r/explainlikeimfive • • 46m ago

Biology ELI5: Why can men show their nipples, but women cannot? NSFW

• Upvotes

After work I spotted a half-naked man with chest hair around his nipple. Makes me wonder lol.


r/explainlikeimfive • • 2h ago

Mathematics ELI5: what does Q-Max really measure in a sheet?

10 Upvotes

I understand that Q-Max is used to describe how cool a fabric feels on first contact, but I’m still not clear on what the number physically represents. Does a higher value mean heat leaves your skin faster in that first moment of touching the fabric, rather than the sheet staying cooler all night? I’m also trying to understand how two sheets can feel similarly cool at first but feel different later, once body heat, humidity, and the rest of the bedding are involved. Could someone explain the measurement with a simple everyday comparison, without turning it into a product recommendation?


r/explainlikeimfive • • 3h ago

Physics ELI5: How do mirrors work?

4 Upvotes

Intuitively, I thought it was light reflects off an object (like you) then reflects off the mirror then hits your eyes and you see it.

But then someone said it was the light just directly reflects off the mirror to then hit your eyes (nothing else like light from the sun hits the mirror then you) but that makes no sense because then you shouldn’t see the objects in front of the mirror in the mirror???


r/explainlikeimfive • • 3h ago

Physics ELI5: How do mirrors work?

31 Upvotes

Intuitively, I thought it was light reflects off an object (like you) then reflects off the mirror then hits your eyes and you see it.

But then someone said it was the light just directly reflects off the mirror to then hit your eyes (nothing else like light from the sun hits the mirror then you) but that makes no sense because then you shouldn’t see the objects in front of the mirror in the mirror???


r/explainlikeimfive • • 7h ago

Technology ELI5: what are the harms of doomscrolling and your free time solely being online.

0 Upvotes

r/explainlikeimfive • • 9h ago

Mathematics ELI5: What are magic states?

0 Upvotes

I saw a post that Google solved magic states or somethig(?) and was wondering what it is


r/explainlikeimfive • • 9h ago

Other ELI5: Post Tax Deductions somehow saves money?

16 Upvotes

Hi, good morning. I'm uneducated in this discussion. I'm considered doing a Dependant Care FSA, which has a $5000 max per year($192.30/paycheck). This is a "Pre-Tax" Deduction.

I would then, as i understand it, pay the 383/week for Daycare, submit a request for reimbursement, and get that back. How exactly does this actually "save" money?

Secondly as a continuation, same thing for Roth IRA vs 401k?


r/explainlikeimfive • • 9h ago

Chemistry ELI5 How do charcoal filters stop smells?

55 Upvotes

r/explainlikeimfive • • 10h ago

Biology ELI5 How have the alligator and crocodile genus manage to survive tens of millions of years of what mother nature has thrown at them?

297 Upvotes

The earliest form is said to have started close to 85 million years ago, are the two species just that hardy?


r/explainlikeimfive • • 10h ago

Biology ELI5: What’s the TRUE benefit of washing your hands?

0 Upvotes

I just want to start this off by clarifying that I absolutely do wash my hands often, throughout the day. In addition to regular cases of hand-washing, like during cooking, or after using the bathroom, the nature of my job also causes me to wash my hands frequently.

But I’ve been wondering what it actually does. I’ve always assumed the point was to kill bacteria, but the more I learn, the less this makes sense.

Most soap is non-antibacterial, which is by design, because antibacterial soap kills all bacteria, not just the harmful bacteria you’re trying to get rid of. Antibacterial soap has its uses, but it’s not recommended to use as your daily hand soap.

Okay, so the soap doesn’t kill bacteria. It must be the hot water, right? You’re always told, from the time you’re a little kid, that hot water kills bacteria.

Except that doesn’t seem to be how it works in practice. In theory, yes, hot water kills bacteria starting at 149F. This is the minimum threshold; meaning at 148F, no bacteria is killed at all, and at 149F, bacteria starts to be killed, but still requires a 5 minute exposure time to effectively kill all bacteria. I don’t know a single person who washes their hands for 5 straight minutes. And this isn’t even to mention that the recommended max temperature for water heater manufacturers is only 120F-140F (at least in the US). That’s an entire 9-29 degrees below the minimum threshold.

So washing your hands at the highest possible temperature allowed by your water heater, for 5 straight minutes, still doesn’t kill any bacteria. On top of the soap that intentionally doesn’t kill bacteria either.

Am I missing something? Is killing bacteria not the point? Is the exfoliating effect from physically rubbing my hands together sufficient in getting rid of bacteria? That seems hard to believe. How is the raw chicken bacteria removed from my hand?


r/explainlikeimfive • • 12h ago

Physics ELI5: How do optic fibers keep light trapped? Isn't glass supposed to be transparent of all things?

