General Chemistry Online: Companion Notes: Introduction

Home
Common Compounds
Exam Guide
FAQ
Features
Glossary
Construction Kits
Companion Notes
Just Ask Antoine!
Simulations
Slide Index
Toolbox
Tutorial Index

Companion Notes

Introduction

Learning Objectives: A checklist of concepts to learn and skills to master in this section.
Lecture Slides
Lecture Notes
Links: Internet sites and paper references for further exploration.
Frequently Asked Questions: Find an answer, or ask a question.
Glossary: Terms and definitions from the glossary are marked with an asterisk ().

Random quiz on recognizing and distinguishing laws, hypotheses, theories, and observations.
/chem/senese/101/intro/scimethod-quiz.shtml (8/14/98)

Learning objectives

State the central objectives of chemistry (and this course).
Outline the scientific method.
- Classify statements and explanations as observations, experimental data, laws, hypotheses, or theories. Quiz
- Understand the importance of making controlled comparisons and obtaining reproducible data.

The introductory lecture discusses the scope, objectives, and methods of chemistry.

FAQ
"What is chemistry?"

Quiz
Distinguishing laws, data, hypotheses, and theories

a systematic procedure for solving problems and exploring natural phenomena
Observations (data)
- are the foundation of the scientific method
- data can be qualitative or quantitative.
- data is most useful when collected under controlled conditions (experiments)
- experiments must be repeatable and reproducible

Although we often hear that the data can speak for themselves, their voices can be soft and sly.

"Beginning Statistics with Data Analysis", by F. Mosteller, S. Fienberg, and R. Rourke

Natural laws
- compactly summarize patterns in a large amount of data
- often apply only under special conditions
- are descriptions of nature, not facts or explanations
Hypotheses
- tentative explanations designed to guide experimentation
- a useful hypothesis must be testable
- must be rejected or corrected when they conflict with experiment
Theories
- a well-tested explanation for experimental data based on a set of hypotheses.

It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data. Insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit theories, instead of theories to suit facts.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

must be discarded or refined when they can't explain new experimental results
scientific theories have three aspects: philosophical, mathematical, and empirical.
- Understand all three, or risk misusing the theory!
a good theory...
- explains currently available data
- is as simple as possible (but no simpler!)
- accurately predicts results of future experiments
- suggests new lines of work and new ways to think
- clearly shows underlying connections

Where observation is concerned, chance favors only the prepared mind.

Louis Pasteur