What is the imaginary part of each expression?

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The discussion focuses on identifying the imaginary parts of various complex expressions. The participants confirm that the imaginary parts of the first four expressions are correctly identified as 0, 6, 6, and 6, respectively. The fifth expression requires clarification, as it involves manipulating the complex number to avoid having 'i' in the denominator, leading to the conclusion that the imaginary part is -2/3. The final points emphasize that the correct approach involves recognizing that 1/i equals -i, resulting in the imaginary part being -2/3i. Overall, the main takeaway is the importance of expressing complex numbers in the standard form a + bi.
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I am supposed to identify the imaginary part (marked in bold) of each expression, just wanted to see if I got them correct:

1. (1+i)+(1-i) ......0
2. (5+i)+(1+5i) ......6
3. (5+i)-(1-5i) ......6
4. 1+2i+3+4i+5 ......6
5. S=1+\frac{1}{2i}+\frac{1}{4}+\frac{1}{8i}+\frac{1}{16}+\frac{1}{32i}+\frac{1}{64}+...

using the geometric series: (.5)/(1-.25)=2/3=1/1.5i
does this mean the imaginary part is 1.5 since the i is in the denominator? or is it 1.5?

6. a and b are constants
a+bi ......b
7. (a+ib)^2 ......2ab
8. (a+bi)(b+ia) ......a^2+b^2
9. (ia)^3 ......-a^3
10. a(a+i)(a+2i) ......3a^2

are these correct?
 
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The way I see it, everything is correct except the 5th one
If the complex number is in the form: a + ib then a is the real part, and b is the imaginary part. You must do something to make it have the form a + ib, i.e i cannot be in the denominator, it must be in the numerator.
Hint:
\frac{a}{ib} = \frac{ia}{i ^ 2b} = -\frac{ia}{b}
Multiply both numerator and denominator by i. :smile:
 
then it is -1/15?
 
UrbanXrisis said:
then it is -1/15?
Nope, you should check your answer again.
The first term is -1 / 2, and the common ratio is still 1 / 4.
It should be -2 / 3. Shouldn't it? :smile:
 
The imaginary part of
S=1+\frac{1}{2i}+\frac{1}{4}+\frac{1}{8i}+\frac{1} {16}+\frac{1}{32i}+\frac{1}{64}+...
is
S=\frac{1}{2i}+\frac{1}{8i}+\frac{1}{32i}+...
which is indeed, a geometric sequence,
S= \frac{1}{2i}\left(1+ \frac{1}{4}+ \frac{1}{16}+...\right)
having sum
\frac{1}{2i}\frac{1}{1- \frac{1}{4}}
= \frac{1}{2i}\frac{4}{3}= \frac{2}{3}\frac{1}{i}
which is what you got. The only question is "what do you do with that 1/i?"

Well, i*i= -1, of course, so i(-i)= -(-1)= 1. -i is the multiplicative inverse of i: 1/i= -i.
\frac{2}{3}\frac{1}{i}= -\frac{2}{3}i.
 
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