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Subject:
Atoms and scientific law
Category: Science > Chemistry Asked by: mattka-ga List Price: $12.00 |
Posted:
29 Nov 2005 08:43 PST
Expires: 06 Dec 2005 06:51 PST Question ID: 599004 |
The nuclei of a limited number of atoms are investigated to determine the number of protons and neutrons in each. The following table summarizes the results: helium 2 protons, 2 neutrons carbon 6 protons, 6 neutrons nitrogen 7 protons, 7 neutrons a. Form a scientific law based on these limited measurements. b. What other measurements could be carried out to further confirm this law? c. Devise a theory that would explain your law. d. How would the following results affect your theory and your law? uranium 92 protons, 143 neutrons chromium 24 protons, 28 neutrons |
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There is no answer at this time. |
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Subject:
Re: Atoms and scientific law
From: hfshaw-ga on 29 Nov 2005 11:29 PST |
Google Answers discourages and may remove questions that are homework or exam assignments. |
Subject:
Re: Atoms and scientific law
From: mattka-ga on 29 Nov 2005 12:06 PST |
I did not see this condition in the "Terms of Service" agreement. |
Subject:
Re: Atoms and scientific law
From: mattka-ga on 29 Nov 2005 12:08 PST |
Oh, I almost forgot. The answers given to me I will treat as copyrighted material and will only use as a reference. Thank you. |
Subject:
Re: Atoms and scientific law
From: frankcorrao-ga on 29 Nov 2005 13:43 PST |
Well, probably no one is going to do your work for you, but I'm sure plenty of people would be happy to explain (for free) what the question is trying to accomplish. This is a great questions, especially in these times where non-science like intelligent design is all over the place. Understanding this questions will help you understand why scientists don't like ID. You might be intimidated by it because at first blush it might seem like it's asking you to postulate some grand scientific theory. That is not the idea. This is about understanding the scientific method. It's not important that your theory be correct (in fact, it almost certainly won't be). What is important is that you understand what makes a "scientific theory" different than a fanciful explanation. What you need to do to answer this question is: 1) Examine the current data (the 3 initial observations) 2) Look for a pattern in the data (this will be your "law") --Now a big key to what makes something "scientific". Your law, and subsequent theory behind the law (just a best guess as to why your law is true) must be falsifiable. That is to say there must be a way to test it such that the test can fail. If the test fails, your theory and law are rejected. If the test passes, your theory and law are not rejected. You law and theory they can never be proved, only not rejected. The more predictions made and the more confirming observations, the more established your law and theory become (though never proved!). So that leads to: 3)What predictions does your law imply? What else can you observe to see if your law (the pattern you found in the data) is rejected? 4)The answer is strongly hinted at because they actually give you a set of future observations! Were those new observations predicted by your theory/law? If not, your theory/law is rejected as currently stated. It can be totally discared, or modified to fit your new observations. In which case observations must be made to see how your new formulation holds up. But that's not really the point. The point was to demonstrate the process. So really, this question is not about your answer, it's about your process. |
Subject:
Re: Atoms and scientific law
From: mattka-ga on 29 Nov 2005 14:48 PST |
I appreciate the explanation of the questions and the hesitancy by some to answer the 4 part question fully due to a code of ethic. Unfortunately for me, my brain at this time cannot think anymore on this topic than it has and is looking for another perspective in order to grasp the concept. The textbook I am using has too much mumbo jumbo and is not in a chemistry for "dummies" format. I would say in about one thousand two hundred and eleven years I would grasp the idea by myself after 10,608,360 hours of pure delight in the world of atomic theory; but I haven't done the calculations for that and I suppose it would be more cost efficient to know the answer by the end of this year. $12 is probably not worth anyones time but it is better than $11 and there is that saying, "The laborer is worthy to be rewarded" "$12". |
Subject:
Re: Atoms and scientific law
From: frankcorrao-ga on 29 Nov 2005 16:08 PST |
I think you are still missing though that this question really has very little to do with Chemistry. Ok, I will give you a similarly formulated question and a reasonable answer. Can you see how it is the same as this question, even though it mentions nothing at all about chemistry? -- The heights and 100M sprint times of 3 Olympic runners are recorded: 6'0" 10.01 6'1" 9.98 6'2" 9.94 a. Form a scientific law based on these limited measurements. b. What other measurements could be carried out to further confirm this law? c. Devise a theory that would explain your law. d. How would the following results affect your theory and your law? 6'3" 10.05 6'4" 9.99 --- a) Look for a patter in the data, extrapolate. Thus a feasible law would be "Running speed increases as height increases". b) What observations can I make that would potentially falsify this? Easy, measure more runners. c) A theory as to why? Well, perhaps taller people have longer legs, meaning they get more distance per stride d)Well, those new observations are quite a monkey wrench in tha law/theory. They invalidate it. Perhaps a better law is that speed is proportional to height up until 6'3", and it is inversely proportional to height beyond 6'3". How to further test? Measure more runners. The answer to the question you posted should go along these lines. The key thing to take from this is not that you are good or bad at coming up with laws and theories (no one would try on only 3 data points...), it is that you understand that a good theory will explain past observations and make testible, falsifiable predictions about future observations. |
Subject:
Re: Atoms and scientific law
From: markvmd-ga on 29 Nov 2005 20:23 PST |
Darn it, Frank, you're gonna ruin ID for the rest of us. If we can say "It's a mystery" to science things we don't grasp, pretty soon we can use it on math and spelling tests! |
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