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 uses the equation: new_population = old_population × growth_rate. If growth_rate is set to 1.0, what happens to the population over time?
Answer: It remains constant
Multiplying by exactly 1.0 each step means the population never changes — it stays constant.
Which of the following best explains why two researchers might get different results when running the same stochastic simulation?
Answer: They used different random seeds, producing different sequences of random numbers
Random seeds initialize the random number generator, so different seeds produce different random sequences and therefore different simulation outcomes.
A student simulates a basketball player shooting 1,000 free throws. The simulation shows a 72% success rate, while the player's real career average is 71%. What does this suggest?
Answer: The simulation approximates real-world performance reasonably well
A 1% difference between simulation and real data suggests the model is a reasonable approximation of reality.
In the context of AP CSP, what does it mean to say a simulation has 'emergent behavior'?
Answer: Complex patterns arise from simple rules applied to many interacting agents
Emergent behavior occurs when individual agents following simple rules collectively produce complex, unexpected system-level patterns.
A simulation of a financial market includes the rule: 'If a stock rises 5%, 70% of investors sell.' Which real-world phenomenon is this rule attempting to model?
Answer: Herd behavior, where many investors react similarly to price changes
The rule models herd behavior — the tendency of many investors to make the same decision in response to market movements.
Which of the following changes would make a simulation MORE realistic but also MORE computationally expensive?
Answer: Adding more variables and finer time steps to better capture real-world detail
Adding variables and using smaller time steps increases the model's fidelity to reality but requires significantly more computation.
A student argues that simulations are useless because they are not real. Which response BEST refutes this argument?
Answer: Simulations allow exploration of scenarios that are impossible, dangerous, or too costly to test in reality
Even though simulations are abstractions, they provide valuable insights for scenarios where real-world testing is impractical, dangerous, or impossible.