Degrees of freedom

Okay, so imagine you have a toy box filled with different toys like dolls, cars, and blocks. You want to take some toys out and play with them, but your mom tells you that you can only choose a certain number of toys.

Degrees of freedom are kind of like that rule from your mom. They limit how many choices you have when you're playing with something. But instead of toys, degrees of freedom have to do with numbers and math.

Let's say you have a math problem with three variables (kind of like toy choices): x, y, and z. But there's a rule that says x + y + z = 10. That means you can't just pick any number you want for x, y, and z. You have to make sure they add up to 10.

Because of that rule, you don't have complete freedom to pick any number you want for each variable. You only have two degrees of freedom because once you pick two of the variables, the third one is determined by the rule.

Basically, degrees of freedom are a limit on how many choices you have because of rules or restrictions in a math problem or experiment. It's like your mom saying you can only pick a certain number of toys to play with.