ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Examples of vector spaces

So, let's say you have a bunch of toys like blocks, balls, and dolls. And you want to put them in a big toy box. But you also want to make sure that you can do some cool things with them, like add them together or stretch them out.

A vector space is kind of like that toy box. It's a big space where you can put a bunch of different things called vectors. Just like how you put toys in the toy box.

But these vectors aren't just regular toys. They're special because they have some math properties. For example, you can add two vectors together to get a new vector. And you can stretch a vector out to make it longer or shorter.

There are a lot of different things that can be vectors. For example, you could have vectors that represent points in space. Or you could have vectors that represent how much money you have in different bank accounts. There are even vectors that represent things like sound waves or color values!

So, there are a lot of different examples of vector spaces. But they all have one thing in common: they're big spaces where you can put a bunch of different things called vectors and do cool math things with them.