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Algebra 2
Course: Algebra 2 > Unit 2
Lesson 1: The imaginary unit i- Intro to the imaginary numbers
- Intro to the imaginary numbers
- Simplifying roots of negative numbers
- Simplify roots of negative numbers
- Powers of the imaginary unit
- Powers of the imaginary unit
- Powers of the imaginary unit
- i as the principal root of -1
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i as the principal root of -1
The video explores the intriguing concept of imaginary numbers, specifically the imaginary unit 'i'. 'i' is equal to the square root of -1, and every complex number can be expressed as a + bi, where a and b are real numbers. This video clarifies misconceptions about square roots of negative numbers. Created by Sal Khan.
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- what does principal square root mean? 0:10(292 votes)
- When taking square roots of a positive number you always get two answers. For example, the square root of 4 can be either 2 or -2. This is because the square of either one is 4: (2)(2) = 4 = (-2)(-2). So if you want to specify that you mean the positive answer then you would say the "principal square root". So...the principal square root of 4 is 2. The "other" one is -2.(553 votes)
- Wait. I'm lost. How can -1 be equal to 1??(4 votes)
- It's not. What Sal is saying is that people try to prove that i = square root(-1) is wrong because they end up with an answer that 1 = -1 which obviously isn't true. But they're wrong because the square root multiplication rule doesn't apply when both numbers are negative.
Yes the absolute value of -1 = absolute value of 1
but -1 is not equal to one.(125 votes)
- So why exactly can't A and B both be negative? It sounds like they can't because of the "Because I said so" line of reasoning. If √a * √b = √a*b doesn't work when both numbers are negative then maybe something is wrong with the proof.(27 votes)
- Observe what happens.
1 = √1 = √(-1 * -1) = √-1 * √-1 = i * i = -1
Whoops, suddenly, 1 is equal to -1. We broke negative numbers :(
Assuming √(zw) = √z√w leads to contradictions such as above, that's why we ban it.(73 votes)
- What is the square root of i?(22 votes)
- All the imaginary numbers can be written as a+ib where a is the real part and b the imaginary.
Let us assume that i^1/2 = a+ib for some a and b.
i=(a+ib)^2
i=a^2 + ib^2 + 2aib
ib^2 = -b^2
i=a^2-b^2+2aib
As the left hand side has only imaginary part, a^2 - b^2 =0
a=b (taking principal roots)
so, i = 2aib
2ab = 1
2a^2 = 1 (a=b)
a=1/√2
b=1/√2
i^1/2 = (1√2+i 1√2)
Taking 1/√2 common,
i^1/2 = 1/√2(1+i)(3 votes)
- Atwhen it says the radical sign means the principle square root; what's the notation for either square root, or for the negative square root, in that case? 3:42
Also when talking about the third root, you wouldn't have to distinguish between principle and negative, right? Do you have to distinguish for all even roots, but not for odd roots?(11 votes)- The notation for both square roots is ±√x. If you want only the negative square root, then you would say -√x.
As for odd roots, you still have to distinguish between principal and non principal roots. The only difference is that a non principal odd root is not simply the negative of the principal root.
For instance, the cube root of -8 is -2, but it can also be 1±√3 i.(13 votes)
- How can we prove that both A and B cant be negative?(for any values)(9 votes)
- Great question.
*Note that ⁺√ implies principal square root.*
We must prove that:
⁺√(ab) ≠ ⁺√a • ⁺√b
For
a, b < 0
If a and b are negative, then the square root of them must be imaginary:
⁺√a = xi
⁺√b = yi
x and y must be positive (and of course real), because we are dealing with the principal square roots.
⁺√a • ⁺√b = xi(yi) = -xy
-xy must be a negative real number because x and y are both positive real numbers.
