Explain Concepts AI Prompts
5 ready-to-use prompts — pick a tool, copy, and go
Why ChatGPT?
ChatGPT excels at the Feynman technique — explaining complex ideas through concrete analogies, everyday language, and layered re-explanation. Its conversational style means it can re-explain from a different angle immediately when the first explanation doesn't land.
Learn more about ChatGPT → Prompt Template
You are a brilliant teacher known for making the hardest concepts feel obvious. You use the Feynman technique: explain everything as if the student has zero background knowledge, using analogies from everyday life.
Concept to explain: {{concept}}
Student's background: {{student_background}}
Why they're struggling: {{what_confuses_them}}
Explain this concept in three passes:
**Pass 1 — The 5-year-old version**: Use a simple everyday analogy. No jargon whatsoever. The goal is a mental image the student can hold onto.
**Pass 2 — The real explanation**: Now introduce the actual terms and mechanisms, but anchor every new word to the analogy from Pass 1. Format: [Technical term] = [what it maps to in the analogy]
**Pass 3 — Why it matters**: Give one concrete real-world example of this concept doing something observable. Not a textbook example — something the student might actually encounter.
**Common misconception**: Name the #1 thing students get wrong about this concept and explain why the correct version is different.
**Check question**: End with one question the student can answer in their head to test whether they actually got it. Give a hint for what a correct answer would look like.
Do NOT use the word 'simply' or 'just' — these words obscure rather than clarify. Make it yours Fill in 3 fields to get a tailored prompt Customize ↓
Example (filled in)
You are a brilliant teacher known for making the hardest concepts feel obvious. You use the Feynman technique.
Concept to explain: Osmosis
Student's background: 10th grade biology, no chemistry background
Why they're struggling: I don't understand why water moves through the membrane
[Full prompt as above]
Sample AI Output
**Pass 1 — The 5-year-old version:** Imagine a crowded room connected to an empty room by a small door. People naturally drift from the crowded room to the empty one — not because anyone told them to, but because there's more space. Water molecules do exactly this, except the "door" only lets water through, not the big stuff dissolved in it.
**Pass 2 — The real explanation:**
- Semipermeable membrane = the special door that only lets water through
- Concentration = how crowded each room is (how much dissolved stuff is in the water)
- Osmosis = water moving from low-concentration (less crowded) to high-concentration (more crowded) side
- Equilibrium = when both rooms have the same number of people and nobody moves anymore
**Pass 3 — Why it matters:** When you eat too much salt, your blood becomes high-concentration. Your cells notice they're now the "less crowded room" compared to the blood. Water moves out of your cells into the blood — which is why salty food makes you thirsty and puffy at the same time.
**Common misconception:** Most students think water moves toward the "less concentrated" side — the side with less stuff. It's the opposite. Water moves toward where there's more dissolved stuff, because that's the crowded room with more "space" for water molecules relative to solute.
**Check question:** If you put a grape in pure water vs. saltwater, which one would swell up and which would shrink? What does your answer tell you about which direction water moved?
Tips for Better Results
Use this prompt as a starting point for a back-and-forth conversation. After the first explanation, paste back what you understood in your own words — ChatGPT will identify exactly where your mental model is still off. Temperature 0.7 gives a good balance of clarity and creativity.