Model vs. Theory: Know the Difference
By Shumaila Saeed || Published on January 2, 2024
A model is a simplified representation or framework of a system or concept, whereas a theory is a well-substantiated explanation of some aspect of the natural world, based on a body of evidence.
Key Differences
A model is a construct or representation that simplifies and clarifies a complex reality, often used for analysis and problem-solving. In contrast, a theory is an established set of principles that explains observed phenomena and is supported by empirical evidence.
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Jan 02, 2024
Models are often used as tools for prediction, helping to understand how systems behave under different conditions. Theories, however, are more comprehensive and aim to provide a deep understanding of why things happen as they do.
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Jan 02, 2024
A model can be a physical, mathematical, or conceptual representation, focusing on specific aspects of a system. Theories are broader in scope, integrating various observations and experiments into a cohesive framework.
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Models are typically used to test specific hypotheses or explore scenarios within a theoretical framework. Theories, on the other hand, are the frameworks themselves, developed through rigorous testing and validation.
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While models can be adjusted or replaced as new data becomes available, theories evolve more gradually, adapting to encompass new findings while maintaining a core set of principles.
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Jan 02, 2024
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Comparison Chart
Purpose
Simplify and represent complex systems
Explain and interpret natural phenomena
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Nature
Can be physical, mathematical, conceptual
Abstract, based on principles and evidence
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Scope
Specific, focused on particular aspects
Broad, encompassing various observations
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Function
Predict, test hypotheses, explore scenarios
Provide understanding, integrate evidence
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Adaptability
Easily modified or replaced
Evolves with new evidence, maintaining core
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Model and Theory Definitions
Model
A model is a simplified representation of reality.
The globe is a model of the Earth.
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Theory
In science, theories are tested and refined over time.
Quantum theory has evolved with new experimental data.
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Model
Models are used for simulating and understanding complex systems.
Economic models predict market trends.
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Theory
Theories are frameworks for understanding natural phenomena.
The theory of evolution explains species diversity.
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Model
A model can be a prototype or initial version of a design.
The architect presented a model of the new building.
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Theory
A theory integrates facts, hypotheses, and observations.
Germ theory explains how diseases are transmitted.
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Model
A small object, usually built to scale, that represents in detail another, often larger object.
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Theory
A theory is a substantiated explanation based on evidence.
Einstein's theory of relativity transformed physics.
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Model
A preliminary work or construction that serves as a plan from which a final product is to be made
A clay model ready for casting.
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Theory
Theories form the basis for further scientific exploration.
Plate tectonics theory led to new geology research.
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Model
Such a work or construction used in testing or perfecting a final product
A test model of a solar-powered vehicle.
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Theory
A set of statements or principles devised to explain a group of facts or phenomena, especially one that has been repeatedly tested or is widely accepted and can be used to make predictions about natural phenomena.
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Model
A schematic description or representation of something, especially a system or phenomenon, that accounts for its properties and is used to study its characteristics
A model of generative grammar.
A model of an atom.
An economic model.
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Theory
The branch of a science or art consisting of its explanatory statements, accepted principles, and methods of analysis, as opposed to practice
A fine musician who had never studied theory.
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Theory
A set of theorems that constitute a systematic view of a branch of mathematics.
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Model
One serving as an example to be imitated or compared
A model of decorum.
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Theory
Abstract reasoning; speculation
A decision based on experience rather than theory.
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Model
One that serves as the subject for an artist, especially a person employed to pose for a painter, sculptor, or photographer.
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Theory
A belief or principle that guides action or assists comprehension or judgment
Staked out the house on the theory that criminals usually return to the scene of the crime.
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Theory
An assumption based on limited information or knowledge; a conjecture.
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Model
A person employed to display merchandise, such as clothing or cosmetics.
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Theory
A description of an event or system that is considered to be accurate.
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Theory
(sciences) A coherent statement or set of ideas that explains observed facts or phenomena and correctly predicts new facts or phenomena not previously observed, or which sets out the laws and principles of something known or observed; a hypothesis confirmed by observation, experiment etc.
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Theory
(uncountable) The underlying principles or methods of a given technical skill, art etc., as opposed to its practice.
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Theory
(mathematics) A field of study attempting to exhaustively describe a particular class of constructs.
Knot theory classifies the mappings of a circle into 3-space.
