Dilation is a transformation that changes the size of a shape while maintaining its proportions. It involves enlarging or reducing a figure based on a specific scale factor. For example, if a triangle is dilated by a scale factor of 2, each side of the triangle becomes twice as long, but the shape remains similar to the original. In geometry, dilation is often centered around a point, known as the center of dilation. The distance from this center to any point on the shape is multiplied by the scale factor. This process is commonly used in various fields, including art, architecture, and computer graphics.