[ 3 / biz / cgl / ck / diy / fa / ic / jp / lit / sci / vr / vt ] [ index / top / reports ] [ become a patron ] [ status ]
2023-11: Warosu is now out of extended maintenance.

/sci/ - Science & Math

View post   
File: 117 KB, 400x400, 1281870869479.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
2700375 No.2700375 [Reply] [Original]

Why do people use imaginary numbers if they're just a theory (a ghost?)

>> No.2700401

Because an imaginary times an imaginary is a real.

So don't tell the ghosts if they merge, that they become real.

>> No.2700402

You mean a geost?

>> No.2700406

Because imaginary numbers are my cock*

* - Jacques Lacan

>> No.2700420

YOU CAN'T EVEN SEE GRAVITY
IT'S JUST THERE IN THE AIR

>> No.2700428

Government payouts (including Social Security, Medicare and unemployment insurance) make up more than a third of total wages and salaries of the U.S.

>> No.2700432

>>2700428
[citation needed]

>> No.2700437

>>2700432
[retard needed]

>> No.2700442

Fire, water, wind, earth. Fucken magnets how do they work?

>> No.2700453

>>2700432
Try any news organization. this tidbit was squeezed in between Wisconsin union busting, Libya unrest and Japan's woes, or have you not been paying attention to the news?

>> No.2700481

Could be a troll but I'll answer anyway if anybody's curious.

First of all let's get one thing straight: "imaginary" is only a naming convention. You could just as easily call them "spaghetti numbers." These spaghetti numbers are just as real as any number negative infinity through positive infinity.

As for practical applications, it is essentially impossible to construct models of what are called "phasor vectors" if one doesn't apply imaginary numbers. These phasor vectors are used in many different fields of physics and engineering, and most specifically AC power.

To explain what a phasor vector is, visit this web site: http://www.indiana.edu/~emusic/acoustics/phase.htm

Now you see that first animation where the sine wave is mapped to a polar coordinate plane? The magnitude and direction of that line on the polar plane is the phasor vector. The y direction of the plane is the imaginaries, and the x direction of the plane is the reals.

Now to give an example: let's say you have a circuit whose AC current voltage has a real part of 0 and an imaginary part of 80 at a particular time t. This means that the voltage has a potential of 80 volts with a phase angle of 90 degrees (north in the y direction on the polar plane), which is very much a "real" voltage, physically speaking.

tl;dr - mathematical models involving waves are impossible to construct without using imaginary numbers. additionally, an "imaginary" direction on paper comes out as a very "real" outcome, physically

>> No.2700485

>>2700481

If you divide by zero can you get an imaginary number?

>> No.2700501

>>2700485
No.

>> No.2700624

>>2700501
yes you can :D

>> No.2700644

>>2700420
[citation needed]