The University of Hong Kong - CCST 9012Tutorial 7-Scientific Method (with responses) (1

Document Content and Description Below

Tutorial 7 Lecture 9 is focused on the scientific method. The following discussion is an exploration of its use and where could conceivably go wrong and how it is influenced by the modern dogma. W... armup: Give a brief definition of a ‘scientific question’. There would be many ways to answer this question. However, one very straightforward way to answer would be to say that a scientific question, is a question with an answer that can be discovered by the scientific method. This would exclude questions like, “Is Pluto a planet?”, but include questions like “What is the size of Pluto?”, “How big is its orbit?”, “What is it composed of?”. The first question has much more to do with how we choose to define what is a planet. Explaining the seasons https://youtu.be/p0wk4qG2mIg The Harvard Graduates propose that the elliptical orbit of the Earth around the sun explains seasonal changes on Earth. a) Explain why this is a reasonable hypothesis. • Our daily life experience is that we are warmer when we are nearer to hot things. It’s typically hotter in the day than at night. • The orbit of the sun is not-circular. b) Can you suggest a consequence of this hypothesis that we can compare to nature? • Is it hottest when we are closest to the sun? Do the magnitude of seasonal changes have the right relationship with the magnitude of distance changes? • The entire earth is approximately the same distance from the sun. Does everyone have the same seasonal temperature changes? • We can look at the apparent size of the sun, and see if that corresponds to the seasonal variation in temperature. [Show More]

Last updated: 1 year ago

Preview 1 out of 4 pages