Question

1. The Hypothetical Method

Hypothetical reasoning attempts to provide explanations for unexplained phenomena. In using this kind of reasoning, scientists formulate hypotheses—what you might call "rational guesses"—that apply the available information to formulate a possible explanation for something that has been observed.

The four stages of the hypothetical method are as follows:

1.	A problem or mystery is identified.
2.	A hypothesis—a tentative explanation for the problem—is formulated.
3.	The implications of the hypothesis are drawn. This means that scientists explore what would be the case if the hypothesis were correct/true.
4.	These implications are tested. In order to prove or disprove the hypothesis, it must be tested to see whether its implications can be verified. If the implications are verified, there is (at least some) reason to believe that the hypothesis is correct.

The final aspect of the hypothetical method, testability, sets an important criterion for what may count as a plausible hypothesis. If an explanation cannot be tested and confirmed, then the hypothetical method cannot be fulfilled. Hence, only testable explanations may serve as plausible hypotheses, or "rational guesses," for the hypothetical method.

Consider the scenarios given here. Use your knowledge of the hypothetical method to answer the questions that follow.

You leave a grape on the windowsill during the summer, and several days later you notice a raisin where the grape had been. You know that raisins are dried grapes.

Which of the following are plausible hypotheses for the phenomenon you have observed? Check all that apply.

Someone ate your grape and dropped a raisin. ?

The heat of the sun turned your grape into a raisin. ?

The disappearance of the grape and the appearance of the raisin have nothing to do with each other, and there must be a supernatural reason to explain what has happened. For example, perhaps a fairy or an angel took away the grape and replaced it with the raisin. ?

The two events are unrelated, and there must be a supernatural reason to explain what has occurred. For example, perhaps a witch cast a spell that transformed the grape into a raisin. ?

A bird picked up the grape from the windowsill, and you may have spilled raisins when you were eating cereal this morning. ?

Ptolemy, an astronomer who lived during the second century AD, created a complex system to describe the motion of the planets. He believed that the sun and moon were also planets, and that all these bodies rotated around Earth. This was called a "geocentric system." In the 1400s Copernicus became dissatisfied with Ptolemy's system as an explanation of planetary motion. He began to ask what the planetary motions would look like from another vantage point in space, such as the sun. This hypothesis challenged the widely held view that Earth was the center of the universe. Pursuing this hypothesis led Copernicus to a system that described planetary motion as centered around the sun. This is the "heliocentric system," and it has been proven to be true.

Which of the following accurately describe the development of Copernicus's hypothesis? Check all that apply.

Copernicus developed his hypothesis in response to Ptolemy's hypothesis about planetary rotation, a hypothesis he found unsatisfying. ?

Copernicus's hypothesis was wrong because Ptolemy's hypothesis was widely held. ?

Copernicus's hypothesis was a tentative explanation for the mystery of the motion of the planets. ?

Copernicus saw an unsatisfying explanation and formulated a way to understand the motion of the planets that has since proven to be testable and correct. ?

Copernicus's hypothesis was wrong because it had no foundation in established religious beliefs. ?

Answer 1

1.

Since the windowsill is inside the home it is not possible that someone else ate the grape neither it can be picked up by any bird. It does not make sense that there is a supernatural reason that a raisin was on windowsill instead of the grape.

The correct plausible hypothesis which is a natural possibility that “The heat of the sun turned your grape into a raisin”

2.

The hypothesis that accurately describes the development of Copernicus's hypothesis is

“Copernicus saw an unsatisfying explanation and formulated a way to understand the motion of the planets that has since proven to be testable and correct.”

Because Copernicus was dissatisfied with Ptolemy’s system as an explanation and pursued his hypothesis which was proven to be true.