ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Submanifold

Hey there kiddo, have you ever played with puzzle pieces before? Do you remember how each puzzle piece is unique in its own way? Well, a submanifold is kind of like a puzzle piece inside of a bigger puzzle.

Imagine you have a big piece of paper, and you drew a shape on it, like a circle. Now imagine cutting out the circle shape very carefully and removing it from the paper. This circle shape is like a submanifold, because it's a "piece" of the bigger paper, but it still has its own unique shape and characteristics.

A submanifold is a smaller shape that fits inside of a bigger shape or "manifold". This submanifold can twist and turn in all different directions, but it always stays inside of the larger manifold. Just like how you can rotate or turn a puzzle piece to fit it into its spot, a submanifold can twist and turn inside of its larger manifold to fit perfectly.

In math, submanifolds are used to study the properties and relationships between different shapes and spaces. It's kind of like putting together a really complicated puzzle, but with math instead of physical pieces.

So, if you ever hear someone talking about submanifolds, just remember that it's like a puzzle piece inside of a bigger puzzle, and that piece has its own unique shape and characteristics.