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A complex number is a combination of real and imaginary numbers. An example of a complex number is the expression (a + jb), in which the letter j is called an 'operator'. In this example, the operator +j indicates that the quantity b is acting at an angle of +90o to quantity a -or is 'leading' a by 90o. If the operator was -j, then it would be indicating that quantity bis acting at -90o to quantity a -or is 'lagging' a by 90o.

Mathematicians use the letter 'i' to represent an imaginary number, but in electrical engineering we use the letter 'j'. This is because we already use a lower-case 'i'to represent an instantaneous value of current. In mathematics, the operator is sometimes written after the quantity to which it applies (i.e. 'bj'), but it is more usual, in engineering, to place the operator in front of that quantity (i.e. 'jb').

The application of the operator 'j' to a phasor, then, acts to rotate that phasor, counterclockwise, through 90 degrees.

The term, 'imaginary', is misleading -it doesn't mean that it exists only in the mind! It is simply a mathematician's term for 'quadrature', meaning 'lying along the y-axis'.

A.C. quantities, such as current and voltage, can be resolved into horizontal and vertical components. So, we can represent an alternating-current quantity by a complex number which represents its in-phase component together with its quadrature (plus or minus 90o) component. For example, 3+j4 could represent a 5-A current, whose in-phase component is 3 A, and whose quadrature component is 4 A (i.e. which leads the in-phase component by 90o).

Complex numbers enable complex a.c. circuits to be resolved relatively easily, and without the need to construct complicated phasor diagrams.

As in-phase and quadrature ('imaginary') components only apply to a.c. quantities, we do not need to apply complex numbers to d.c.

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Q: How do you relate AC and DC voltage by means of complex numbers?
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Why complex numbers used in impedance?

Because there is an angle involved. If - for example - the resistance (the real part) is 10 ohms, and the reactance (the imaginary part) is also 10, then there is an angle of 45 degrees; which actually means that this will be the displacement angle between the voltage and the current.Impedance may just be specified with an angle; but it turns out that the calculations between voltage, current, and impedance correspond precisely to the calculations with complex numbers.Because there is an angle involved. If - for example - the resistance (the real part) is 10 ohms, and the reactance (the imaginary part) is also 10, then there is an angle of 45 degrees; which actually means that this will be the displacement angle between the voltage and the current.Impedance may just be specified with an angle; but it turns out that the calculations between voltage, current, and impedance correspond precisely to the calculations with complex numbers.Because there is an angle involved. If - for example - the resistance (the real part) is 10 ohms, and the reactance (the imaginary part) is also 10, then there is an angle of 45 degrees; which actually means that this will be the displacement angle between the voltage and the current.Impedance may just be specified with an angle; but it turns out that the calculations between voltage, current, and impedance correspond precisely to the calculations with complex numbers.Because there is an angle involved. If - for example - the resistance (the real part) is 10 ohms, and the reactance (the imaginary part) is also 10, then there is an angle of 45 degrees; which actually means that this will be the displacement angle between the voltage and the current.Impedance may just be specified with an angle; but it turns out that the calculations between voltage, current, and impedance correspond precisely to the calculations with complex numbers.


What do imaginary numbers represent?

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