What is a mathematical model?
A mathematical model is a mathematical description (often by means of a function or an equation) of a real-world phenomenon such as
-the size of a population
-the demand for a product
-the speed of a falling object
-the concentration of a product in a chemical reaction
-the life expectancy of a person at birth, or
-the cost of emission reductions.
The purpose of constructing the model is to understand the phenomenon and to make predictions about future behavior. The model helps in finding the solution to the problems for which it is constructed.