a Hypothesis After scientists develop a question the next step is to try to answer this question by proposing an explanation A hypothesis is a proposed explanation for an event which can be tested Consider the scenario with your flashlight An appropriate question regarding this dilemma is Is my flashlight not working because the batteries are dead Thus a hypothesis that attempts to answer this question would be My flashlight is not working because the batteries are dead This statement suggests a reason your flashlight isn t working faulty batteries For a hypothesis to be considered useful it must be both testable and falsifiable It must be possible that the results obtained do not support the hypothesis If this is not the case then the hypothesis is not suitable since it is not falsifiable In our flashlight example we could design an experiment where we compare the ability of the old batteries the one originally in the flashlight and some new ones If the flashlight does not work with the old batteries or the new ones then the hypothesis can be proven false Please bear in mind however even though a hypothesis can be falsified it can never be proven true The data collected from one single experiment can only support that hypothesis In the flashlight and battery experiment if we observed that the new batteries caused the flashlight to work but the old batteries did not this result does not prove that the flashlight was not working because of faulty batteries Other factors need to be excluded before we can confirm this For example there is the possibility that the old batteries were not properly placed in the flashlight which caused it not to work Thus the findings with the new battery only supports our hypothesis until more evidence is obtained by conducting more experiments in the future to further confirm this finding or to falsify our hypothesis It is also important to remember that even though a hypothesis might be supported today based on the testing methods we possess currently this hypothesis may be modified with the development of new experimental techniques which can provide us with more understanding of a phenomenon in the future For example scientists were previously limited in their understanding of the components of the cell membrane However with the advent of the electron microscope our understanding of the membrane structure has increased significantly Thus earlier hypotheses related to this structure have been falsified or modified to accommodate new scientific findings This is what makes the process of scientific inquiry dynamic 2 Consider the following questions and write a proposed explanation a hypothesis for each question Note the hypothesis should be testable and falsifiable a Does fortified bird food affect the ability of pigeons to reproduce b Does vitamin C reduce the appearance of wrinkles in women over 40 years c Does taking a Kaplan course affect the SAT scores of high school students