What is the clear and precise defintion of concept and how different from theory

[Sciophile]

All the online definitions for a scientific concept is that it's a general idea about things. This definition is too vague. Can some one please give me a clear example of a concept and describe it like "The concept of evolution is....."

Also what is the primary difference or differences between a theory and a concept?

Thanks for your replies in advance!

[studiot]

Entropy is a concept.  Thermodynamics is a theory

Probability is a concept. The theory of probability distributions is - guess what? a theory.

A (valence) 'hole' is a concept in semiconductor theory. The theory of transistor action is a theory using the concept of holes.

[Strange]

15 minutes ago, Sciophile said:

"The concept of evolution is....."

The concept of evolution is that populations of organisms change over time. The theory of evolution describes the details of the process by which this happens.

 

But note that "concept" is not really a well-defined term in science. So you could just look it up in any dictionary. For example:

Quote

1: something conceived in the mind : THOUGHT, NOTION

2: an abstract or generic idea generalized from particular instances

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/concept

 

The word theory has a quite specific meaning in science. In general use, it just means an idea or even guess about how things work. In science it is more specific; it means a detailed model (often mathematical) that explains how something happens and is supported by a large body of experimental or observational evidence.

"Theoretical" is also in used science, particularly physics, to mean the branch of science that deals with theory (as opposed to experimental science, which is more practical). Results from theoretical physics are often labelled theories even before they have good evidence (the best known example may be "string theory").

[Sciophile]

 

Thank you both for your replies. It makes more sense to me now.

[Nananjaya]

I would like share my opinion on the topic theory and reality.

We are predicting the future reality by theory. If you know how to predict the reality  before it's occurrence using theory than you know the future, but it is not  possible to predict exactly because of huge number of known and unknown influencing factors.

[studiot]

7 minutes ago, Nananjaya said:

I would like share my opinion on the topic theory and reality.

We are predicting the future reality by theory. If you know how to predict the reality  before it's occurrence using theory than you know the future, but it is not  possible to predict exactly because of huge number of known and unknown influencing factors.

 

How is this on topic?