Editing Mathematical model (section)

==Some applications==<!--whatever this section is, it isn't background (original heading), and isn't general-->

Often when engineers analyze a system to be controlled or optimized, they use a mathematical model. In analysis, engineers can build a descriptive model of the system as a hypothesis of how the system could work, or try to estimate how an unforeseeable event could affect the system. Similarly, in control of a system, engineers can try out different control approaches in [[simulation]]s.

A mathematical model usually describes a system by a [[Set (mathematics)|set]] of variables and a set of equations that establish relationships between the variables. Variables may be of many types; [[Real number|real]] or [[integer]] numbers, [[Boolean data type|Boolean]] values or [[String (computing)|strings]], for example. The variables represent some properties of the system, for example, the measured system outputs often in the form of [[Signal (electronics)|signals]], [[chronometry|timing data]], counters, and event occurrence. The actual model is the set of functions that describe the relations between the different variables.