A dilation is a transformation that changes the size of a shape while keeping its proportions the same. This process 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 will be twice as long, but the shape will remain similar to the original. In a dilation, the center of the dilation is a fixed point from which the shape expands or contracts. The distance from this center to any point on the shape is multiplied by the scale factor. This means that if the scale factor is less than 1, the shape shrinks, while a scale factor greater than 1 enlarges it.