ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Extender (set theory)

Imagine you have a big bag of toys, with all kinds of different toys inside. Now imagine you want to take some of those toys out of the bag and play with them, but you also want to keep all the other toys safe in the bag.

An extender in set theory is kind of like a special bag that helps you do that. But instead of toys, we're talking about sets of numbers or other objects.

An extender is a fancy way of saying that you can take some sets out of a bigger set, but you don't lose any information or numbers in the process. It's like being able to take a few toys out of the bag to play with, but you still know what all the other toys in the bag are.

Another way to think about it is like a special kind of filter. You can use an extender to look at some sets and ignore others, but you're not actually getting rid of any of the information or numbers in the process. It's kind of like looking through a special pair of glasses that lets you see only certain things, while keeping everything else in focus.

Overall, an extender is just a tool that helps mathematicians better understand and work with sets of numbers or objects without losing any important information.