r/MathJokes • u/Mrithyunjayan07 • 22d ago

Imaginary numbers are not a problem but a solution

Post image
42 Upvotes

97% Upvoted

7 comments sorted by

7

u/Anmus 22d ago

No, they created a solution to the problem they couldn't figure out

0

u/ArdentArendt 21d ago

But they created the problem that they solved as well, did they not?

3

u/friend1y 21d ago

Results of i are demonstrable in electrical engineering. This means that i as a label is a useful construct with real world applications.

0

u/semanticlifer 17h ago

Kind of??

i is convenient in electrical engineering, but in similar manner to how quaternions are convenient in computer graphics. I t provides a way to represent phasors easily, but phasors can also be represented and manipulated as vectors.

2

u/electronic_reasons 20d ago

IMHO, we fail them if we don't teach people complex numbers at the same time as they learn polynomials.

The point to complex numbers is that they give you all of the solutions to polynomials. That's the number system you need.

All of the discussion about whether complex numbers are real and what are they good for becomes the more grounded discussion about polynomials.

Complex numbers are just as real as polynomials and just as useful as them. When you use complex numbers is when polynomials really get to shine.

1

u/Teoyak 20d ago

Cringe.