On the other hand,
⁺√(ab) = √[(xi)²(yi)²] = (xyi²)² = (xy)²
Since ⁺√(ab) = (xy)² and ⁺√a • ⁺√b = -xy, our problem becomes to prove that:
(xy)² ≠ -xy
For
x, y > 0
Well this is easy! The left hand side is obviously positive and the right hand side is obviously negative, so they cannot be equal! Therefore, ⁺√(ab) ≠ ⁺√a • ⁺√b if a, b < 0. Q.E.D. Comment if you have any questions.(18 votes)
- In calculator, if -1, then press square root, why square root of -1 is error on calculator?(14 votes)
- Because real numbers cannot be squared and equal a negative number. (I.e. -3 x -3 = 9). However, imaginary numbers (which are created outside of the normal and "real" numbers) make the square root of -1 possible, but that does not make it "real" or true. Try looking for an "i" sign on your calculator. It can be substituted for the square root of 1.(1 vote)
- How to distinguish between a radical sign that indicates a principal square root and a radical sign that says the answer must be plus or minus the square root(7 votes)
- Great question.
there is no radical sign that indicates both.
The radical sign indicates the "principal" square root.
That is why when we solve equations like x^2=4 we list two solutions, the principal square root 2 and the negative square root -2. all positive real numbers have two distinct square roots that are opposites of each other.
When solving a problem, if you are looking for square roots, it is up to you to know when you need to consider the negative root. Sometimes it must be included, sometimes it makes no sense and can be discarded.
On the other hand, if you are reading a problem that has the square root symbol in it, it ALWAYS means the principal (positive) root. If the negative is intended, a minus sign will be in front of it. If both are intended they will either be listed separately or the +/- sign will be placed in front of the radical sign. The quadratic formula is usually written with a +/- since you need both the positive and negative roots to find both solutions of a quadratic equation.(3 votes)
- I still do not understand...Why doesn't the square root property: √(A×B)=√(A)×√(B) not work when A and B are both negative?? In the video, Mr. Khan explained that A and B BOTH cannot be negative.(5 votes)
- Consider sqrt(-a * -b).
sqrt(-a * -b)
= sqrt(-a) * sqrt(-b)
= sqrt(a) * i * sqrt(b) * i
= sqrt(a) * sqrt(b) * i^2
= -sqrt(a) * sqrt(b)
= -sqrt(a * b)
Now if we don't use the square root property.
sqrt(-a * -b)
= sqrt(a * b)
Which isn't equal.
Let sqrt(-a * -b) = c.
Notice how squaring the equation you get
(-a * -b) = c^2 = (-c)^2.
This causes ambiguous case, thus it "doesn't work".(12 votes)
- why is the principate square root used for negative numbers? can't it be used while multiplying or dividing fractions, however i'm am always asked to simplify the questions but how can i simplify 1/3 times the square root of -63 - the square root of -28?(6 votes)
- Hi Chris,
Remember that you can factor values under the square root symbol. For example, if you are looking for the square root of -63 you can break it up as follows:
√-63 = √9 * √7 * √-1
√9 = 3 and √-1 = i
so
√-63 = 3(√7)i
If the question is to simplify 1/3 times √-63, then
1/3(√-63) = (3(√7)i)/3
which equals
(√7)i
Hope that helps :-)(8 votes)
Video transcript
In your mathematical
careers you might encounter people who
say it is wrong to say that i is equal to the principal
square root of negative 1. And if you ask them
why is this wrong, they'll show up with this
kind of line of logic that actually seems
pretty reasonable. They will tell
you that, OK, well let's just start
with negative 1. We know from definition
that negative 1 is equal to i times i. Everything seems pretty
straightforward right now. And then they'll say,
well look, if you take this, if you assume
this part right here, then we can replace each of
these i's with the square root of negative 1. And they'd be right. So then this would
be the same thing as the square root of negative
1 times the square root of negative 1. And then they would
tell you that, hey, look just from
straight up properties of the principal
square root function, they'll tell you that the
square root of a times b is the same thing as the
principal square root of a times the principal
square root of b. And so if you have the
principal square root of a times the principal square
root of b, that's the same thing as the
square root of a times b. So based on this property of the
radical of the principal root, they'll say that
this over here is the same thing as
the square root of negative 1 times negative 1. If I have the principal root
of the product of two things, that's the same
thing as the product of each of their
