What Is the Argument of j to the Fourth Power?

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SUMMARY

The argument of j to the fourth power (j^4) is definitively 0, as j^4 equals 1, which lies on the positive real axis. The argument of a complex number is the angle between the number and the positive real axis, and for positive values, this angle is 0. The argument of j itself is π/2, and squaring a complex number multiplies its argument by 2, leading to the conclusion that the argument of j^4 is 4(π/2) = 2π, which is equivalent to 0 when considering periodicity in polar coordinates.

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okie ... one attempt as i see it ...

argument of j is pie/2 ... so argument of j^2 will be pie square/ 4 and so on ...

is it right?
 
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No. Here's a hint: what is j4 equivalent to?

For some number z=x+y\mathrm{j} \in \mathbb{C}, \mathrm{arg}(z) \equiv \arctan(\frac{y}{x}).
 
Dear Jhae2.718 ... can you please explain it in polar form?

for example...

z= 1(cos pie/2 +jsinpie/2) is the argument of j ...i don't know what to do for j^4
 
For polar form, the argument is just \theta.

Keep in mind that we're using z = r\cos(\theta)+\mathrm{j}r\sin(\theta).

For jn, you'll want to simplify a bit. Recall:
Code:
n      j[sup]n[/sup] 
-----------------------
1      j
2     j*j = - 1
3     j*j[sup]2[/sup] = -j
4     j*j[sup]3[/sup] = 1
.
.
.
 
so i take from your explanation that ...

z= rcos (theta) + rsin (theta) *since j^4=1
 
j4 =1, which means that the imaginary part of z is zero. What value of \theta makes \sin(\theta) \to 0?
 
sin 0 = 0

can you please provide me the final answer of this bro? :)
 
arg(j^4) = 0, since j^4 is on the positive real axis and the argument is the angle between the complex no. and the positive real axis.
 
shouldnt it be 1? because sin theta goes to zero , but cos theta goes to 1 !
 
  • #10
j^4 is 1, but the argument of j^4 is zero. As a general rule, positive values on the real axis have an arg of 0 and positive imaginary values have an arg of pi/2.

Remember, in polar coordinates the argument is just the angle theta!
 
  • #11
Thankyou so so so so so so times infinity much ! Really ... ! May God Bless You with A billion dollar or equivalent ! :)
 
  • #12
No problem :wink:

If you want to read more about complex arguments, you can look at the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argument_(complex_analysis)" . It gets a bit technical, but the graphs should help.
 
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  • #13
aliz_khanz said:
okie ... one attempt as i see it ...

argument of j is pie/2 ... so argument of j^2 will be pie square/ 4 and so on ...

is it right?
No, squaring a number multiplies the argument by 2- it does not square it! The argument of j^4 is 4(\pi/2)= 2\pi (or 0 since adding or subtracting any multiple of 2pi won't change the answer.)

Of, same same thing, j^2= -1 so j^4= (j^2)(j^2)= (-1)(-1)= 1 which has argument 0.
 

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