What is the Difference Between Fact and Theory?

What is the difference between fact and theory?
Is a fact a theory that has been proven?
Is a theory a fact that is yet to be proven?

For example, I came across an article.
It said that in theory, if we travel at the speed of light(the speed that it is defined as,) we can reach star X in X time, considering that there are absolutely no obstacles in the way.

But what is the difference between that, and the fact that you can travel 60 miles in an hour f you drive at the speed of 60MPh?
Is it a theory because it hasn't been proven yet?

Or is the word theory just defined in many different ways?

 

You got it tbh.. fact = proven.. theory = not.

 

A fact is something that we know is true. A theory is what we think is true. A sort of educated guess.

 

Well, in scientific terms a theory is a set of principles that explain or predict a process or phenomena. The word theory is often interpreted to mean a guess, even an educated one, but this would be entirely wrong. A guess would be more in line with a hypothesis, which is one of the very first steps in the scientific method. In order for something to be dubbed a true scientific theory it generally has to go through a process where it is evaluated by other scientists and sometimes even published. A theory does not simply graduate to law either once it is proven. Laws are generally something that explain a much larger picture and actually are formed on the basis of many theories a lot of the time.

Examples of theories that are pretty much fact at this point:
Heliocentric theory
Atomic theory
Theory of relativity
Cell theory
Theory of evolution

 

Fact=obvious and proven
Theory=based on human thinking, not proven

 

You've hit the nail on the head really, there isn't much room for discussion.

 

People who consider 'theories' completely different from scientific fact are morons. In science terminology, they're basically the same thing..

It's a THEORY that the Earth revolves around the sun.
It's also a fact..

 

I think that these are still theories because, though they are all accepted and it is obvious that most of the hold true, we can never be 100% sure. This especially holds true in chemistry. (atoms, electrons, shielding.. all theories that have evidence and make sense, but deal with things we will never even be able to see in action)

 

Then isn't EVERYTHING a theory? We can't be 100% sure of ANYTHING.

 

Math. We know that if you have one chicken in a pen and add a goose, you have two animals in that pen.

We know that the heat capacity of water is 4.18j/g*C because of measurements (created by man) that we can very easily determine. The energy that is required to raise the temperature of 1g of water is 4.18j. It is constant and will never change.

That's what I mean by no doubt.

 

The word theory has several distinct meanings based on its usage.

https://www.google.com/search?rlz=1....,cf.osb&fp=4d179b11806c7eeb&biw=1366&bih=667

 

Theory has a very specific scientific meaning.

All of these fall under the category of scientific theory
According to science, there are no facts other than those that are measured. You cannot prove a phenomenon, therefore, without consistently and repeatedly attempting it on every particle possible

In common usage a theory is simply an idea, however in science it is an accepted idea that has often been published and peer reviewed.

 

dude my mind is spinning around like crazy
this is confusing me..
i think it depends on how you look at it

 

I never said they were not theories. You seem to be mixing the definition of a theory in layman's terms with the definition of a scientific theory. Theory =/= guess, or even an educated guess. All of the theories listed are agreed upon as fact by the vast majority of the scientific minds in our world, and for good reason. The evidence is compelling for all of them, even evolution.

 

Unfortunately, the definition of theory in general compared to that of a scientific theory has no difference to Creationists.

They don't understand the difference, which is why they're always like "HERP DERP PROVE EVOLUTION TO ME ITS JUST A THEORY!"

 

2+3=5 <---- Fact
How many stars are in thte universe <---- theory

 

A fact is simply something that has been proven to be true, or can be proved, through cold-hard evidence. A fact could also be defined as a 'truth', or something that we know for sure and that has evidence to back it up.

A theory is more like an 'educated explanation', using a combination of facts, coincidences, or the most likely possibilities in order to explain something that we do not fully understand, or that cannot be fully scientifically proven. In my opinion, a theory is much different than just a wild guess, because there is usually evidence involved to support a theory, and it is usually well thought out and offered as an explanation to something that hasn't been proven. Theories

 

You have all the answers you need

 

Most well accepted scientific theories can be fully scientifically proven and observed with factual evidence.

 

Yeah that is a 'scientific' theory though, which by definition is slightly different. Scientific theories are formed quite often, and then often tested in order to prove with factual evidence through experiments. Quite often these theories are disproven, and subsequently adjusted or the theory is changed slightly and proved differently.

I am talking about a theory in the sense that it is the opposite of a fact, sort of like the OP suggests. By definition, the type of theory I am talking about would be defined something like this:

"A supposition or a system of ideas intended to explain something"

As I explained in my first post, a theory is more of an 'educated' explanation, and as this definition suggests it would be based on a system of ideas and facts that are put together to explain something that may not be otherwise difficult to prove.

A theory can ALSO be defined as "A set of principles on which the practice of an activity is based", an example of which would be something like music theory, quantum theory, Darwins theory of evolution etc.

So as you can clearly see, the word 'theory' has many different definitions and can mean different things under different contexts. So just to clear it up, I was not really refering to 'scientific' theory but rather something that is difficult/unable to be proven, and is therefore attempted to be explained through a series of incomplete and inconclusive evidence, although it would offer a believable explanation.