Final answer:
Scientific laws describe what happens in nature, often expressed through equations, while theories provide explanations for why those phenomena occur. Laws are concise and general, whereas theories are complex and evolve over time.
Step-by-step explanation:
Scientific laws describe natural phenomena, while scientific theories explain the realities of nature. A scientific law uses concise language to describe a generalized pattern in nature that is universally observed and supported by scientific evidence and repeated experiments, often expressed in the form of a mathematical equation. For instance, Newton's second law of motion relates force, mass, and acceleration with the equation F = ma. On the other hand, a scientific theory is a less concise but more complex statement that attempts to explain why nature behaves the way it does. It is dynamic and evolves over time as new facts are discovered, explaining a group of related phenomena rather than a single action. Theories are the end result of the scientific method, compared to laws which are very general statements that serve as postulates within the scientific method.