Every modern person is faced daily with the concepts of "object" and "model". Examples of objects are both objects accessible to touch (book, earth, table, pen, pencil) and inaccessible (stars, sky, meteorites), objects of artistic creativity and mental activity (composition, poem, problem solving, painting, music and other). Moreover, each object is perceived by a person only as a single whole.
Object. Kinds. Features
Based on the above, we can conclude that the object is part of the outside world, which can be perceived as a single whole. Each object of perception has its own individual characteristics that distinguish it from others (shape, scope, color, smell, size, and so on). The most important characteristic of an object is its name, but a name alone is not enough for a complete qualitative description of it. The more fully and in detail the object is described, the easier the process of its recognition.
Models. Definition. Classification
In their activities (educational, scientific,artistic, technological) a person daily uses existing and creates new models of the outside world. They allow you to form an impression of processes and objects that are inaccessible to direct perception (very small or, conversely, very large, very slow or very fast, very far away, and so on).
So, a model is an object that reflects the most important features of the phenomenon, object or process being studied. There can be several variations of models of the same object, just as several objects can be described by one single model. For example, a similar situation arises in mechanics, when different bodies with a material shell can be expressed by material points, that is, the same model (person, car, train, plane).
It is important to remember that no model can fully replace the depicted object, as it displays only some of its properties. But sometimes, when solving certain problems of various scientific and industrial trends, a description of the appearance of a model can be not only useful, but the only way to present and study the characteristics of an object.
Scope of application of modeling items
Models play an important role in various areas of human life: in science, education, trade, design and others. For example, without their use, it is impossible to design and assemble technical devices, mechanisms, electrical circuits, machines, buildings, and so on, since without preliminary calculations andthe creation of a drawing, the release of even the simplest part is impossible.
Models are often used for educational purposes. They are called descriptive. For example, from geography, a person receives an idea of the Earth as a planet by studying a globe. Visual models are also relevant in other sciences (chemistry, physics, mathematics, biology, and others).
In turn, theoretical models are in demand in the study of natural and exact sciences (biology, chemistry, physics, geometry). They reflect the properties, behavior and structure of the objects being studied.
Modeling as a process
Modeling is a method of cognition that includes the study of existing and the creation of new models. The subject of knowledge of this science is the model. Model types are ranked according to various properties. As you know, any object has many characteristics. When creating a specific model, only the most important ones for solving the task are highlighted.
The process of creating models is artistic creativity in all its diversity. In this regard, virtually every artistic or literary work can be considered as a model of a real object. For example, paintings are models of real landscapes, still lifes, people, literary works are models of human lives, and so on. For example, when creating a model of an aircraft in order to study its aerodynamic qualities, it is important to reflect the geometric properties of the original in it, but its color is absolutely unimportant.
The same objects are studied by different sciences from different points of view, and accordingly, their types of models for study will also differ. For example, physics studies the processes and results of the interaction of objects, chemistry - the chemical composition, biology - the behavior and structure of organisms.
Model versus time factor
Regarding time, models are divided into two types: static and dynamic. An example of the first type is a one-time examination of a person in a clinic. It displays a picture of his state of he alth at the moment, while his medical record will be a dynamic model, reflecting the changes occurring in the body over a period of time.
Model. Kinds of models regarding shape
As it is already clear, models can differ in different characteristics. So, all currently known types of data models can be divided into two main classes: material (objective) and informational.
The first view conveys the physical, geometric and other properties of objects in material form (anatomical model, globe, building model, and so on).
Types of information models differ in the form of implementation: sign and figurative. Figurative models (photographs, drawings, etc.) are visual realizations of objects fixed on a certain medium (photo, film, paper or digital).
They are widely used in the educational process (posters), in the study of varioussciences (botany, biology, paleontology and others). Sign models are realizations of objects in the form of symbols of one of the known language systems. They can be presented in the form of formulas, text, tables, diagrams, and so on. There are cases when, when creating a symbolic model (types of models convey exactly the content that is required to study certain characteristics of an object), several well-known languages are used at once. An example in this case are various graphs, charts, maps and the like, where both graphic symbols and symbols of one of the language systems are used.
In order to reflect information from various areas of life, three main types of information models are used: network, hierarchical and tabular. Of these, the most popular is the latter, used to capture the various states of objects and their characteristic data.
Tabular implementation of the model
This type of information model, as mentioned above, is the most famous. It looks like this: it is an ordinary rectangular table consisting of rows and columns, the columns of which are filled with symbols of one of the known sign languages of the world. Tabular models are used to characterize objects that have the same properties.
With their help, both dynamic and static models can be created in various scientific fields. For example, tables containing mathematical functions, various statistics, train schedules, and so on.
Mathmodel. Types of models
Mathematical models are a separate type of information models. All kinds of mathematical models usually consist of equations written in the language of algebra. The solution of these problems, as a rule, is based on the process of searching for equivalent transformations that contribute to the expression of a variable in the form of a formula. There are also exact solutions for some equations (square, linear, trigonometric, and so on). As a consequence, to solve them, it is necessary to apply solution methods with an approximate specified accuracy, in other words, such types of mathematical data as numerical (half division method), graphic (plotting graphs) and others. It is advisable to use the method of half division only on the condition that the segment is known, where the function takes polar values for certain values of the root of the equation.
And the method of plotting is unified. It can be used both in the case described above, and in a situation where the solution can only be approximate, and not exact, in the case of the so-called "rough" solution of equations.
