Editing Model (section)

{{Short description|Informative representation of an entity}}
{{about||fashion model|Model (person)|other uses}}
{{Redirect|Modelling|the MDPI journal|Modelling (journal){{!}}''Modelling'' (journal)}}
[[File:Beta-D-Gulopyranose Molekülbaukasten 9288.JPG|thumb|Model of a molecule, with coloured balls representing different atoms]]
A '''model''' is an informative representation of an object, person, or system. The term originally denoted the [[Plan_(drawing)|plan]]s of a building in late 16th-century English, and derived via [[French language|French]] and [[Italian language|Italian]] ultimately from [[Latin]] {{wikt-lang|la|modulus}}, {{gloss|a measure}}.<ref name="OED model">{{Citation |author= |title=Oxford English Dictionary |publisher=Oxford University Press |doi=10.1093/OED/3984201854 |url=https://doi.org/10.1093/OED/3984201854|postscript=|access-date= 1 July 2023|url-access=subscription}}</ref>

Models can be divided into physical models (e.g. a [[ship model]] or a fashion model) and abstract models (e.g. a [[Numerical weather prediction|set of mathematical equations]] describing the workings of the atmosphere for the purpose of weather forecasting). Abstract or [[conceptual model]]s are central to [[philosophy of science]].<ref name="MWCD">{{Citation |author=Merriam-Webster |title=Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary |publisher=Merriam-Webster |url=http://unabridged.merriam-webster.com/collegiate/ |postscript=.}}</ref><ref name="Geosciences">{{cite journal |last1=Tatomir |first1=A. |last2=McDermott |first2=C. |last3=Bensabat |first3=J. |last4=Class |first4=H. |last5=Edlmann |first5=K. |last6=Taherdangkoo |first6=R. |last7=Sauter |first7=M. |display-authors= 1 |year=2018 |title=Conceptual model development using a generic Features, Events, and Processes (FEP) database for assessing the potential impact of hydraulic fracturing on groundwater aquifers |journal=Advances in Geosciences |volume=45 |pages=185–192 |doi=10.5194/adgeo-45-185-2018 |bibcode=2018AdG....45..185T |doi-access=free |hdl=20.500.11820/b83437b4-6791-4c4c-8f45-744a116c6ead |hdl-access=free }}</ref>

In [[scholarly research]] and [[applied science]], a model should not be confused with a [[theory]]: while a model seeks only to represent reality with the purpose of better understanding or predicting the world, a theory is more ambitious in that it claims to be an explanation of reality.<ref name="Wunsch1994">{{cite journal |last1=Wunsch|first1=G.|year=1994 |title=Theories, models, and data |journal=Demografie |volume=36 |issue=1 |pages=20–29 |doi= |bibcode= |doi-access=|pmid=12346076 }}</ref>