Scientific Law

Key Stage 4

Meaning

A Scientific Law is a description of how certain events take place in the Universe.

About Scientific Laws

Scientific Laws are true everywhere in the Universe.

Scientific Laws do not explain any cause and effect relationship.

Examples

Newton's First Law: An object in motion will tend to stay in motion in a straight line and an object at rest will tend to stay at rest unless an unbalanced force acts upon it.

Newton's Second Law: Force = Mass x Acceleration, which means the acceleration of an object is directly proportional to the resultant force acting upon it.

Newton's Third Law: For every action force there is a reaction force with an equal magnitude but acting in the opposite direction.

Hooke's Law: The extension of an elastic object directly proportional to the force applied to the object.

Ohm's Law: The current through a resistor at constant temperature is directly proportional to the potential difference across the resistor.

The Law of Conservation of Energy: Energy cannot be created or destroyed it can only be transferred from one store into another.