when do you run into imaginary graphs?

Discussion in 'Physics & Math' started by science man, Sep 14, 2010.

  1. My school goes up to calculus and a bit beyond having a differential equation and linear algebra class. (No it's not a university but I do indeed plan to transfer to one once I finish my GEs and the classes I said before) I heard that imaginary graphing doesn't occur in either of those class but in fact possibly in abstract algebra. Is that true?
     
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  3. AlphaNumeric Fully ionized Registered Senior Member

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    Do you mean plotting complex numbers on a graph where the axes are the real and imaginary parts of z?

    Complex analysis is pivotal to just about every area of physics and makes up the fundamental core of much of the principles of differential equations.
     
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  5. I'm guessing it would be where you'd pot imaginary numbers. e.g.2i is that the same thing as what your talking about?
     
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  7. alephnull you can count on me Registered Senior Member

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    Maybe you mean Argand diagrams?

    http://mathworld.wolfram.com/ArgandDiagram.html

    It's a visual representation of a complex number z = x + i*y
    Where the x axis represents the "real part" of z (x) and the y axis represents the "imaginary part" of z (y) (as AN said)

    Here's a plot of the complex number z = 4+3*i

    Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!

     
  8. ya I think that's it. What math is that?
     
  9. hrebic Registered Senior Member

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    Imaginary numbers are numbers that, when squared, result in a negative number. This violates the normal rules of real arithmetic. If you square a positive number, the result is a positive number. And if you square a negative number, the result is still a positive number.

    Some one imagined a new kind of number that, when multiplied by itself, yields a negative number. This would be a silly notion were it not for the fact that the math that results from this is extremely useful in many technical fields.

    The "unit" real number is the number 1. The "unit" imaginary number it the number i, which when squared results in the number -1.

    Complex numbers deal with a mixture of real and imaginary numbers together.
     
  10. oh thanks part of what you said I knew but another I didn't so thanks and I meant in the fields of math such as linear algebra or abstract algebra. It's ok I got my question answered at school. lol that would be funny if this was part of abstract algebra because according to what I learned (today actually that would mean you'd have to prove that of number let alone graph. I think it's funny because it's impossible right?
     
  11. temur man of no words Registered Senior Member

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    1,330
    Interesting. In many books I read Gauss initiated the use of this representation. Probably he was the popularizer.
     
  12. sorry I just re-read what I wrote here and realized it was a little hard to understand. I was saying isn't it impossible to prove imaginary numbers and their graphs?
     
  13. temur man of no words Registered Senior Member

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    1,330
    What do you mean by proving imaginary numbers and their graphs?
     
  14. for instance, I was told that abstract algebra is a bunch of proving, so could this topic fit in there? (hence be proved)
     
  15. temur man of no words Registered Senior Member

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    1,330
    Ok, you should take complex variables if you are interested. Multi-variable calculus is also related.
     
  16. thank you.
     
  17. Green Destiny Banned Banned

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    1,211
    Abstract algebra has a wide-range of practical uses and disciplines. If you're interested in reading up a little on it, try this:

    http://abstract.ups.edu/download/aata-original.pdf
     
  18. Cifo Day destroys the night, Registered Senior Member

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    685
    Impedance in electronics has real and "imaginary" parts.
     

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