/r/explainlikeimfive/

r/explainlikeimfive

23.6M members
r/explainlikeimfive is a subreddit with 23.6M members. The community frequently discusses eli5, how, why, duck and cover, and cold, and they frequently recommend/review cleaning products, antiperspirant, and flea medication, and the most common flair used is biology, other, technology, chemistry, and physics.
Explain Like I'm Five is the best forum and archive on the internet for layperson-friendly explanations. Don't Panic!

Popular Topics in r/explainlikeimfive

#1

Eli5

504 posts
#2

How

9 posts
#3

Why

7 posts
#4

Duck And Cover

6 posts
#5

Cold

5 posts
#6

Calories

5 posts
#7

Technology

4 posts
#8

Music

4 posts
#9

Ai

3 posts
#10

Semiconductor

3 posts

Products Discussed in r/explainlikeimfive

#1
Gain
2.0 from 1 review
#2
7th Generation
4.0 from 1 review
#3
Tide
4.0 from 1 review
#1
Aluminum Free
3.0 from 2 reviews
#2
Aluminum-free Deodorant
3.0 from 1 review
#3
Aluminum-based Deodorant
2.0 from 1 review
#1
Frontline
4.0 from 1 review
#2
Spot-On Flea Treatment
4.0 from 1 review
#3
Advantage
4.0 from 1 review

Flair Used in r/explainlikeimfive

#1
Biology
: "ELI5: If a morbidly obese person (600-1000lbs) stops eating completely and only drinks water, would they still die of starvation in the usual timescale?"
65 posts
#2
Other
: "ELI5: How do massive video game studios with thousands of employees keep games like GTA 6 a secret for years without anyone leaking the details?"
42 posts
#3
Technology
: "ELI5: When you 'delete' a 50GB video file from a computer, it vanishes instantly. But downloading it took an hour. If the data isn't physically wiped until it's overwritten, what did the computer actually do in that one split second?"
27 posts
#4
Chemistry
: "ELI5: Acids and bases are two sides of the same coin, so why does it seem like acidity is so much more present culturally (eg vats of acid in comics) and culinarily (salt, fat, acid, heat)?"
15 posts
#5
Physics
: "ELI5: Why is the Earth electrical ground?"
15 posts
#6
Planetary Science
: "ELI5: I've heard that inside black holes, space and time "switch roles". What does this actually mean?"
12 posts
#7
Economics
: "ELI5: How can unemployment and worker shortages happen at the same time?"
12 posts
#8
Engineering
: "ELI5: Why can't we have bigger cpus, let's say twice the size instead of trying to go down to like 2nm ?"
9 posts
#9
Mathematics
: "ELI5: Why is a plane defined by 3 non-collinear points?"
3 posts

Member Growth in r/explainlikeimfive

Yearly
+322k members(1.4%)

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About

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Last updated: June 6, 2026