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GCSE Chemistry · key term
A simplified representation used to show selected features of a substance or process; it does not show everything about the real thing.
Used by OCR
Paper 1 (Foundation), Paper 2 (Foundation), Paper 3 (Higher), Paper 4 (Higher)
Revise: Limitations of modelsNo single drawing can show every feature of this structure, so chemists choose a model according to what they want to explain.
A simplified representation of a system used to explain it or predict what might happen.
When describing a limitation, say what the model fails to show and what the real substance is like.
In a ball-and-stick model, the sticks are not physical bonds. Electrostatic attraction acts in all directions.
When describing a change in theory, link the new observation to the feature of the earlier model it challenged and the feature of the replacement model that explains it.
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