• Dr. Bob
    link
    fedilink
    English
    42 months ago

    Use the Pythagorean theorem: the length of the hypotenuse is equal to the sum of the squares for the other two sides. 1x1=1. ixi=-1. 1+(-1)=0.

    • @A_Union_of_Kobolds
      link
      English
      32 months ago

      Yeah I get that, but what’s the application to electromagnetism? I’m an electrician, it’s been a few years since I had to think about induction and capacitance calculations, but I do recall them being based mostly on trigonometry. Where does i come into play, I guess is what I’m asking.

      • @marcos
        link
        English
        32 months ago

        I think the GP is going with complex numbers representing a magnitude and a rotation angle, so that side with length “i” is rotated, and A is an angle of 0°.

        But this image is out of order for that. This one would lead to A = 180°. Either way, you can’t use Pythagoras theorem anyway.

      • Dr. Bob
        link
        fedilink
        English
        22 months ago

        Sorry I insta-deleted because I realized I wasn’t answering the question but it looks like it still slipped through.

        I wasn’t answering the question because I don’t know. I’m aware that imaginary numbers play a major role in circuit math, but I also need an expert to ELI5.

      • @owenfromcanada
        link
        English
        22 months ago

        The “i” terms represent the induction and capacitance of a system, while the real component represents the resistance. You can think of “i” terms as the characteristics that hold energy in some way (in mechanical terms, something springy or something with inertia).