Final answer:
A hypothesis is a tentative explanation that can be tested and easily rejected or modified, while a theory is a well-supported and widely accepted explanation of observations. A law summarizes relationships between variables and is often mathematical. Unlike a hypothesis, theories and laws have a much stronger foundation in repeated testing and evidence.
Step-by-step explanation:
In the context of scientific methods, a hypothesis is a tentative explanation for observations, which can be tested by further investigation. Unlike a theory or a law, a hypothesis is not as deeply substantiated. A hypothesis may arise from an educated guess, serving as a starting point for experiments. It can be rejected based on the results of a single experiment. This makes it significantly different from a theory, which is a well-supported explanation of observations amassed over many experiments and is widely accepted by the scientific community. A scientific law, on the other hand, is a statement that describes the relationships between variables and is often expressed mathematically; it summarizes a vast number of experimental observations.
It is important to note that while hypotheses can be easily altered or discarded upon new evidence, theories are also subject to change, though they are generally more robust and require substantial evidence to modify. Laws describe patterns in nature, but do not explain them, whereas theories aim to provide the explanatory framework for those patterns.