A TERM PAPER

ON

“MODEL AND MODELLING”

WRITTEN

BY

MAJEKODUNMI OLANREWAJU A.

070404025

DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL
ENGINEERING

UNIVERSITY OF LAGOS, AKOKA.

SUBMITTED TO:
ENGR. A.B. AJAYI
1.0 ABSTRACT

Modelling aims at providing a forum for the discussion of formalisms and methodologies that
are intended to support the new, broader interpretation of Engineering and other relevant
disciplines. It intends to report leading-edge scientific contributions from mathematics,
computer science, and various sub-disciplines of engineering, management, psychology and
cross-cultural communication, all of which focus on the modelling of useful systems. In this
paper, what modelling entails and the basic knowledge about models have been carefully
written. The aim of modelling which is actually why we model is another aspect that was
dealt with. We cannot actually model without knowing the stages of modelling we have to go
through in order to make sure all parameters were put into consideration. The classes of
modelling, the different types of models and the situations were these various types are used
were also discussed.

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2.0 INTRODUCTION

From time immemorial, things were being built in small scale before the actual construction
takes place in order to be able to critically study how they will behave. This has over the
years given room for re-evaluation in cases where the design is not feasible or has some
irregularities. Also before new designs of products such as are introduced to the market, they
are usually produced firstly in small quantities in order to conduct surveys aiming at checking
if they meet standards and are marketable. In today’s world, we see gigantic structures, viable
economies and mouth-watering achievements in technology but most times we forget to
really go deep down to the roots to see what and what were put in place for us to have these
things. A lot of time goes into creating what really gave them the confidence that all of these
things will work and this small scale objects, graphs or mathematical equations that are
needed are what we will be seeing in this write-up.

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3.0 WHAT IS A MODEL / MODELLING?

As we can see the multiplicity of the usage of the word model, it gives us the impression that
there are different definitions for what it is and we shall see a few of them. In simple terms, a
model is a small object, usually built to scale, that represents in detail another, often larger
object. It can also be said to be a preliminary work or construction that serves as a plan from
which a final product is to be made. Such a work or construction is used in testing or
perfecting a final product e.g. a test model of a solar-powered vehicle.
A schematic description of a system, theory, or phenomenon that accounts for its known or
inferred properties and may be used for further study of its characteristics: a model of an
atom; an economic model. A representation of a system that allows for investigation of the
properties of the system and, in some cases, prediction of future outcomes. Models are often
used in quantitative analysis and technical analysis, and sometimes also used in fundamental
analysis.
A model is also a systematic description of an object or phenomenon that shares important
characteristics with the object or phenomenon. Scientific models can be material, visual,
mathematical, or computational and are often used in the construction of scientific theories.
This makes a model a graphical, mathematical (symbolic), physical, or verbal representation
or simplified version of a concept, phenomenon, relationship, structure, system, or an aspect
of the real world.
As with what was discussed above, modelling in simple terms means to make, construct, plan
or fashion according to a model. It is just the process of creating models be it physical,
computer, mathematical, statistical, graphical etc.

3.1 STAGES OF MODELLING

The process of modelling can be divided into four broad categories of activity, namely
building, studying, testing and use. Although it might be nice to think that modelling
projects progress smoothly from building through to use, this is hardly ever the case. In
general, defects found at the studying and testing stages are corrected by returning to the
building stage. If any changes are made to the model, then the studying and testing stages
must be repeated.

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This process of repeated iteration is typical of modelling projects, and is one of the most
useful aspects of modelling in terms of improving our understanding about how the system
works.

3.1.1 Building Models

This involves stating clearly the objectives that is needed to be achieved. The level of detail
included in the model depends on the purpose for which the model will be
Used. A division has to be made between the system to be modelled and its environment.
Some system analysis such as making assumptions, drawing flow diagrams, choosing
mathematical equations from literature, physics or data exploration, solving these equations
either analytically or numerically has to be done.

3.1.2 Studying Models

The behaviour of a model can be described in two ways. Qualitative description provides an
answer to questions about ”how”, whereas quantitative description answers questions about
”how much”. Studying models involves re-writing equations in terms of dimensionless
quantities, performing sensitivity analysis, modelling modelled output etc.

3.1.3 Testing Models

Once we have studied our model and are satisfied with its performance, it is time to begin
testing the model against observations from the physical system which it represents. This
process is usually called validation. It involves testing the assumptions and model structure,
estimating model parameters, comparing two models for the same system etc.

3.1.4 Using Models

This is basically about presenting all relevant information in model output. If the only output
from a model is the prediction of some quantity, in order to assess the accuracy of the
predictions that were made, it would be better if the prediction were accompanied by an
estimate of precision, such as a standard error or a confidence interval. Apart from this, we
also consider the task of embedding models in a economic framework to assist decision-
making.

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3.2 WHY MODEL?

The objectives of a model include:

(1) to facilitate understanding by eliminating unnecessary components,
(2) to aid in decision making by simulating 'what if' scenarios,
(3) to explain, control, and predict events on the basis of past observations. Since most
objects and phenomenon are very complicated (have numerous parts) and much too complex
(parts have dense interconnections) to be comprehended in their entirety, a model contains
only those features that are of primary importance to the model maker's purpose.
(4) to have a better overview for testing purposes.
(5) to see the structure of things that are normally too small to see properly or to see at all, for
example a model of an insect or of a molecule.
(6) to visualize internal relationships within a structure or external relationships of the
structure to the environment.

