Difference between fact and theory


Although, both terms are used in several fields, their meaning is different. In scientific context, facts can be observed, it can relate to any objective and real phenomenon. Facts are obvious and undeniable. On the contrary, theories are linked to explanation to what has been observed. They are always presented to be true because they go under tests several times. In other words, theory is a set of ideas that tend to explain events or facts, or an idea that is suggested to be true but it is not proven. Fact, on the other hand, is something that is known to exist. In legal context, fact is an actual event or circumstance, as distinguished from its legal effect or consequence. Briefly, facts are observations, while theories serve as explanations to those observations.