What is the difference between a theory and a hypothesis?

Question

What is the difference between a theory and a hypothesis?

Answer 1

An hypothesis is basically an educated guess.  Not just some wild idea, but it is based on some facts.  An hypothesis is a statement that might be true or false, and there must be some way of testing the statement.

A theory is a hypothesis that has been tested and all the tests indicate the theory is true.  The amount of testing that should be done is not something everyone will agree upon, but some basic validation is minimal. So the theory can be considered true and used when you need to use something.  

The theory is not known to be true.  It might be found to be false, but the more evidence for the theory, the more likely people are to rely on it.

Maybe the best example is gravity.  Every time you let go of an object in the past it has fallen "down."  Does that mean that every time in the future it will fall down?  No.

If the theory of gravity were "true," then we would "know" that any thing you let go of will fall down.  As a theory, we act as if it were true.  Hasn't let us down yet.

Answer 2

A Theory is a hypothesis that hasn't been proven wrong.