Deck 12: Simulation and Modeling

Question 1

Building a good model can be a difficult task that requires us to capture, in computational form, all the important factors that influence the behavior of a system.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

The fundamental way to obtain new scientific knowledge and understanding is through the use of intuition.

Answer 2

False

Question 3

The results you get out of a simulation model are only as good as the data and the assumptions put into the model.

Answer 3

True

Question 4

Researchers in the simulation field create new techniques, both algorithms and special purpose languages that allow users to design and implement computer models.

Question 5

Simulation models are always based on existing, accessible physical models.

Question 6

Simulations cannot model fractions of a second or billions of years.

Question 7

Galileo found that when you drop two balls of differing weights at the same time, then the heavier ball will fall faster.

Question 8

One reason for constructing a simulation model is that it may be dangerous to experiment on the actual system or a physical replica.

Question 9

In a computer simulation, a physical system is modeled as a set of mathematical equations and/or algorithmic procedures that capture the fundamental characteristics and behavior of a system.

Question 10

Computers are used purely for scientific purposes.

Question 11

Computational models are an excellent way both to design new systems and study and improve the behavior of existing systems.

Question 12

Computational models should generally include every conceivable factor that is involved in the real situation.

Question 13

The use of visual elements such as color and size does not affect how easy or hard it is to interpret the output of a computer model.

Question 14

The processing of one event cannot cause new events to occur in the future.

Question 15

A possible reason to construct a simulation model is that it is faster to design the computer simulation than the physical model.

Question 16

In the scientific method, we observe the behavior of a system and formulate a hypothesis that tries to explain its behavior.

Question 17

Computational modeling is arguably the most important scientific usage of computers.

Question 18

The goal of scientific visualization is to take a massive data set and present it in a way that is more informative and more understandable for the user of that data.

Question 19

Science is now sufficiently knowledgeable about how most systems function and can characterize their behavior using explicit mathematical formulae.

Question 20

Stochastic values can be known with certainty.

Question 21

A large part of any simulation model is collecting data about the system so we an understand and analyze its performance.

Question 22

____ is an "interactive" approach to design.

A) Simulation
B) Stochastic steering
C) Computer graphics
D) Computational steering

Question 23

Constructing models of complex systems requires only an elementary understanding of mathematics and statistics.

Question 24

In a ____ simulation, we model the behavior of a system only at an explicit and finite set of times.

A) stochastic
B) discrete
C) computational
D) continuous

Question 25

In a ____ model, we write out a set of explicit mathematical equations that describes the behavior of a system as a continuous function of time t .

A) stochastic
B) complex
C) continuous
D) random

Question 26

The time it takes for two balls dropped from a 54-meter high tower to hit the ground, assuming that their initial velocity is 0.0, is ____ seconds. (Gravity is assumed to be 9.8 meters/sec² everywhere along the earth's surface.)

A) 1.32
B) 2.00
C) 3.32
D) 5.53

Question 27

A model can use ____ rather than precise exact equations to compensate for randomness.

A) stochastic components
B) random components
C) statistical approximations
D) stochastic equations

Question 28

One way to know a statistical distribution of a random system is to know something about the statistical distribution of quantities that behave in a similar way.

Question 29

____ consists of looking for ways to convert data to other forms or to different units that will make the display easier to understand and interpret.

A) Data extraction
B) Computational steering
C) Simulation modeling
D) Data manipulation

Question 30

The field of ____ is concerned with the technical issues involved in information display.

A) data manipulation
B) data extraction
C) discrete mathematics
D) computer graphics

Question 31

The field of ____ is concerned with the issue of how to visualize data in a way that highlights its important characteristics and simplifies its interpretation.

A) discrete mathematics
B) scientific visualization
C) data manipulation
D) animation

Question 32

The ____ Theory predicted that heavy objects would fall faster than light ones.

A) Galilean
B) Aristotelian
C) Newton
D) Archimedes

Question 33

By observing and collecting data from an actual system, the McBurgers owner might be able to discover the ____ of the variable T_serve (how long it will take to serve a customer).

A) uniform random number
B) statistical distribution
C) computational steering
D) parity bit

Question 34

A discrete event simulation is terminated typically when a button is pressed on the keyboard.

Question 35

Galileo's model of a falling body is ____ because it does not account for the effects of air resistance.

A) Aristotelian
B) inaccurate
C) useless
D) Platonic

Question 36

A(n) ____ is any activity that changes the state of a system.

A) event
B) parity bit
C) statistical approximation
D) model

Question 37

A ____ is an abstraction of the system being studied that we claim behaves much like the original.

A) state diagram
B) parity bit
C) model
D) scientific method

Question 38

____ implies that there are parts of a system that display random behavior, much like the throw of the dice or the drawing of a card.

A) Continuous components
B) Discrete modeling
C) Stochastic components
D) Computational steering

Question 39

____ models are also called simulation models.

A) Computational
B) Scientific
C) Physical
D) Stochastic

Question 40

When processing an event in a discrete event simulation, we change the state of the simulated system in the same way that the actual system would change if the event occurred.

Question 41

In the mathematical model that describes the behavior of a falling mass, d = v_init t + 1/2 gt²
What does g represent?

A) acceleration due to gravity
B) distance
C) time elapsed
D) ground speed

Question 42

____ is a visualization technique that allows us to observe how the model's output changes over time.

A) Data projection
B) Computer graphics
C) Data extraction
D) Image animation

Question 43

____ deals with determining which data values are important and should be part of the visual display.

A) Data manipulation
B) Data extraction
C) Computer graphics
D) Scientific visualization

Question 44

In the customer service algorithm, the variable ____ represents the time now, which is the time of a customer's departure.

A) current state
B) initial time
C) initial state
D) current time

Question 45

The ____ is a random integer that takes one of the values 1,2,3, ... 100 with equal likelihood.

A) uniform random number
B) stochastic factor
C) initial time
D) randomly generated integer

Question 46

The gravitational model is an example of a(n) ____ model.

A) continuous
B) discrete event
C) stochastic
D) random

Question 47

A typical desktop computer executes roughly ____ MIPS.

A) 10
B) 100
C) 1000
D) 10000

Question 48

In the mathematical model that describes the behavior of a falling mass, d = v_init t + 1/2 gt²
What does d represent?

A) acceleration due to gravity
B) distance
C) time elapsed
D) ground speed

Question 49

____ consists of looking for ways to convert the data to other forms or to different units that will make the display easier to understand and interpret.

A) Data manipulation
B) Data extraction
C) Scientific visualization
D) Computer graphics

Question 50

It is possible to discover the same features from a ____ representation as a visual representation of the output, but it would probably take much more time.

A) textual
B) scientific
C) stochastic
D) statistical