Classify each of the following statements as a hypothesis, law, or theory. (a) the force acting on an object is equal to its mass times its acceleration. (b) the universe as we know it started with a big bang. (c) there are many civilizations more advanced than ours on other planets.

(a) law

(b) theory

(c) hypothesis

Explanation:

Law : It is a concise mathematical or a verbal statement.

Hypothesis: It is a tentative explanation for the observations.

Theory: It is the unifying principle which explains body of the experimental observations and the laws which are based on them.

(a) The force acting on an object is equal to its mass times its acceleration.

This statement is the statement of the second law of the Newton and thus it is a law.

(b) The universe as we know it started with a big bang.

This statement belongs to big bang theory and thus it is a theory.

(c) There are many civilizations more advanced than ours on other planets.

This statement is only based on some tentative observations like aliens, their spaceships and is a hypothesis.