562 Upvotes

r/explainlikeimfive • • 13h ago

Mathematics ELI5: Linear Spans, Bases, and the Fundamental Theorem of Linear Algebra

0 Upvotes

Hello! I'm currently in university with an Informatics major, and today I had to take a 5-hour Linear Algebra lecture. I think I'm so cooked, so please help me. I think I more or less understand fields, groups, rings, and linear dependence, so that's my basis (no pun intended).


r/explainlikeimfive • • 14h ago

Other ELI5 How does a stick wrapped in A Cloth come out of the cloth when unraveled?

0 Upvotes

There was this evil eye (nazar) removing thing that my mother used to do when she took a strip of cloth, folded it in half and inserted a thin stick inside the folded strip. She used to then roll the cloth around the stick and made seven total bundles. Then after revolving those seven bundles over the head, she used to unravel them one by one.

Im most of the cases, the stick remained inside the fold but sometimes the stick was found to be outside the cloth, like on top of the fold where we inserted the stick previously.

I wanna know how this happens so please explain cause I don't really believe in such stuff


r/explainlikeimfive • • 17h ago

Physics ELI5: What are the 5 postulates of quantum mechanics?

0 Upvotes

I saw them mentioned in another thread, saying "If you simply accept them as 100% fact and don't think about it any more, the basics of quantum mechanics get significantly more intuitive". However, I can't find an easily accessible explanation. What are they? Who figured them out? Are they definitely true, or just our best guess at this point?


r/explainlikeimfive • • 1d ago

Other ELI5 How Cube match magic trick works?

91 Upvotes

I have seen magicians give a Rubik's Cube to a random audience member while keeping one for themselves. The audience member randomly scrambles their cube, and so does the magician. At the end, the patterns on both the audience member's cube and the magician's cube are exactly the same. How is this done?


r/explainlikeimfive • • 1d ago

Engineering ELI5 Where does the extra fuel consumption goes to, in cars with different cylinder capacity?

364 Upvotes

I drove around 500 kms with my friend. My car has a 1.6 engine; his has a 1.4. We went together, so roughly the same speed (around 110 km/h most of the time).

In that distance, my car consumed more gas than his (let's say, for example, 6 litres).

If that gas is not converted into speed, then what is it being used for? Heat? The engine is heavier, so it needs more gas to move it?

Thanks, and sorry for any mistake in my English.


r/explainlikeimfive • • 1d ago

Technology ELI5: What is DLSS?

0 Upvotes

I've seen people use it for work that's done using computer graphics and 3D but I don't know what that is other than it is neccesary to get an NVIDIA graphic card to plug that into your computer


r/explainlikeimfive • • 1d ago

Chemistry ELI5: If the iron in our blood is what makes it red, why is iron silver and not red?

871 Upvotes

r/explainlikeimfive • • 1d ago

Technology ELI5: Why is it that when some toys that move do a lot of movements, they unintentionally slide around?

0 Upvotes

r/explainlikeimfive • • 1d ago

Other ELI5: Why does the area around a river sometimes smell like fish/dead fish after rain?

92 Upvotes

Pretty sure it's not petrichor, and it's only sometimes, not always. Is it really dead fish?


r/explainlikeimfive • • 1d ago

Other ELI5, what is the Fletcher Palette and how is it useful in Color Theory?

1 Upvotes

r/explainlikeimfive • • 1d ago

Biology ELI5: What causes back pain before/during your menstrual cycle?

477 Upvotes

r/explainlikeimfive • • 1d ago

Biology ELI5: Why do extremelyhow showers feel cold?

0 Upvotes

Have you ever taken a shower or a bath so hot that when you get in, it feels as though the water is cold. And you start to get goosebumps? It's not every time it's just sometimes, and I'm wondering why.


r/explainlikeimfive • • 1d ago

Biology ELI5: Why does it take weeks for an antipsychotic to take effect?

69 Upvotes

Lets say you have someone with bipolar, as soon as they take an anti psychotic it blocks dopamine when the drug reaches the brain. But its effect is not seen immediately even though they have highly sensitive dopamine system. However, if someone who has anxiety takes a tranquilizers the effect are seen immediately. Im wondering why the discrepancy?

if its possible I am willing to accept a more complicated answer even though its ELI5.


r/explainlikeimfive • • 1d ago

Technology ELI5: Why do battery-powered devices with "dead" batteries often start working if you just swap the existing batteries around inside the device?

286 Upvotes

Happened moments ago with a remote- opened it and switched the 2 AAs' positions and VOILÀ! Realized how often this works with all kinds of devices and started wondering "But... why?" 🤔