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Model
To make or construct a descriptive or representational model of
Computer programs that model climate change.
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Model
To plan, construct, or fashion in imitation of a model
Modeled his legal career after that of his mentor.
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Theory
A set of axioms together with all statements derivable from them; or, a set of statements which are deductively closed. Equivalently, a formal language plus a set of axioms (from which can then be derived theorems). The statements may be required to all be bound (i.e., to have no free variables).
A theory is consistent if it has a model.
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Theory
A doctrine, or scheme of things, which terminates in speculation or contemplation, without a view to practice; hypothesis; speculation.
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Theory
An exposition of the general or abstract principles of any science; as, the theory of music.
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Theory
The science, as distinguished from the art; as, the theory and practice of medicine.
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Model
In painting, drawing, and photography, to give a three-dimensional appearance to, as by shading or highlighting.
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Theory
The philosophical explanation of phenomena, either physical or moral; as, Lavoisier's theory of combustion; Adam Smith's theory of moral sentiments.
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Model
To exhibit (a behavior) in such a way as to promote the establishment of similar patterns of behavior in another
The therapist modeled socially appropriate conversation.
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Theory
A well-substantiated explanation of some aspect of the natural world; an organized system of accepted knowledge that applies in a variety of circumstances to explain a specific set of phenomena;
Theories can incorporate facts and laws and tested hypotheses
True in fact and theory
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Model
To repeat (a behavior observed in another)
The child was modeling her mother's nurturing behavior.
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Theory
A tentative theory about the natural world; a concept that is not yet verified but that if true would explain certain facts or phenomena;
A scientific hypothesis that survives experimental testing becomes a scientific theory
He proposed a fresh theory of alkalis that later was accepted in chemical practices
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Theory
A belief that can guide behavior;
The architect has a theory that more is less
They killed him on the theory that dead men tell no tales
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Model
To work or serve as a model, as in wearing clothes for display or serving as the subject of an artist.
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Model
A person who serves as a subject for artwork or fashion, usually in the medium of photography but also for painting or drawing.
The beautiful model had her face on the cover of almost every fashion magazine imaginable.
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Model
A person, usually an attractive male or female that is hired to show items or goods to the public, such as items that are given away as prizes on a TV game show.
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Model
A representation of a physical object, usually in miniature.
The boy played with a model of a World War II fighter plane.
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Model
A simplified representation used to explain the workings of a real world system or event.
The computer weather model did not correctly predict the path of the hurricane.
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Model
A style, type, or design.
He decided to buy the turbo engine model of the sports car.
This year's model features four doors instead of two.
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Model
The structural design of a complex system.
The team developed a sound business model.
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Model
A successful example to be copied, with or without modifications.
He was a model of eloquence and virtue.
British parliamentary democracy was seen as a model for other countries to follow.
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Model
(logic) An interpretation function which assigns a truth value to each atomic proposition.
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Model
(logic) An interpretation which makes a set of sentences true, in which case that interpretation is called a model of that set.
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Model
(medicine) An animal that is used to study a human disease or pathology.
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Model
(software architecture) In software applications using the model-view-controller design pattern, the part or parts of the application that manage the data.
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Model
(transitive) to display for others to see, especially in regard to wearing clothing while performing the role of a fashion model
She modelled the shoes for her friends to see.
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Model
(transitive) to use as an object in the creation of a forecast or model
They modelled the data with a computer to analyze the experiment’s results.
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Model
(transitive) to make a miniature model of
He takes great pride in his skill at modeling airplanes.
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Model
(transitive) to create from a substance such as clay
The sculptor modelled the clay into the form of a dolphin.
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Model
(intransitive) to work as a model in art or fashion
The actress used to model before being discovered by Hollywood.
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Model
A miniature representation of a thing, with the several parts in due proportion; sometimes, a facsimile of the same size; as, a
In charts, in maps, and eke in models made.
I had my father's signet in my purse,Which was the model of that Danish seal.
You have the models of several ancient temples, though the temples and the gods are perished.
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Model
Something intended to serve, or that may serve, as a pattern of something to be made; a material representation or embodiment of an ideal; sometimes, a drawing; a plan; as, the clay model of a sculpture; the inventor's model of a machine.
[The application for a patent] must be accompanied by a full description of the invention, with drawings and a model where the case admits of it.
When we mean to buildWe first survey the plot, then draw the model.
