Model/Simulations practice questions

1. a. A computer model is the respresentation of a real-life event or thing using mathematical algorithms and data from said event.

b. One input would be the number of checkouts that he can have open at once, because otherwise the predicted best result would be much too high. Another input would be the average amount of customers waiting in line at once, so that the model knows how many people must be served.

c. One reason is that the amount of people at the checkouts rely completely on human decision, which cannot be modeled by numbers or any algorithm, as there are no patterns. Also, the amount of food each person buys from the store cannot be predicted very accurately either, because of all the factors that contribute to it, such as how much income a family makes, whether or not they're keeping their job, how much time they stay living within the area, whether or not there are other competing stores, etc.


2. a. A computer simulation is the visual representation of a real-life product, object, or phenomenon using data that forms a model that give the physics of said phenomenon.

b. One input would be a realistic cockpit in which all of the buttons and devices in a real cockpit are present and function just the same as in a real cockpit, so that when a pilot goes to pilot a real plane, they are familiar with everything and know how to work it. Another input would be the visual background creation of the appearance that the pilot is actually flying in the sky, so that the pilot cna get used to the sight of being thousands of feet in the air, otherwise the pilot may feel intimidated by the sight when they fly a real plane.

c. One benefit is that a simulation doesn't have consequences of failing that are even close to the consequences of failing to fly a real plane. If a pilot fails a simulation, they can just try it again. However, if a pilot is practicing, say, landing in a real plane, if they miss the runway, the plane could get damaged and the pilot could get injured. However, in a simulation there is no physical danger, so it is much safer. However, one drawback is that the pilot knows that there is no real danger, so there is not as much stress as flying a real plane. If they pass all of the simulations, they may feel intimidated by flying a real plane, and real nervousness and stress could kick in that the pilot never experienced before, which could cause them to do something wrong and crash.