ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Geometrical properties of polynomial roots

Imagine you have a big garden with lots of flowers. Each flower grows from a seed, and the seed has some special properties that make it unique. Just like how each flower has its own shape, petals, and color, each seed has its own geometrical properties.

Now imagine that instead of flowers, we have polynomials. A polynomial is a kind of math equation that has one or more unknown numbers (called variables) raised to different powers and added together. Just like how a flower has a stem and leaves, a polynomial has coefficients (the numbers in front of each power of the variable) and a constant term.

When we solve a polynomial equation by finding its roots, we are trying to find the values of the unknown variable(s) that make the equation true. Just like how we plant seeds in the garden and wait for them to grow into flowers, we can "plant" the polynomial equation into a math equation solver and "wait" for it to give us the roots.

The roots of a polynomial equation are like the seeds from which the flowers grow. They have geometrical properties that can tell us a lot about the polynomial itself. For example, the number of roots a polynomial has can tell us how many flowers will grow in the garden. If a polynomial has two roots, it will have two flowers.

The location of the roots on a graph of the polynomial equation can also tell us about the shape of the polynomial. Just like how the shape of a flower depends on the size and arrangement of its petals, the shape of a polynomial depends on the size and arrangement of its powers of the variable. If the roots of a polynomial are close together, the polynomial will have a "hump" or "bump" in its shape. If the roots are far apart, the polynomial will have a more "flat" shape.

In summary, the geometrical properties of polynomial roots are like the unique properties of flower seeds that tell us about the flowers that will grow in the garden. By understanding these properties, we can learn more about the polynomial equation itself and how it behaves.