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 |    Not for the faint of art. |
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Complex Numbers A complex number is expressed in the standard form a + bi, where a and b are real numbers and i is defined by i^2 = -1 (that is, i is the square root of -1). For example, 3 + 2i is a complex number. The bi term is often referred to as an imaginary number (though this may be misleading, as it is no more "imaginary" than the symbolic abstractions we know as the "real" numbers). Thus, every complex number has a real part, a, and an imaginary part, bi. Complex numbers are often represented on a graph known as the "complex plane," where the horizontal axis represents the infinity of real numbers, and the vertical axis represents the infinity of imaginary numbers. Thus, each complex number has a unique representation on the complex plane: some closer to real; others, more imaginary. If a = b, the number is equal parts real and imaginary. Very simple transformations applied to numbers in the complex plane can lead to fractal structures of enormous intricacy and astonishing beauty. ![Merit Badge in Quill Award
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Congratulations on winning an honorable mention for Best Blog at the 2018 Quill Awards for [Link To Item #1196512] . *^*Smile*^* This award was sponsored by the blogging consortium including [Link To Item #30dbc] , [Link To Item #blogcity] , [Link To Item #bcof] and [Link To Item #1953629] . For more details, see [Link To Item #quills] .](https://images.Writing.Com/imgs/writing.com/writers/badges/type-Blogging-2180.gif) ![Merit Badge in Highly Recommended
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I highly recommend your blog.](https://images.Writing.Com/imgs/writing.com/writers/badges/Kudos-Highly_Recommended.gif) ![Merit Badge in Opinion
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| I tried to avoid becoming a superconductor, but I just could not resist. How does electricity work? Let’s demystify the life-changing physics.  How current is your knowledge? They pun; I pun. To the uninitiated, electricity might seem like a sort of hidden magic. Any sufficiently advanced technology... It plays by laws of physics we can’t necessarily perceive with our eyes. Well, then, it clearly doesn't exist. Anyone who has ever lived through a power outage knows how inconvenient it is. Yes, which is why I got myself a whole-house backup power generator. “If I lose electricity, I lose telecommunications. I lose the financial sector. I lose water treatment. I can’t milk the cows. I can’t refrigerate food,” says Mark Petri... Glad he's there to give us the dish. The universe as we know it is governed by four fundamental forces: the strong nuclear force (which holds subatomic particles together inside atoms), the weak nuclear force (which guides some types of radioactivity), gravity, and electromagnetism (which governs the intrinsically linked concepts of electricity and magnetism). The weak nuclear force is always described in pop science articles (and this one's from actual Popular Science) as being related to "some types of radioactivity" or "radioactive decay." That's all a lot of people know, which is already more than most people know. I looked more deeply into this a while back and gave up. Also, apparently, they didn't see fit to explain gravity, which is really the most important force for our day-to-day lives, as without it, we wouldn't have lives. Some scientists and engineers think of electricity as a bit like water streaming through a pipe. I'm the first to admit that, despite being an engineer, and despite articles like this one, I still don't really understand electricity. Might as well be sorcery. I'm not that kind of engineer. But what I do understand is water flow through pipes, and, yes, the equations have similarities. You know what else is similar to water flow? Traffic flow. Anyway, the article does manage to keep things simple. There's not even any math. I don't know how useful it is. But I couldn't let that pun in the subhead go without trying to top it. |
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