Heap (mathematics)

Hey kiddo, do you know what a pile of things looks like? Like when you stack a bunch of toys or books together? That's kind of what a "heap" in math is like.

But instead of toys or books, a heap in math is a special way of organizing numbers. It's like a big pile of numbers where the biggest number is at the top.

Here's how it works: first, you start with one number. That number is the top of your heap. Then, each time you add a new number to your heap, you put it on the bottom of the pile and "heapify" it.

Heapify just means that you make sure the biggest number is still at the top. So if you added a new number that was bigger than the one at the top, you switch them so that the bigger number is now at the top.

That way, no matter how many numbers you add to your heap, the biggest one is always at the top. And that's really handy in math because it allows you to easily find and use the biggest number in a group.

So there you have it, kiddo! A heap in math is just a pile of numbers where the biggest one is always at the top, and new numbers are "heapified" to keep the biggest one on top.