ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Elimination theory

Elimination theory is like a magic trick that helps us find the answers to tricky mathematical problems. Imagine you have two equations that involve lots of complicated numbers and variables. These equations might be hard to solve on their own, but if we use elimination theory, we can make them simpler and easier to solve.

To start, we need to pay attention to the numbers and variables in both equations. Let's say we have one equation with the variable "x" and another equation with the variable "y". Our goal is to eliminate one of those variables so that we're only left with one equation and one variable to solve for.

One way to do this is to use multiplication. We can choose one of our equations and multiply both sides by a number that will cancel out the variable in the other equation. For example, if we want to eliminate "y", we can multiply the whole first equation (with "x") by the number that will make the "y" term the same as in the second equation. That way, when we add the two equations together, the "y" terms will cancel out and we'll be left with just the "x" term.

It's like having two boxes with different things inside. We want to get rid of one of the things in one box so that we're left with only one box and one thing. So we can multiply the things in one box by a special number that will make those things the same as the things in the other box. Then we can put both boxes together and the things we wanted to get rid of will disappear, leaving us with only the thing we wanted to keep.

Elimination theory is a way to make math problems simpler and easier to solve. It's like a magic trick that helps us figure out the answers to tough equations by eliminating one variable. And just like a magic trick, it can take practice and patience to get it right, but once you understand it, you can use it to solve all kinds of math problems!