SOLUTION: Hi. I did a problem today that had me find the roots of an equation using the quadratic formula. My answer was 1/3 plus or minus sqrt(14)/3 *i. What does the "i" stand for? Thanks.

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Question 390854: Hi. I did a problem today that had me find the roots of an equation using the quadratic formula. My answer was 1/3 plus or minus sqrt(14)/3 *i. What does the "i" stand for? Thanks.
Found 3 solutions by stanbon, richard1234, solver91311:
Answer by stanbon(75887)   (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website!
Hi. I did a problem today that had me find the roots of an equation using the quadratic formula. My answer was 1/3 plus or minus sqrt(14)/3 *i. What does the "i" stand for?
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i is the square root of -1.
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It is one of the solutions to the equation x^2+1 = 0
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Cheers,
Stan H.

Answer by richard1234(7193)   (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website!
Looks like you solved the problem and got an answer containing i, without knowing what i is.

i is simply defined as the square root of -1. It's not a real number; instead it is complex, and if you were to plot i on the complex plane, it would lie off the real number line.

Answer by solver91311(24713)   (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website!

John

My calculator said it, I believe it, that settles it