Question

Which statement correctly explains scientific theories?

Scientific theories attempt to explain why certain events occur in the natural world.

Scientific theories are facts that describe natural events or phenomenon.

Scientific theories are tested and proven over time; they are then considered scientific laws.

Scientific theories are beliefs and opinions about natural events that are not testable or observable.

Answer 1

Scientific theories attempt to explain why certain events occur in the natural world. is true
following is a quotation from Zumdahl Chemistry 9th.
Once a set of hypotheses that agrees with the various observations is obtained, the hypotheses
are assembled into a theory. A theory, which is often called a model, is a set
of tested hypotheses that gives an overall explanation of some natural phenomenon.
It is very important to distinguish between observations and theories. An observation
is something that is witnessed and can be recorded. A theory is an interpretation—
a possible explanation of why nature behaves in a particular way. Theories inevitably
change as more information becomes available. For example, the motions of the sun
and stars have remained virtually the same over the thousands of years during which
humans have been observing them, but our explanations—our theories—for these motions
have changed greatly since ancient times.
The point is that scientists do not stop asking questions just because a given theory
seems to account satisfactorily for some aspect of natural behavior. They continue doing
experiments to refine or replace the existing theories. This is generally done by using
the currently accepted theory to make a prediction and then performing an experiment
(making a new observation) to see whether the results bear out this prediction.
Always remember that theories (models) are human inventions. They represent attempts
to explain observed natural behavior in terms of human experiences. A theory
is actually an educated guess. We must continue to do experiments and to refine our
theories (making them consistent with new knowledge) if we hope to approach a more
complete understanding of nature.
As scientists observe nature, they often see that the same observation applies to
many different systems. For example, studies of innumerable chemical changes have
shown that the total observed mass of the materials involved is the same before and
after the change. Such generally observed behavior is formulated into a statement
called a natural law. For example, the observation that the total mass of materials is
not affected by a chemical change in those materials is called the law of conservation
of mass.