A simulation is a model, and every model leaves something out. These questions ask what was left out and whether it mattered.
Applied Practice
6 questions · scenario driven · every answer is recorded for your teacher
Question 1 of 6Apply
A city wants to know how a new traffic light timing will affect congestion.
What is the strongest reason to simulate rather than test on the street?
Incorrect. The real world is measurable. Measuring it is simply slow and costly here.
Incorrect. A simulation is always less accurate than reality. Its advantage lies elsewhere.
Correct. Cost, speed, safety, and the ability to try many variations are the reasons simulations are used, and none of them is accuracy.
Incorrect. No such universal requirement exists.
Question 2 of 6Analyze
A simulation of a forest fire ignores wind entirely.
What is the correct characterization?
Incorrect. Every simulation omits something. Omission alone does not make results worthless.
Correct. Choosing what to leave out is what makes a model a model. The cost is that conclusions do not extend to conditions the model does not represent.
Incorrect. Removing a factor reduces the work rather than increasing it.
Incorrect. A deliberate simplification is a design choice, not a defect.
Question 3 of 6Evaluate
A simulation run once predicts a 60 percent success rate.
What is the most accurate statement?
Correct. Randomized simulations vary between runs, so the meaningful result comes from aggregating many runs rather than reading one.
Incorrect. Round numbers are not evidence of an error.
Incorrect. Results do generalize within the range the model represents. The limit is real but not that absolute.
Incorrect. A simulated rate is an estimate produced by a model, not a measurement of reality.
Question 4 of 6Transfer
Which is the clearest example of a problem where a simulation is more appropriate than a direct experiment?
Incorrect. Counting is direct and trivial.
Incorrect. A calculation needs no model.
Incorrect. Direct measurement is immediate and exact.
Correct. The real experiment would take a year, cannot be repeated, and cannot ethically be run, which is precisely the situation simulations exist for.
Question 5 of 6Apply
A dice simulation always returns 4.
What is most likely wrong?
Incorrect. Dice are among the simplest things to simulate.
Incorrect. One occurrence of 4 is fine. Every occurrence being 4 is not.
Correct. A constant result across many runs means the random draw is not happening, whether because it is outside the loop or fixed to a value.
Incorrect. Variation appears immediately in a working model, not after some threshold.
Question 6 of 6Analyze
Why do simulations typically use abstraction?
Incorrect. Abstraction reduces fidelity. Accuracy is what it trades away.
Correct. A model exists to answer a specific question, and abstraction is how it stays small enough to build and run while keeping the relevant factors.
Incorrect. It follows from what a model is, not from a requirement.
Incorrect. Hiding errors is a defect, never a purpose.
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