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imaginary unit
Sign in to saveAlso known as i, ι, unit imaginary number, j
square root of negative one, used to define complex numbers
The imaginary unit is a mathematical tool defined as the square root of negative one, which ordinarily has no solution in everyday numbers. It's used to create complex numbers, a broader number system that extends mathematics beyond what regular numbers alone can express.
AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.
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Encyclopedic overview
The imaginary unit i in the complex plane: Real numbers are conventionally drawn on the horizontal axis and imaginary numbers on the vertical axis.
The imaginary unit, usually denoted by i, is a mathematical constant that is a solution to the quadratic equation x = −1, which is not solved by any real number. Any real-number multiple of the imaginary unit is called an imaginary number.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “imaginary unit” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.
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