Subject: The number i is imaginary.
Author:
Posted on: 2014-08-13 13:33:00 UTC

It represents the square root of -1.

Now, this might not seem like something we need, but it's actually critical when doing certain calculations. Consider Euler's equation:

eix = cos(x) + i*sin(x)

notice that you obtain an imaginary component when sin(x) =/= 0.



Interestingly, adding 1 to both sides of the equation and setting x = pi gives us this result:

ei*pi+ 1 = cos(pi) + i*sin(pi) + 1

= -1 + 0 + 1

= 0

And the remarkable equation

ei*pi+ 1 = 0


Beautiful, isn't it?

Reply Return to messages