ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Zero object (algebra)

Imagine you have no toys. That's like having 0 toys, right? Now, let's say you want to add 2 toys to your collection. You count 0 toys and add 2 more toys, making the total 2 toys.

In algebra, we use numbers instead of toys. If we have zero toys, we can use the number 0 to represent that. When we add or subtract 0 to any number, the number stays the same. For example, if we have 5 toys and add 0 toys, we still have 5 toys.

The same thing happens when we multiply any number with 0. The answer will always be 0. For instance, if we have 10 toys and multiply 0 to it, we end up having zero toys left.

So, the zero object in algebra is like having no toys, but we use the number 0 to show that we have nothing. We can add, subtract, or multiply 0 to any number and it will always be the same or become zero.