how do imaginary numbers work, and what are they used for
In: 7
An imaginary number is defined as a “real” number multiplied by this thing called “*i*” and *i* equal to the square root of negative one. Since, by definition, it’s impossible to square *any* number and get a negative value, the square root of negative 1 is impossible to calculate and mathematicians call this concept “imaginary”.
It’s hard to explain how they are used in ELI5 but in practice they are used in forms of geometry relating to like circles, angles, radii, and lengths as well as things that move in waves.
If you do certain math or physics you will end up needing to rely on these forms of geometry and it makes life a lot easy to start using imaginary numbers like coordinates, which we call “complex numbers”. So just you like say a point on a graph is located at (X,Y) coordinates, you might also describe a point on a graph as being 1+20*i.*
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