Practice question · Sort into groups
Sort each statement: is it a testable hypothesis or not?
Groups: Testable hypothesis · Not testable
- The ball falls because it is its nature to fall
- This lab setup is elegant
- Air resistance reduces this projectile’s range by more than 5%
- Doubling the pendulum length increases its period by a factor of √2
Hints
- A hypothesis earns the name only if some conceivable measurement could prove it wrong.
- "Its nature to fall" predicts nothing measurable, no experiment could contradict it.
Show the answer
Testable hypothesis: Doubling the pendulum length increases its period by a factor of √2, Air resistance reduces this projectile’s range by more than 5%
Not testable: This lab setup is elegant, The ball falls because it is its nature to fall
Why
Falsifiability is the entry ticket to science: a real hypothesis sticks its neck out with a measurable prediction. Statements of taste or circular "explanations" cannot lose, and therefore cannot teach us anything.
Practise Scientific Method and Experimental Design
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