Linearly for Dummies

Linearly means that something is happening in a straight line or in a predictable pattern. It's like when you draw a line with a ruler on a piece of paper, it goes from one point to another without turning or going in different directions. So, when we say something is happening linearly, we mean that it is happening in a very organized and predictable way, following a straight path.

Let me give you an example to help you understand it better. Imagine you have a row of toy cars lined up on a table. You start pushing the first car, and it moves forward. Then, as it moves forward, it pushes the second car and makes it move forward too. Then the second car pushes the third car, and the pattern continues. Can you see how all the cars are moving in a straight line, one after the other? That's a linear movement.

In mathematics, linear can also refer to a straight line equation, which means it has a consistent rate of change. This may be a little trickier to understand, but let's try using an analogy. Picture a road that goes straight up a hill. As you drive along that road, you notice that for every mile you drive, the elevation increases by 100 feet. So, the relationship between the distance you drive and the change in elevation is always constant - it's a straight line. This is an example of a linear relationship.

So, when we use the word "linearly," we simply mean that something is happening in a straight line or following a predictable pattern. It helps us understand how things are moving or changing in a very organized and consistent way.