imaginary number
1
7.9
- noun
- /ɪˈmædʒɪˌnɛri ˈnʌmbər/
- Specialized
:
número imaginario
- Otherwise you could not add vectors with an imaginary number, and the imaginary number made it all work.
So what we guys need, what we need to understand, just like imaginary numbers, when we have our I as a zero, the complex conjugate exists, all right?
- So what we guys need, what we need to understand, just like imaginary numbers, when we have our I as a zero, the complex conjugate exists, all right?
Examples
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Once you get to imaginary numbers, this no longer applies unless you are going into some profession.
Blog text (32) -
An imaginary number is expressed in mathematics as a combination of a real number and the square root of -1.
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Give me a definition of imaginary numbers.
Fiction book (2002) -
Both of these are the square roots of the pure imaginary number for I.
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What must be realized is that our calculation of time and such is based on physical evidence, not imaginary numbers.
Blog text (29) -
Leon thinks it helps him visualize things like imaginary numbers.
Fiction book (1990) -
Likewise, "imaginary" numbers are a kind of unit, so you cannot compare 5i to 5, but you can compare 6i to 7i.
Blog text (9) -
Instead of real numbers and imaginary numbers, we've got watts, which is real power, and Volt amps, which is reactive power on the Y axis here.
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In complex number theory, an imaginary number is defined as a value that can be represented as a + bi.
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A simple example of an imaginary number is 3i, where 3 is a real number multiplied by the square root of -1.
Synonyms
1
6.3
A number with a real part and an imaginary part written as a + bi
1
9.9
A number that has the square root of negative one
A number with one real part and one imaginary part
Antonyms
Surface Forms
Morphology
The adjective 'imaginary' (commonly understood as 'not real') combined with 'number' will likely lead a B1 learner to infer that this refers to a kind of number that is 'not real' or different from ordinary numbers. However, the precise mathematical definition involving the imaginary unit i and complex-number form (a + bi) is technical and not recoverable from the constituents alone, so the expression is only partially predictable.
Etymology
The term imaginary number came from early mathematicians who called numbers that use i, which stands for the square root of -1, 'imaginary' because they did not fit with ordinary numbers. That's why the name stuck, and today imaginary numbers help solve many real problems.