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ComplexNumbers

Complex Numbers
Advanced

AComplexNumber

AComplexNumberisacombinationofa
RealNumberandanImaginaryNumber

RealNumbers arenumberslike:
1

12.38

0.8625

3/4

1998

NearlyanynumberyoucanthinkofisaRealNumber!

ImaginaryNumbers when squared giveanegativeresult.

Normallythisdoesn'thappen,because:
whenwesquareapositivenumberwegetapositiveresult,and
whenwesquareanegativenumberwealsogetapositiveresult(becauseanegative
timesanegativegivesapositive)
Butjustimaginethereissuchanumber,becausewewillneedit.
The"unit"imaginarynumber(like1forRealNumbers)isi,whichisthesquarerootof1

Becausewhenwesquareiweget1

i2=1
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ExamplesofImaginaryNumbers:

3i

1.04i

2.8i

3i/4

(2)i

1998i

Complex Numbers
AComplexNumberisacombinationofaRealNumberandanImaginaryNumber:

Examples:

1+i

39+3i

0.82.2i

2+ i

2+i/2

CanaNumberbeaCombinationofTwoNumbers?
Canwemakeupanumberfromtwoothernumbers?Surewecan!
Wedoitwith fractions allthetime.Thefraction3/8isanumbermadeup
ofa3andan8.Weknowitmeans"3of8equalparts".
Well,aComplexNumberisjusttwonumbersaddedtogether(aRealand
anImaginaryNumber).

Either Part Can Be Zero

So,aComplexNumberhasarealpartandanimaginarypart.
Buteitherpartcanbe0,soallRealNumbersandImaginaryNumbersarealsoComplexNumbers.
Complex
Number
3+2 i
https://www.mathsisfun.com/numbers/complexnumbers.html

RealPart
3

Imaginary
Part
2
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6i

Complicated?
Complexdoesnotmeancomplicated.
Itmeansthetwotypesofnumbers,realandimaginary,
togetherformacomplex,justlikeabuildingcomplex
(buildingsjoinedtogether).

Adding
Toaddtwocomplexnumbersweaddeachpartseparately:

(a+bi)+(c+di)=(a+c)+(b+d)i
Example:(3+2 i)+(1+7 i)=(4+9 i)

Multiplying
Tomultiplycomplexnumbers:
Eachpartofthefirstcomplexnumbergetsmultipliedby
eachpartofthesecondcomplexnumber
Justuse"FOIL",whichstandsfor"Firsts,Outers,Inners,Lasts"(see BinomialMultiplication for
moredetails):
Firsts:ac
Outers:adi
Inners:bic
Lasts:bidi

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(a+bi)(c+di)=ac+adi+bci+bdi2
Likethis:

Example:(3+2i)(1+7i)
(3+2 i)(1+7 i) =31+37 i+2 i1+2 i7 i

=3+21 i+2 i+14 i2

=3+21 i+2 i14

(becausei2=1)

=11+23 i

Andthis:

Example:(1+i)2
(1+i)2=(1+i)(1+i) =11+1i+1i+i2

=1+2 i1

(becausei2=1)

=0+2 i

ButThereisaQuickerWay!
Usethisrule:

(a+bi)(c+di)=(acbd)+(ad+bc)i
Example:(3+2 i)(1+7 i)=(3127)+(37+21)i=11+23 i

WhyDoesThatRuleWork?
Itisjustthe"FOIL"methodafteralittlework:
(a+bi)(c+di) = ac+adi+bci+bdi2

FOILmethod

= ac+adi+bcibd

(becausei2=1)

= (acbd)+(ad+bc)i

(gatheringliketerms)

Andtherewehavethe(acbd)+(ad+bc)ipattern.
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Thisruleiscertainlyfaster,butifyouforgetit,justremembertheFOILmethod.

Letustryi2
Justforfun,let'susethemethodtocalculatei2

Example:i2

icanalsobewrittenwitharealandimaginarypartas0+i
i2=(0+i)2 =(0+i)(0+i)

=(0011)+(01+10)i

=1+0i

=1

Andthatagreesnicelywiththedefinitionthati2=1
Soitallworkswonderfully!
Learnmoreat ComplexNumberMultiplication .

Complex Plane

Wecanalsoputcomplexnumbersona ComplexPlane .
TheRealpartgoesleftright
TheImaginarypartgoesupdown

Conjugates
A conjugate iswherewechangethesigninthemiddlelikethis:

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Aconjugateisoftenwrittenwithabaroverit:

Example:
53i=5+3i

Dividing
Theconjugateisusedtohelpdivision.
Thetrickistomultiplybothtopandbottombytheconjugateofthebottom.

Example:DothisDivision:

2+3i

45i

Multiplytopandbottombytheconjugateof45i:

2+3i

45i

4+5i
4+5i

8+10i+12i+15i2
16+20i20i25i2

Nowrememberthati2=1,so:

8+10i+12i15
16+20i20i+25

AddLikeTerms(andnoticehowonthebottom20i20icancelsout!):

7+22i
41

Weshouldthenputtheanswerbackintoa+biform:

22

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ComplexNumbers

= 41 + 41 i

DONE!

Yes,thereisabitofcalculationtodo.Butitcanbedone.

Multiplying By the Conjugate

Wecansavealittlebitoftime,though.
Inthatexample,whathappenedonthebottomwasinteresting:

(45i)(4+5i)=16+20i20i25i2
Themiddletermscancelout!
Andsincei2=1weendedupwiththis:

(45i)(4+5i)=42+52
Whichisreallyquiteasimpleresult
Infactwecanwriteageneralrulelikethis:

(a+bi)(abi)=a2+b2
Sothatcansaveustimewhendodivision,likethis:

Example:Let'strythisagain

2+3i

45i

Multiplytopandbottombytheconjugateof45i:

2+3i

45i

4+5i
4+5i

8+10i+12i+15i2
16+25

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7+22i
41
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Andthenbackintoa+biform:

7
41

22
41

DONE!

The Mandelbrot Set

ThebeautifulMandelbrotSet(picturedhere)isbasedon
ComplexNumbers.
Itisaplotofwhathappenswhenwetakethesimple
equationz2+c(bothcomplexnumbers)andfeedthe
resultbackintoztimeandtimeagain.
Thecolorshowshowfastz2+cgrows,andblackmeans
itstayswithinacertainrange.

Hereisanimagemadebyzoominginto
theMandelbrotset

Andhereisthecenteroftheprevious
onezoomedinevenfurther:

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ChallengingQuestions:12

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