principal roots. I'm doing this in
the other order here. Here I have the principal
root of the products, over here I have
this on the right. And then from that we all
know that negative 1 times negative 1 is 1. So this should be equal to the
principal square root of 1. And then the principal
square root of 1-- Remember, this radical means
principal square root, positive square root, that is
just going to be positive 1. And they'll say, this is wrong. Clearly, negative 1 and positive
1 are not the same thing. And they'll argue therefore,
you can't make this substitution that we did in this step. And what you should
then point out is that this was not
the incorrect step. That it is true negative
1 is not equal to 1, but the faulty line
of reasoning here was in using this property
when both a and b are negative. If both a and b are negative,
this will never be true. So a and b both
cannot be negative. In fact normally when this
property is given-- sometimes it's given a little
bit in the footnotes or you might not even notice
it because it's not relevant when you're learning
it the first time-- but they'll usually give a
little bit of a constraint there. They'll usually say for a and
b greater than or equal to 0. So that's where they
list this property. This is true for a and b
greater than or equal 0. And in particular, it's false
if both a and b are both, if they are both negative. Now, I've just spent
the last three minutes saying that people who tell you
that this is wrong are wrong. But with that said,
I will say that you have to be a little
bit careful about it. When we take traditional
principal square roots. So when you take the
principle square root of 4. We know that this is
positive 2, that 4 actually has two square roots. There's negative 2 also
is a square root of 4. If you have negative
2 times negative 2 it's also equal to 4. This radical symbol here
means principal square root. Or when we're just dealing
with real numbers, non imaginary, non
complex numbers, you could really view it as
the positive square root. This has two square roots,
positive and negative 2. If you have this radical
symbol right here principal square roots, it means
the positive square root of 2. So when you start
thinking about taking square roots of
negative numbers-- or even in the future
we'll do imaginary numbers and complex numbers
and all the rest-- you have to expand
the definition of what this radical means. So when you are taking
the square root of really of any negative
number, you're really saying that this is no longer
the traditional principal square root function. You're now talking that this
is the principal complex square root function, or
this is now defined for complex inputs
or the domain, it can also generate
imaginary or complex outputs, or I guess you could
call that the range. And if you assume that,
then really straight from this you get that negative,
the square root of negative x is going to be equal to i
times the square root of x. And this is only-- and I'm
going to make this clear because I just told you
that this will be false if both a and b are negative. So this is only
true-- So we could apply this when x is
greater than or equal to 0. So if x is greater
than or equal to 0, then negative x is
clearly a negative number, or I guess it could also be 0. It's a negative number. And then we can apply
this right over here. If x was less than
0, then we would be doing all of this
nonsense up here. And we start to get
nonsensical answers. And if you look at it
this way and you say hey, look, i can be the square
root of negative one, if it's the principal branch
of the complex square root function. Then you could rewrite
this right over here as the square root of negative
1 times the square root of x. And so really the real fault
in this logic when people say, hey, negative 1
can't be equal to 1, the real fault is
using this property when both a and b, where both
of these are negative numbers. That will come up with something
that is unambiguously false. If you expand your
definition of the complex or expand your definition
of the principal root to include negative
numbers in the domain and to include imaginary
numbers, then you can do this. You can say the square
root of negative x is the square root
of negative 1 times-- Or you should say the principal
square root of negative x-- I should be
particular my words-- is the same thing as the
principal square root of negative 1 times the
principal square root of x when x is greater than or equal to 0. And I don't want to
confuse you, if x is greater than or equal
to 0, this negative x, that is clearly a
negative, or I guess you should say a
non positive number.