Term rewriting

Okay kiddo, have you ever written a sentence that you later changed a few words in to make it mean something different? That's kind of what term rewriting is.

Term rewriting happens when you take a math problem or statement and rewrite it in a different way. Just like how you might take a sentence you wrote and change a few words, in math you might take an equation and change the order of a few things or substitute something else in for a variable.

But why do people do this? Well, sometimes it can help make a problem easier to solve or make it clear what the answer is. Just like how changing a few words might make your sentence easier to understand.

Term rewriting can also be used to do things like simplify equations, factor polynomials, or solve problems in geometry. It's a really useful tool that mathematicians use all the time.

So next time you're stuck on a math problem, remember that term rewriting might be just the thing you need to solve it!