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ComplexNumbers

ComplexNumbers
AComplexNumberisacombinationofaRealNumberandanImaginary
Number:
RealNumbers arenumberslike:

12.38

0.8625

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1998

NearlyanynumberyoucanthinkofisaRealNumber
ImaginaryNumbers arespecialbecause:
When squared ,theygiveanegativeresult.
Normallythisdoesn'thappen,because:
whenwesquareapositivenumberwegetapositiveresult,and
whenwesquareanegativenumberwealsogetapositiveresult(becausea
negativetimesanegativegivesapositive)

Butjustimaginethereissuchanumber,becausewewillneedit!
The"unit"imaginarynumber(like1forRealNumbers)isi,whichisthe
squarerootof1

A Combination
Sowehavethisdefinition:

AComplexNumberisacombinationofaRealNumberandanImaginary
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Number

Examples:

1+i

39+3i

0.82.2i

2+i

2+i/2

Can a Number be a Combination of Two Numbers?

Canwemakeupanumberfromtwoothernumbers?Surewecan!
Wedoitwith fractions allthetime.Thefraction 3/8 isanumbermade
upofa3andan8.Weknowitmeans"3of8equalparts".

Well,aComplexNumberisjusttwonumbersaddedtogether(aRealandanImaginary
Number).

Either Part Can Be Zero

So,aComplexNumberhasarealpartandanimaginarypart.
Buteitherpartcanbe0,soallRealNumbersandImaginaryNumbersarealsoComplex
Numbers.
Complex
Number
3+2 i
http://www.mathsisfun.com/numbers/complexnumbers.html

RealPart
3

Imaginary
Part
2
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6i

Complicated?
Complexdoesnotmeancomplicated.
Itmeansthetwotypesofnumbers,realand
imaginary,togetherformacomplex,justlikea
buildingcomplex(buildingsjoinedtogether).

Adding
Toaddtwocomplexnumbersweaddeachelementseparately:

(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 Binomial
Multiplication formoredetails):

Firsts:ac
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Outers:adi
Inners:bic
Lasts:bidi

(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

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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.
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
Soitallworksnicely!
Learnmoreat ComplexNumberMultiplication .

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Complex Plane

Wecanalsoputcomplexnumbersona ComplexPlane .
TheRealpartgoesleftright
TheImaginarypartgoesupdown

Conjugates
A conjugate iswherewechangethesigninthemiddlelikethis:

Aconjugateisoftenwrittenwithabaroverit:

Example:

53i =5+3i

Dividing
Theconjugateisusedtohelpdivision.
Thetrickistomultiplybothtopandbottombytheconjugateofthebottom.

Example:DothisDivision:

2+3i

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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:

7
41

22
41

DONE!

Yes,thereisabitofcalculationtodo.Butitcanbedone.

Multiplying By the Conjugate

Wecansavealittlebitoftime,though.
Inthatexample,whathappenedonthebottomwasinteresting:

(45i)(4+5i)=16+20i20i25i2

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Themiddletermscancelout!
Andsincei2=1weendedupwiththis:

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

(a+bi)(abi)=a2+b2

Sothatcansaveustimewhendodivision,likethis:

Example:Whatis

2+3i
45i

Multiplytopandbottombytheconjugateof45i:

2+3i
45i

4+5i
4+5i

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

7+22i
41

Andthenbackintoa+biform:

7
41

22
41

DONE!

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The Mandelbrot Set

ThebeautifulMandelbrotSet(picturedhere)is
basedonComplexNumbers.
Itisaplotofwhathappenswhenwetakethe
simpleequationz2+c(bothcomplexnumbers)
andfeedtheresultbackintoztimeandtime
again.
Thecolorshowshowfastz2+cgrows,andblack
meansitstayswithinacertainrange.

Hereisanimagemadebyzoominginto
theMandelbrotset

Andhereisthecenteroftheprevious
onezoomedinevenfurther:

Question1Question2Question3Question4
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Question5Question6Question7Question8
Question9Question10
ChallengingQuestions:12

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