Physical Models In an Age of Computers

Harperdog points out this article "about the Bay Model in Sausalito, California, which was built in 1959 to study a (terrible) plan to dam up San Francisco Bay. The model was at the forefront of research and testing on water issues that affected all of California; its research contributions have been rendered obsolete by computer testing, but there are many who think it could contribute still. Now used for education and tourism, the model is over 1 1/2 acres and replicates a 24-hour tidal cycle in just 14 minutes. Good stuff."

Education

[Zrako]

Computer models may be far more efficient for research but physical models still have a very important role. Children, while far more efficient then ever at using technology, do not have the ability/opportunity to learn from these computer models like a researcher would. I think physical models are still very important for teaching the next generation about different science and engineering principles, like the tide cycle from the article. The ability for kids to physically see and experience the science and engineering topics is what gets them interested and engaged in learning about those topics in the future. Models like this are essential for future education for kids. I mean what kid doesn’t start to wonder about the world around them after going to the local science center?

Question for experts

[Anonymous Coward]

Something I've always wondered about physical models is, how can you compare them to real situations at different scales? So many relationships in physics are non-linear. It seems like the model behavior must differ both quantitatively and qualitatively from the real behavior.

Re:Question for experts

[Anonymous Coward]

It depends on what effects are interesting to you. For example, in testing scale models of aircraft, reducing the model size generally means increasing the wind speed, to keep the Reynold's number (viscosity and kinematic effects) constant. However, that can jack up the Mach number (shock wave effects). Or, if you're doing dynamics, then the weight will be very important, which doesn't scale linearly with size. So it's usually a tradeoff.