ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Prosthaphaeresis

Imagine you have two baskets of apples. One basket has three apples and the other has two apples. Now, you want to combine these two baskets into one, but you want to make sure that you count each apple once and only once.

This is where prosthaphaeresis comes in handy! Prosthaphaeresis is a fancy math trick that lets you add or subtract two numbers by breaking them up into smaller, easier-to-work-with parts.

So, instead of adding 3 and 2 directly, you can break down these numbers into parts that add up to 10. For example, 3 is the same as 1 + 2 and 2 is the same as 8 - 6.

Using prosthaphaeresis, you can rearrange the numbers into (1 + 8) + (2 - 6), which equals 5. So, the total number of apples in the combined baskets is 5.

This may seem like a simple math trick, but it can be really helpful when dealing with large numbers, especially when you can break them down into parts that are easier to manage.
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