Ch 1 Vocab
The way things really are; revealed to us by God through his word and through nature, or known to us by the direct and immediate testimony of our senses, or known by valid reasoning from true premises.
What is truth?
Centi- is what fractional measurement of a base unit?
1/100 or 10-2
The degree of resolution or fine-ness in a measurement.
What is precision?
This system of units is used by almost every country in the world except for 3.
?What is the metric or SI unit system
Accounting for and explaining most of all of the related scientific facts; enabling new hypotheses to be formed and tested are two necessary ingredients of...
What is a theory?
A testable, informed prediction, based on a theory, of what will happen in certain circumstances.
What is a hypothesis?
Kilo- is what multiple measurement of a base unit?
1000 or 103
The degree to which a measurement is free of error.
What is accuracy?
How many feet are in a mile?
5,280 feet in a mile.
A variable manipulated by researchers In an experiment that produces variation in the response variable.
What is an explanatory variable?
A model (i.e., representation) that seeks to account for and explain the related facts and provide means for producing new hypotheses.
What is a theory?
A unit of volume equal to 1000 cubic centimeters; not an official SI system unit, but commonly used in scientific study.
What is a liter?
The digits in a measurement that represent its precision.
What is a significant digit?
This system of measurement is used by Liberia, Myanmar, and the United States.
What is the USCS or imperial unit system?
A variable in an experiment that causes variation in the response variable without the researchers being aware that it is doing so.
What is a lurking variable?
A scientific statement supported by a great deal of evidence that is correct so far as we know.
What is a scientific fact?
Nano- is what fractional measurement for a base unit?
1/1,000,000,000 or 10-9
The bowl-shaped curve on the top of a liquid in a narrow cylinder.
What is a meniscus?
A subset of the units used in the metric system using only base units such as the meter, kilogram, and second, and units derived from these.
What is the MKS system?
A variable monitored by researchers in an experiment that varies in response to changes in another variable being manipulated (the explanatory variable).
What is a response variable?
The process of using experiment, observation, and reasoning, to develop mental models (theories) of the natural world.
What is science?
Giga- is what multiple measurement of a base unit?
1,000,000,000 or 109
The variable of length in the MKS system includes distance (d), length (L), height (h), and radius (r). What is the unit that these length measurements are correlated to?
Meter (unit symbol m).
There are seven base units in the SI unit system. Which five will we be using this year in this class?
Meters (for length), kilograms (for mass), seconds (for time), amperes (for electric current), kelvin (for temperature).
The process of forming a theory to account for a body of facts then formulating testable hypotheses from the theory, then testing the hypotheses experimentally and analyzing the results. If a hypothesis is confirmed the theory it came from is strengthened; otherwise the theory is weakened.
What is the cycle of scientific enterprise?