A penalty is when someone on a team does something against the rules resulting in the opposing team by gaining some amount of yards, or the team who received the penalty by losing some amount of yards.
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The penalty for an encroachment foul is 5 yards. Encroachment is a foul against either team that enters the "neutral zone" (basically the length of the ball) prior to the snap. By rule, the snapper (offensive center) is the only player allowed to be over the ball.
A penalty kick (sometimes just called a penalty) is a method of restarting play, and is described by Law 14 of the IFAB'sLaws of the Game, the rules the world plays by. It is awardedwhen a player from the defending team commits a foul inside the penalty area (sometimes called the 18-yard box) that would have resulted in a direct free kick anywhere else on the field. A player from the attacking team will place the ball on the penalty mark (a painted spot 12 yards from the center of the goal) while all other players except the defending goalkeeper stand outside of the penalty area, behind the level of the ball, and at least 10 yards from it. The kicker will try to score a goal. Once the ball is kicked and moves forward, it is in play and players may move about as normal.
A penalty is sometimes (rarely, and incorrectly) used to refer to free kicks or penalty cards (yellow and red).
Encroachment is when a defensive player enters the neutral zone and makes contact with the opponent.
You do something against the rules and depending on what rule you broke you get punished. Normally the penalties result in losing yards towards the en-zone.