Simulation Models Flashcards
7 cards from real APCSP practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 7 Simulation Models flashcards as text
A simulation of an epidemic uses the rule: 'An infected person has a 30% chance of infecting each neighbor per day.' What does the 30% value represent in the model?
Answer: A parameter that can be adjusted to test different scenarios
The 30% value is a model parameter that can be changed to explore how different infection rates affect the epidemic's spread.
Which of the following scenarios is BEST suited for using a simulation rather than a direct experiment?
Answer: Studying the effects of an asteroid impact on Earth's climate
Simulating an asteroid impact is ideal because the real experiment is impossible, dangerous, and would be irreversible.
In a simulation model, what is the role of 'initial conditions'?
Answer: They set the starting state of the system before the simulation runs
Initial conditions define the state of the system at time zero, which determines how the simulation evolves.
A simulation of predator-prey populations shows wolves increasing while deer decrease, then wolves declining as food runs out. This pattern is evidence that:
Answer: The simulation successfully models feedback loops in the ecosystem
The oscillating population pattern reflects the feedback loop where predator success depends on prey availability, matching ecological theory.
A programmer wants to simulate how heat spreads through a metal rod. She divides the rod into 100 small segments and updates each segment's temperature every millisecond. This technique is called:
Answer: Discrete time-step simulation
Dividing time into small steps and updating the system state at each step is the discrete time-step approach used in many physical simulations.
A simulation result differs significantly from observed real-world data. What is the MOST appropriate next step?
Answer: Review and refine the model's assumptions and parameters
When simulation results diverge from reality, the model should be revised to better reflect real-world conditions.
Which of the following is an example of using a simulation to answer a question that would be UNETHICAL to test in reality?
Answer: Simulating the spread of a deadly pathogen released in a city
Releasing a deadly pathogen in a city would harm people, making simulation the only ethical way to study such scenarios.