3.3 CLASSES OF MODELS

Models range from simple sketches to computer programs with millions of lines of code, but
all of them have one thing in common: some elements of the actual 'thing' are abstracted or
mapped into the model. Models are divided into three classes on the basis of their degree of
abstraction.

3.3.1 Iconic model

Least abstract, physical, 'look-alike' model, such as a model airplane or train.

3.3.2 Analogous model

More abstract but having some resemblance to what it represents, such as a chart, graph, map,
network diagram.

3.3.3 Symbolic model

Most-abstract model with no resemblance but only an approximation to what it represents,
such as a mathematical equation or formula, financial statement, language, and set of
accounts.

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3.4 TYPES OF MODELS

3.4.1 Physical models

A physical model is a smaller or larger physical copy of an object. The geometry of the
model and the object it represents are often similar in the sense that one is a rescaling of the
other; in such cases the scale is an important characteristic. However, in many cases the
similarity is only approximate or even intentionally distorted. Sometimes the distortion is
systematic with e.g. a fixed scale horizontally and a larger fixed scale vertically when
modelling topography of a large area.

Physical models allow visualization, from examining the model, of information about the
thing the model represents. Instrumented physical models are the most effective way of
investigating fluid flows such as around hydraulic structures. These models are scaled in
terms of both geometry and important forces, for example using Froude number or Reynolds
number scaling.

A physical model of something large is usually smaller, and of something very small is
larger. A physical model of something that can move, like a vehicle or machine, may be
completely static, or have parts that can be moved manually, or be powered. A physical
model may show inner parts that are normally not visible.

Examples of physical models are architectural model of a building, model aircrafts which are
flying or non-flying models of existing or imaginary aircraft, often scaled-down versions of
full size planes, using lightweight materials such as polystyrene, balsa wood, foam and
fibreglass, model cars, railways, rockets etc.

3.4.2 Mathematical models

Mathematical modelling is the process of constructing mathematical objects whose

behaviours or properties correspond in some way to a particular real-world system. In this
description, a mathematical object could be a system of equations, a stochastic process, a
geometric or algebraic structure, an algorithm, or even just a set of numbers. The term real-
world system could refer to a physical system, a financial system, a Social system, an
ecological system, or essentially any other system whose behaviours can be observed.

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Mathematical models can take many forms, including but not limited to dynamical systems,
statistical models, differential equations, or game theoretic models.
Examples of mathematical models include population growth, model of a particle in a
potential field, model of rational behaviour of a consumer, neighbour sensing model etc.

3.4.3 Computer models

Computer modelling is the process by which a computer is used to develop a mathematical
model of a complex system or process. Computer modelling is an efficient way to take into
account many different factors and to simplify and organize real-world processes. Computer
models are computer programs, or network of computers, that attempts to simulate an
abstract model of a particular system. They are used to explore and gain new insights into
new technology, and to estimate the performance of systems too complex for analytical
solutions. They are of different types according to several independent pairs of attributes
including stochastic or deterministic, steady state or dynamic, continuous or discrete, local or
distributed.
Examples of the usage of computer models are to better explain or understand historical data,
predict future behaviour or perform virtual experiments, or to make decisions about courses
of action based on the likelihood of expected outcomes.

3.4.4 Statistical Models

A statistical model relates variables in the form of mathematical equations. It describes how
one or more random variables are related to one or more random variables. A statistical
model is a set of probability distributions on a sample space. It encompasses graphical
models which is a probabilistic model for which a graph denotes the conditional
independence structure between random variables. They are commonly used in probability
theory and statistics.
Examples of statistical models are those involving length and age of humans, information
extraction, speech recognition, computer vision, decoding of low-density parity-check codes,
modelling of gene regulatory networks, gene finding and diagnosis of diseases, and Graphical
models for protein structure.

4.0 CONCLUSION

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Having seen what models are and modelling is, we can see that it is a useful tool for
Engineers and other relevant areas. The various stages highlighted shows that to create a
model is not just about having something that resembles the actual thing we need, it is about
the model meeting some specified parameters. The various classes also highlighted also
shows that some elements of the actual 'thing' are abstracted or mapped into the model be it
physical or symbolic. Basically we can see that models are made to gain understanding or to
predict. Models are used in diversified situations as seen in the examples given such as a
model aircraft which is physical or the model of a particle in a potential field which is usually
symbolic.

REFERENCES

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  Otto, S.P. and Day, T. (2007). “A Biologists Guide to Mathematical Modelling in
Ecology and Evolution”, Princeton University Press, 3 Market Place, Woodstock,
Oxfordshire, OX20 1SY.
 Bender, E.A. (1978). An introduction to mathematical modelling”. Wiley, New York.
 Richard, O. (2002). “Modelling the MAPK pathway”.
 http: //www.midasmodel.org/Modeling 101.html (Accessed 17 December 2010)
 http: //www.answers.com/models.html (Accessed 17 December 2010)

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