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Information about Model (physical)

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Part of the one-tenth scale model of Bourton-on-the-Water at Bourton-on-the-Water, Gloucestershire, England
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A scale model of the Singapore City Centre.
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Model of a war scene — Australian War Memorial, Canberra.


Main article: scale model


A physical model is used in various contexts to mean a physical representation of some thing. That thing may be a single item or object (for example, a bolt) or a large system (for example, the Solar System).

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 (as opposed to a model of a smaller mountain region, which may well use the same scale horizontally and vertically, and show the true slopes).

Physical models in science and technology allow us to simulate or visualize something about the thing it represents. A model in this sense is a physical object such as an architectural model of a projected building or an existing one. Possible technical uses of an architectural model is to facilitate visualization of internal relationships within the structure or external relationships of the structure to the environment. Other uses of models in this sense are as toys.

Carefully constructed and instrumented physical models are the most effective way of investigating complex fluid flow scenarios 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 (see Similitude).

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. The purpose of a physical model on a smaller scale may be to have a better overview, for testing purposes, as hobby or toy. The purpose of a physical model on a larger scale may be 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.

A physical model of an animal shows the animals physical composition without it walking or flying away, and without danger, and if the real animal is not available. A soft model of an animal is popular among children and some adults as cuddly toy.

A model of a person may e.g. be a doll, a statue, and in fiction a robotic humanoid, e.g. the mechas in the movie A.I..

A model is a 3D alternative for a 2D representation such as a drawing or photograph, or in the case of a globe, a 3D, undistorted alternative for a flat world map.

Even compared with a set of drawings of photographs, it better enables looking at it from all sides, and it also allows feeling it. The former is sometimes also enabled by certain computer software.

See also

Physical models

scale model is a representation or copy of an object that is larger or smaller than the actual size of the object being represented. Very often the scale model is smaller than the original and used as a guide to making the object in full size.
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Solar System or solar system[a] consists of the Sun and the other celestial objects gravitationally bound to it: the eight planets, their 166 known moons,[1]
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Similarity is some degree of symmetry in either analogy and resemblance between two or more concepts or objects. The notion of similarity rests either on exact or approximate repetitions of patterns in the compared items.
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The concept of scale is applicable if a system is represented proportionally by another system. For example, for a scale model of an object, the ratio of corresponding lengths is a dimensionless scale, e.g. 1:25; this scale is larger than 1:50.
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A distortion is the alteration of the original shape (or other characteristic) of an object, image, sound, waveform or other form of information or representation. Distortion is usually unwanted.
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Topography (Greek topos, "place", and graphia, "writing") is the study of Earth's surface features or those of planets, moons, and asteroids.

In a broader sense, topography is concerned with local detail in general, including not only relief but also
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Slope is often used to describe the measurement of the steepness, incline, gradient, or grade of a straight line. A higher slope value indicates a steeper incline. The slope is defined as the ratio of the "rise" divided by the "run
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toy is an object used in play. Toys are usually associated with children and pets, but it is not unusual for adult humans and some non-domesticated animals to play with toys.
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Hydraulic engineering is a sub-discipline of civil engineering concerned with the flow and conveyance of fluids, principally water. This area of engineering is intimately related to the design of bridges, dams, channels, canals, levees, elevators, and to both sanitary and
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The Froude number is a dimensionless number comparing inertial and gravitational forces. It may be used to quantify the resistance of an object moving through water, and compare objects of different sizes.
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In fluid mechanics, the Reynolds number is the ratio of inertial forces (vsρ) to viscous forces (μ/L) and consequently it quantifies the relative importance of these two types of forces for given flow conditions.
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dynamic similitude with the real application to ensure valid results.]]

Similitude is a concept used in the testing of engineering models. A model is said to have similitude with the real application if the two share geometric similarity, kinematic similarity and
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Vehicles are non-living means of transport. They are most often man-made (e.g. bicycles, cars, motorcycles, trains, ships, and aircraft), although some other means of transport which are not made by man can also be called vehicles; examples include icebergs and floating tree trunks.
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machine (derived from the latin machina) is any device that transmits or modifies . In common usage, the meaning is restricted to devices having rigid moving parts that perform or assist in performing some work.
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A hobby is a spare-time recreational pursuit.

Origin of term

A hobby-horse was a wooden or wickerwork toy made to be ridden just like the real hobby. From this came the expression "to ride one's hobby-horse", meaning "to follow a favourite pastime", and in turn,
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toy is an object used in play. Toys are usually associated with children and pets, but it is not unusual for adult humans and some non-domesticated animals to play with toys.
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Insecta
Linnaeus, 1758

Orders
Subclass Apterygota
* Archaeognatha (bristletails)
* Thysanura (silverfish)
Subclass Pterygota
* Infraclass Paleoptera (Probably paraphyletic)

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molecule is defined as a sufficiently stable electrically neutral group of at least two atoms in a definite arrangement held together by strong chemical bonds.[1][2] In organic chemistry and biochemistry, the term molecule
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stuffed animal is toy animal stuffed with straw, beans, cotton or other similar materials. Some stuffed animals are very old – home made cloth dolls stuffed with straw go back to at least the 1830s, perhaps much older. Stuffed animals are also known as plush toys (U.
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A doll is a child's toy that represents a baby or other human being, but includes likenesses of animals and imaginary creatures. Dolls have been around since the dawn of human civilization, and have been fashioned from a vast array of materials, ranging from stone, clay, wood,
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statue is a sculpture depicting a specific entity, usually a person, event, animal or object. Its primary concern is representational.

A small statue is called statuette. A statue of just a head and shoulders is a bust.
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robot is a mechanical or virtual, artificial agent . It is usually an electromechanical system, which, by its appearance or movements, conveys a sense that it has intent or agency of its own.
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The term "humanoid" refers to any being whose body structure resembles that of a human. In this sense, the term indeed describes primates, as well as mythological creatures and artificial organisms (robots), especially in the context of science fiction and fantasy fiction.
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Three-dimensional space is the physical universe we live in. The three dimensions are commonly called length, width, and breadth, although any three mutually perpendicular directions can serve as the three dimensions. Pictures are commonly two dimensional, they lack depth.
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photograph (often shortened to photo) is an image created by light falling on a light-sensitive surface, usually photographic film or an electronic imager such as a CCD or a CMOS chip.
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globe is a three-dimensional scale model of a spheroid celestial body such as a planet, star, or moon, in particular Earth, or, alternatively, a spherical representation of the sky with the stars (but without the Sun, Moon, or planets, because their positions vary relative to those
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MAP may refer to:
  • MAP, the ISO 639 alpha-3 for Austronesian languages
  • MAP (band), an indie band from Riverside, California
  • Maghreb Arab Press, the official Moroccan news agency
  • Malawi Against Polio

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