Models
- Models are a long standing and excellent way to describe a system.
- The ideal gas law (a model) describes the behaviour of gases.
- PV = nRT
- Pressure*Volume = n(umber of moles)*R(a constant)*Temperature
- This model is fundamental to chemistry and enables us to do a host of
things like put oxygen in a cannister so we can use it.
- If any of us came up with a novel law like this for anything of
reasonable importance we would probably get a nobel prize.
- The model enables people to know what's going to happen
with the modelled object.
- Of course, Goerge Box notes "All models are wrong, but some are
useful."
- What we scientists want is models that are useful.
