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The following may seem far-fetched if you are not accustomed to imaginary or complex numbers, so before I continue, let me assure you that complex numbers have many practical applications, including electricity, quantum mechanics, art, and several other more.

The imaginary number is neither a positive nor a negative number. Imagine two perpendicular axes of numbers. The directions are arbitrary, but the way it is commonly drawn, from left to right you have the real numbers - the numbers you are probably most familiar with, which include positive and negative numbers. Positive at the right, negative at the left. The number line which you may have seen already.

From top to bottom is another line, that crosses the origin - the line of the imaginary numbers. One unit up is +i, two units up is +2i, one unit down (from the origin, or zero) is -i, two units down is -2i, etc. The "imaginary unit", then, is called "i", although in electricity the letter "j" is used instead (to avoid confusion with the unit for current).

A combination of a real number and an imaginary number is called a complex number - for example, 2 + 3i. Adding and subtracting complex numbers is fairly straightforward. Just add the corresponding terms. To multiply complex numbers, multiply them as you normally multiply binomials - then use the definition i2 = -1.

It so happens that when complex numbers are used, not only do negative numbers have a square root, but any root - square root or otherwise - has a solution. In a way, this makes the complex numbers more "complete" than the real numbers.

Of course, common sense should be used. Just as negative or fractional numbers don't make sense for some real-life problems, complex numbers don't make sense for some real-life problems, either. So if, for example, the quadratic formula gives you a complex solution (or a negative solution, for that matter), analyze the original problem to see whether the specific solutions found make sense, given the problem statement.

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Q: What does the imaginary number equal in math?
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Related questions

What is the letter j in the math alphabet?

In math, j is the imaginary number that is the square root of positive one, but is not equal to one.


What is a math word for i?

'i' is often used to represent the imaginary part of a complex number, and is equal to the square root of -1.


Does the imaginary number in math represent 1 or -1?

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What does 7 divided by imaginary number equal?

That quotient would be an imaginary number. The actual number depends on exactly what imaginary number you divide the 7 by.


A number that is not real?

That probably refers either to an imaginary number, or to a complex number. Despite the weird name, the "imaginary numbers" (and the complex numbers) have many uses in math and science.


Math Question Given e is Euler's number i is imaginary number What is 1 plus e exponent i3.1415926 equals?

e is not an imaginary number. e is Euler's constant.Uh...imaginary numbers can equal almost any number in math; it depends upon the application.Imaginary numbers can represent 1 or -1; it depends upon the applicaiton.1e is not prime; it is Euler's constantNothing in the question I posted has an exponent of zero. (You may want to ask a math professor to explain why a number with an exponent of zero is equal to one.)You may want to ask a math professor to explain what an imaginary number means in math.You may want to ask a math professor or someone else to explain what the smalest value is that solves tan ex = 1.e=mc2 is a totally different problem, a totally different value for e. In that case e = energy, m = mass and c = the speed of light. Different application.The number e to the power of zero is not an issue in this problem (it equals 1)An exponent can be a positive or negative number.


What is a number added to 9 in math?

Any number, real or imaginary, can be the sum of another number plus 9.


What is the i in math?

"i" is the square root of -1. Since there is no real number whose square is negative, i is an imaginary number.


What is the mathematical importance of imaginary numbers?

The mathematical importance of an imaginary number is to allow the result of a square root of the imaginary number to equal a negative number. One can find more extensive information on imaginary numbers and their importance on the Wikipedia website.


Why is -16 considered an imaginary number?

Because it's not. However, if you were to take the square root of -16, the answer would be 4i, which is an imaginary number, considered imaginary because multiplication of a real number by itself cannot equal a negative number.


What is an unreal in math?

The only thing I can think of that you might mean is an imaginary or complex number. Since there is no solution to √(-1) mathematicians labeled it as i which is the imaginary number, and any number that includes purely i is also imaginary. Complex numbers are a mix of both real and imaginary numbers. for example 3 is real, 5i is imaginary and 3+5i is complex. Hopefully this answers what you meant.


A number can be both real and complex?

Any real number is a complex number with an imaginary part equal to 0