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My current understanding of a hypothesis is just that it is 'an educated guess to explain a phenomenon'. Which follows that in an experiment, any guessing statement can be correct as long as it can be proved by said experiment one way or another.

However, I came across this site http://web.csulb.edu/~msaintg/ppa696/696vars.htm which states that

A hypothesis states a presumed relationship between two variables in a way that can be tested with empirical data. It may take the form of a cause-effect statement, or an "if x,...then y" statement.

The cause is called the independent variable; and the effect is called the dependent variable.

This drives me to think that the hypothesis must explicitly state the relationship between the measured variables in the experiment. Is this true?

Qmechanic
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Rickson
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Yes, relationships between measured quantities should be made explicit in any physics model. I think most physicists would think of independent vs. dependent in terms of controlled (varied) vs. response, at least for simple experiments. For example, a common physics experiment in an introductory course will measure the period of a simple pendulum as a function of its length, holding the mass constant. The length is the independent variable, the period is the dependent variable, and the mass is the control variable (not varied).

Rodney Dunning
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