Editing Model (section)

== Types of model ==

===''Model'' in specific contexts===
As a noun, ''model'' has specific meanings in certain fields, derived from its original meaning of "structural [[design]] or [[Layout (disambiguation)|layout]]":
* [[Model (art)]], a person posing for an artist, e.g. a 15th-century criminal representing the biblical Judas in Leonardo da Vinci's painting [[The Last Supper (Leonardo)|''The Last Supper'']]
* [[Model (person)]], a person who serves as a template for others to copy, as in a [[role model]], often in the context of advertising commercial products; e.g. the first ''fashion model'', Marie Vernet Worth in 1853, wife of designer [[Charles Frederick Worth]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.modelworker.com/history.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071017020950/http://www.modelworker.com/history.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=2007-10-17|title=modelworker.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|title=Fabulous faces of fashion: A century of modelling|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/fashion/features/fabulous-faces-of-fashion-a--century-of-modelling-1678417.html|date=4 May 2009|author=Walker, Harriet|journal=The Independent|access-date=2017-09-05|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110528025946/http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/fashion/features/fabulous-faces-of-fashion-a--century-of-modelling-1678417.html|archive-date=2011-05-28|url-status=dead}}</ref>

* [[Model (product)]], a particular design of a product as displayed in a catalogue or show room (e.g. [[Ford Model T]], an early [[car model]])
* [[Model organism|Model (organism)]] a non-human species that is studied to understand biological phenomena in other organisms, e.g. a guinea pig starved of vitamin C to study scurvy, an experiment that would be immoral to conduct on a person
* [[Model (mimicry)]], a species that is mimicked by another species
* [[Model (logic)]], a structure (a set of items, such as natural numbers 1, 2, 3,..., along with mathematical operations such as addition and multiplication, and relations, such as <math><</math>) that satisfies a given system of [[axiom]]s (basic truisms), i.e. that satisfies the statements of a given [[Theory_(mathematical_logic)|theory]]<ref>Chang and Keisler, [https://books.google.com/books?id=uiHq0EmaFp0C&pg=PA1 p. 1]</ref>
* [[Model (CGI)]], a mathematical representation of any surface of an object in three dimensions via specialized software
* [[Model (MVC)]], the information-representing internal component of a software, as distinct from its user interface

===Physical model===
[[File:model.village.arp.750pix.jpg|thumb|Part of the one-ninth [[scale model]] of [[Bourton-on-the-Water]] at Bourton-on-the-Water, [[Gloucestershire]], England]]

A physical model (most commonly referred to simply as a model but in this context distinguished from a [[conceptual model]]) is a smaller or larger physical representation of an [[physical object|object]], person or [[system]]. The object being modelled may be small (e.g., an [[atom]]) or large (e.g., the [[Solar System]]) or life-size (e.g., a [[Model (person)|fashion model]] displaying clothes for similarly-built potential customers). 

The [[geometry]] of the model and the object it represents are often [[Similarity (geometry)|similar]] in the sense that one is a [[scale (ratio)|rescaling]] of the other. However, in many cases the similarity is only approximate or even intentionally distorted. Sometimes the [[distortion]] is systematic, e.g., a fixed scale horizontally and a larger fixed scale vertically when modelling [[topography]] to enhance a region's mountains.

An architectural model permits visualization of internal relationships within the structure or external relationships of the structure to the environment.  Another use is as a [[toy]].

Instrumented physical models are an effective way of investigating fluid flows for [[engineering]] design.  Physical models are often coupled with [[computational fluid dynamics]] models to optimize the design of equipment and processes.  This includes external flow such as around buildings, vehicles, people, or [[Hydraulic engineering|hydraulic structures]]. [[Wind tunnel]] and [[Water tunnel (hydrodynamic)|water tunnel]] testing is often used for these design efforts.  Instrumented physical models can also examine internal flows, for the design of ductwork systems, pollution control equipment, food processing machines, and mixing vessels.  Transparent flow models are used in this case to observe the detailed flow phenomenon. These models are scaled in terms of both geometry and important forces, for example, using [[Froude number]] or [[Reynolds number]] scaling (see [[Similitude]]). In the pre-computer era, the UK economy was modelled with the hydraulic model [[MONIAC]], to predict for example the effect of tax rises on employment. 
<gallery>
File:MONIAC computer.jpg|Water-powered model of the UK economy – [[Phillips Machine|MONIAC]] in the Science Museum, London
File:Hannah Harper 2.jpg|Female model demonstrating [[brassiere]] for similarly-built potential buyers
File:Models of battle at australian war memorial museum.jpg|Model of a war scene — [[Australian War Memorial]], Canberra
File:USDA-ARS Guinea Pig.jpg|left|upright|[[Guinea pig]] used as animal model for studying human [[leptospirosis]]
File:MD-11 12ft Wind Tunnel Test.jpg|[[NASA]] wind tunnel with the scale model of an aeroplane|alt=https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/styles/side_image/public/thumbnails/image/edu_wind_tunnels_1.jpg?itok=pZg9nFzN
</gallery>

===Conceptual model===
[[File:AtmosphericModelSchematic.png|thumb|300px|right|Weather models use [[differential equations]] based on the laws of [[physics]], and a coordinate system which divides the planet into a 3D grid.]]
A [[conceptual model]] is a theoretical representation of a system, e.g. a [[Numerical weather prediction|set of mathematical equations]] attempting to describe the workings of the atmosphere for the purpose of weather forecasting.<ref name="MetOffice">{{Citation |author= |title=Forecast models |publisher=Met Office |url=https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/services/government/defence-and-security/models |postscript=.}}</ref> It consists of [[concept]]s used to help understand or [[simulation|simulate]] a subject the model represents. 

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> as almost every [[scientific theory]] effectively embeds some kind of model of the [[universe|physical]] or [[human condition|human sphere]]. In some sense, a physical model "is always the reification of some conceptual model; the conceptual model is conceived ahead as the blueprint of the physical one", which is then constructed as conceived.<ref>Ibrahim A. Halloun, ''Modeling Theory in Science Education'' (2007), p. 36.</ref> Thus, the term refers to models that are formed after a conceptualization or generalization process.<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"/> 

===Examples===
* [[Conceptual model (computer science)]], an agreed representation of entities and their relationships, to assist in developing software
* [[Economic model]], a theoretical construct representing economic processes
* [[Language model]], a probabilistic model of a natural language, used for speech recognition, language generation, and information retrieval
** [[Large language model]]s are artificial neural networks used for generative artificial intelligence (AI), e.g. ChatGPT 
* [[Mathematical model]], a description of a system using mathematical concepts and language
** [[Statistical model]], a mathematical model that usually specifies the relationship between one or more random variables and other non-random variables
** [[Model (CGI)]], a mathematical representation of any surface of an object in three dimensions via specialized software
* [[Medical model]], a proposed "set of procedures in which all doctors are trained"
* [[Mental model]], in psychology, an internal representation of external reality
* [[Model (logic)]], a set along with a collection of finitary operations, and relations that are defined on it, satisfying a given collection of axioms
* [[Model (MVC)]], information-representing component of a software, distinct from the user interface (the "view"), both linked by the "controller" component, in the context of the model–view–controller software design
* [[Model act]], a law drafted centrally to be disseminated and proposed for enactment in multiple independent legislatures
* [[Standard model (disambiguation)]]