Lumped parameters

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Lumped parameters are a simplification in a mathematical model of a physical system where variables that are spatially distributed fields are represented as single scalars instead.

A good example a lumped parameter model is the representation of an electrical network, graphically represented by a circuit diagram in which by voltages are assigned to the vertices and currents to the edges of the diagram. The mathematical analyses of such a circuit model is much simpler than solving the Maxwell equations for the actual physical system.

Another example a temperature field is replaced by average temperatures.

It can be a reasonable approach if the system is homogeneous enough.