question

A. Sometimes can be a proposal that is almost certainly true 

B. Cannot be relied upon as truth 

C. Never needs to be tested

D. Is more of a guess than anything else

E. None of the above

Answer 1

Hello! I apologize for being particular, but gravity is a scientific law. Many scientific laws are observable phenomena that can be summarized in a few sentences or even equations, yet may dictate physical reality in rigid ways. You could drop an apple 1 million times and every single trial will result in the apple falling to the floor. Hypothetically, in a future trial the apple could float up! But this has never been observed and recorded in human history, so it is beyond safe to assume gravity is always in play. A scientific theory, on the other hand, is often proposed to explain a process or series of observations. They are testable as well. In fact, in order for a proposed scientific theory to become accepted, it must be tested rigorously and many times. Evolution, for example, is a theory. It informs and explains everything we know about biology. Just because it is a theory, however, does not make it only 'probably' true. It is easily tested and the evidence for it is overwhelming. We could do a simple experiment with a culture of bacteria in a high school lab that leaves little doubt evolution exists. Scientists in general like to avoid absolutes, likely in part due to how many times in history accepted beliefs were turned on their head and shown to be totally wrong. Sorry my response was so long, but I hope it helps.

Answer 2

It might surprise you that many familiar concepts, like gravity, are technically theories. The nature of scientific inquiry makes room for theories, hypotheses, and conclusions, but technically there are no absolute truths. We devise experiments with hypotheses to test our theories, and decide based on the results whether the theory is supported or not. Having said that, though, we wouldn't jump off a cliff just because gravity is a theory. We know that there is overwhelming evidence to support the theory of gravity, and so we can rely upon it as probably true. I believe the correct answer is therefore A.