Calculator test

[AnnoyedOne]

(12-10-2024 10:26 PM)dm319 Wrote:  ...I can at least extrapolate conceptionally from negative numbers to i.

Negative numbers are an interesting concept. There's really no such thing thing since you can't have -x of anything. You might not have something which equates to zero (0). That said something can be negative with respect to zero (if you use it as your reference).

As an example in EE you can have negative current (flowing in "reverse"), negative voltage etc. It refers to something real--a relationship. That is something is backwards with respect to a reference (usually 0).

By contrast complex numbers have no referent since they're a mathematical method. Useful but they don't actually exist. That is probably why the i/j part of complex numbers is called "imaginary".

In EE messy differential equations are avoided using Laplace transforms using the symbol 's'.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laplace_transform

Again it is a method that makes calculations easier. The underlying reality hasn't changed at all.

A1