Friday, January 23, 2015

Give an example of multiplication of 2 imaginary numbers. The result of multiplication has to be a real number.

For instance, if we'll multiply an imaginary number by
it's conjugate, we'll get a difference of squares and the result will be a real
value.


z = a + b*i and the conjugate is z' = a -
b*i


We'll apply the
formula:


(a-b*i)(a+b*i) = a^2 - b^2*i^2, but i^2 =
-1


(a-b*i)(a+b*i) = a^2 +
b^2


We'll put a = 4 and b =
2i


(4+2i)(4-2i) = 4^2 -
(2i)^2


(4+2i)(4-2i) = 16 -
4i^2


But i^2 = -1


(4+2i)(4-2i)
= 16-(-4)


(4+2i)(4-2i) =
16+4


(4+2i)(4-2i) =
20


The result of multiplication of
2 imaginary numbers, (4+2i)(4-2i), is the real number
20.

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