[ExI] imaginary numbers

[Adrian Tymes]

2010/11/27 Mike Dougherty <msd001 at gmail.com>

> if you put real numbers on X and real numbers on Y then the product is the
> number of unit squares that cover the area.  So a 5 x 5 square is literally
> a 25 unit square.  A 5i x 5i square is a negative 25 unit square?  What does
> the negative mean in that sense?  Am I missing something fundamental about i
> ?  (I think I am)  This is one of the rare occasions where I'm not being
> facetious or tongue-in-cheek.
>
>
What you're missing is: what does it mean for a square to have a side of
5i?  That
makes as much sense as having an area of negative 25.  This is usually "no
sense":
garbage in, garbage out.

Although, if you ever had some weird circumstance where having a side of 5i
made
sense, then the same circumstance would explain what an area of negative 25
means.
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