and also ELI16 what a an imaginary number is and how it works in real life
In: Mathematics
It might be best to look at it first from a historic viewpoint: at some point, mathematicians found that they can solve specific equations if they temporarily assume such a number, i.e. one that has a square root of -1 existed. They only needed it for one step in a longer mathematical proof, and in the next step it could be taken out again, so that’s why it was called “imaginary”, as in “let’s just imagine such a number existed”.
it was only later that (other) mathematicians found that this “imaginary” number *i* is very, very practical for a lot of other cases as well. For example, a lot of complicated physical properties can be calculated only if we assume such a number. And thus it was integrated into general mathematics.
Let’s not forget: most maths is not just done to come up with interesting formulas and properties of numbers (though that can actually be fun, if you are into it), but to describe reality. And the imaginary number *i* has proven to help describe reality.
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