ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Algebra of physical space

Have you ever played with blocks before? Imagine you have a bunch of different colored blocks and you want to build a tower with them. First, you might want to figure out how many blocks you need to build the tower as high as you want it. This is like using algebra in physical space.

Algebra is like figuring out how many blocks you need to build your tower. Instead of blocks, we use letters and numbers to represent things. For example, if we want to figure out how many apples we need to buy at the store, we might use the equation "2x + 3 = 7". The "x" in this equation represents how many apples we need to buy.

Physical space is like the area around us where we move and interact with things. Algebra in physical space is like using equations to figure out how things are connected in physical space. For example, if we know how much force is being applied to an object, we can use algebra to figure out how fast it will move.

Overall, the algebra of physical space helps us understand how things are connected in the world around us, just like using blocks to build a tower helps us understand how many blocks we need to achieve our goal.