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Model
Anything which serves, or may serve, as an example for imitation; as, a government formed on the model of the American constitution; a model of eloquence, virtue, or behavior.
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Model
That by which a thing is to be measured; standard.
He that despairs measures Providence by his own little, contracted model.
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Model
Any copy, or resemblance, more or less exact.
Thou seest thy wretched brother die,Who was the model of thy father's life.
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Model
A person who poses as a pattern for an artist; as, the artist used his daughter as a model for an Indian maiden.
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Model
A person who is employed to wear clothing for the purpose of advertising or display, or who poses with a product for the same purpose; a mannequin{1}; as, a fashion model.
A professional model.
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Model
A particular version or design of an object that is made in multiple versions; as, the 1993 model of the Honda Accord; the latest model of the HP laserjet printer. For many manufactured products, the model name is encoded as part of the model number.
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Model
An abstract and often simplified conceptual representation of the workings of a system of objects in the real world, which often includes mathematical or logical objects and relations representing the objects and relations in the real-world system, and constructed for the purpose of explaining the workings of the system or predicting its behavior under hypothetical conditions; as, the administration's model of the United States economy predicts budget surpluses for the next fifteen years; different models of the universe assume different values for the cosmological constant; models of proton structure have grown progressively more complex in the past century.
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Model
Suitable to be taken as a model or pattern; as, a model house; a model husband.
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Model
To plan or form after a pattern; to form in model; to form a model or pattern for; to shape; to mold; to fashion; as, to model a house or a government; to model an edifice according to the plan delineated.
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Model
To make a copy or a pattern; to design or imitate forms; as, to model in wax.
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Model
A simplified description of a complex entity or process;
The computer program was based on a model of the circulatory and respiratory systems
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Model
A person who poses for a photographer or painter or sculptor;
The president didn't have time to be a model so the artist worked from photos
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Model
Something to be imitated;
An exemplar of success
A model of clarity
He is the very model of a modern major general
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Model
A woman who wears clothes to display fashions;
She was too fat to be a mannequin
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Model
Assume a posture as for artistic purposes;
We don't know the woman who posed for Leonardo so often
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Model
Create a representation or model of;
The pilots are trained in conditions simulating high-altitude flights
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Model
In science, models are frameworks for explaining phenomena.
The atomic model explains the structure of an atom.
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Model
Models serve as examples or standards to follow.
She is a role model for aspiring athletes.
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Repeatedly Asked Queries
Can models be physical?
Yes, models can be physical, mathematical, or conceptual.
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Jan 02, 2024
What is the purpose of a theory?
Theories aim to explain, interpret, and predict natural events.
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What is a model?
A model is a simplified representation of a complex system or concept.
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How is a model used?
Models are used for prediction, simulation, and understanding systems.
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What is a theory?
A theory is a well-supported explanation of natural phenomena based on evidence.
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Can a model become a theory?
No, models and theories serve different purposes in science.
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What's a famous scientific theory?
The theory of gravity is a well-known scientific theory.
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What role do models play in experiments?
Models help in formulating hypotheses and interpreting data.
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Do models evolve?
Models can be easily modified or replaced as new data emerges.
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Are theories based on hypotheses?
Yes, theories often start as hypotheses and are refined with evidence.
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What's an example of a scientific model?
The Bohr model of the atom is an example.
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Is it possible to visualize a theory?
Theories are abstract but can be illustrated through models.
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Can theories be proven?
Theories can be strongly supported, but not proven in the absolute sense.
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How are theories tested?
Theories are tested through experiments and empirical observations.
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How do theories evolve?
Theories evolve gradually as new evidence integrates into the existing framework.
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What distinguishes a good theory?
A good theory is coherent, comprehensive, and widely supported by evidence.
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Do models have predictive power?
Yes, models often predict outcomes under different scenarios.
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Are models always accurate?
Models are simplifications and may not fully capture reality.
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Can models be used in non-scientific fields?
Yes, models are used in various fields like economics and sociology.
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How do theories contribute to science?
Theories provide a foundational framework for scientific understanding and research.
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Jan 02, 2024
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About Author
Written by
Shumaila SaeedShumaila Saeed, an expert content creator with 6 years of experience, specializes in distilling complex topics into easily digestible comparisons, shining a light on the nuances that both inform and educate readers with clarity and accuracy.
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