ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Operator (mathematics)

An operator in mathematics is like a tool that helps us do things with numbers. Imagine you have some toys scattered around your room, and you want to clean them up. You would probably use your hands to pick them up and put them in a toy box. Your hands are like operators that help you group the toys together in one place.

In the same way, an operator in math helps us group numbers together or perform a task on them. For example, the plus sign (+) is an operator that helps us add two numbers together. So if you have 3 toys and you find 2 more, you can use the plus sign to add them together and get a total of 5 toys.

Another example of an operator is the multiplication sign (x). It helps us multiply two numbers together. So if you have 3 groups of 2 toys, you can use the multiplication sign to find out how many toys you have in total. 3 x 2 = 6 toys.

Operators can be used to do more complicated tasks as well, like raising a number to a power or taking a square root. These tools make it easier for us to work with numbers and solve problems, just like your hands help you clean up your toys.
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