imaginary part
- noun
- /ɪˈmædʒɪˌnɛri pɑrt/
- Specialized
:
parte imaginaria
- That's the real and imaginary parts of the field.
Examples
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A complex number consists of a real part and an imaginary part, which is multiplied by the square root of -1.
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Phi is the imaginary part divided by the real part.
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So I want the real and the imaginary parts of one over.
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Well, what are the real and imaginary parts of a + B IT?
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So you have the real part and then your imaginary part OK, question good.
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I'm sorry, is just the imaginary part over real part.
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So Z would be a certain real part A and a certain imaginary part, maybe B.
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The real and imaginary parts of the number combine to make a map.
Academic text (2004) -
It has a real and imaginary part complex function on a line.
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It may be expressed as IX, where X, the reactance, is the imaginary part of the impedance.
Academic text (2004)
Surface Forms
Morphology
The noun phrase transparently combines 'imaginary' (not real / relating to imaginary numbers) with 'part' (a component), so a learner who knows both words can infer it refers to the non‑real component of something. However, the specific technical sense — the coefficient multiplied by i in a complex number — requires mathematical background and is not fully predictable from everyday meanings, so the expression is only partially transparent.
Etymology
Imaginary part may come from early mathematicians who named the piece of a number multiplied by 'i', the square root of -1, 'imaginary' because it did not behave like ordinary numbers. So in 5 + 3i the imaginary part is the part 3 that is multiplied by 'i', and the name shows which piece of the number is the non-real one.
