ABSTRACT
A model is an analog of a physical reality, typically simpler and idealized. Models can be physical or mathematical and are created with the goal to gain insight into the reality in a more convenient way. Mathematical models can be classified somewhat loosely depending on the starting point in making a model. In observation-based models, the starting point is the experimental data from which a model is built. Physics-based models follow from fundamental physical laws such as conservation of mass and energy and Newton’s laws of motion; however, empirical rate laws are needed to apply the conservation laws at the macroscopic scale. Molecular dynamic models are physics-based models at the smallest scale. Kinetic models mathematically describe rates of chemical or microbiological reactions. The chapter also presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in this book.
