What is a scientific law?

What is a scientific law?

• A. A subjective opinion about nature.
• B. A description of a natural event that occurs exactly once.
• C. A description of a natural event that occurs consistently under the same conditions.
• D. A technology used in experiments.

Answer: (C)

A scientific law is a concise description of a consistent, repeatable relationship observed in nature under defined conditions. It captures what happens reliably, often in mathematical form, but it doesn’t explain why it happens—that role belongs to scientific theories. In this case, the statement that describes a natural event that occurs consistently under the same conditions matches that idea. For example, gas laws describe predictable relationships between properties like pressure, volume, and temperature when controlled, and these patterns hold true across many experiments. The other options don’t fit because a subjective opinion isn’t a law, a single occurrence isn’t a generalizable pattern, and a technology used in experiments is a tool, not a description of a natural phenomenon.

A scientific law is a concise description of a consistent, repeatable relationship observed in nature under defined conditions. It captures what happens reliably, often in mathematical form, but it doesn’t explain why it happens—that role belongs to scientific theories. In this case, the statement that describes a natural event that occurs consistently under the same conditions matches that idea. For example, gas laws describe predictable relationships between properties like pressure, volume, and temperature when controlled, and these patterns hold true across many experiments. The other options don’t fit because a subjective opinion isn’t a law, a single occurrence isn’t a generalizable pattern, and a technology used in experiments is a tool, not a description of a natural phenomenon.