[Tutor] complex numbers: j vs. i

[Rob]

If I recall correctly, j is commonly used in engineering notation, so it
would be more familiar to someone who already used it in their own
equations.

Rob

> -----Original Message-----
> From: tutor-admin@python.org [mailto:tutor-admin@python.org]On Behalf Of
> Lance E Sloan
> Sent: Friday, August 23, 2002 9:48 AM
> To: tutor@python.org
> Subject: [Tutor] complex numbers: j vs. i
>
>
> I skimmed the Python documentation for a reason why the letter
> "j" is used
> to represent the imaginary part of complex numbers rather than the letter
> "i".  I didn't find anything.  In fact, I didn't see anything that
> mentioned either letter.  Perhaps I didn't look at the right document.  I
> was reading "Python Reference Manual"
> <URL:http://www.python.org/doc/current/ref/ref.html>.
>
> Does anybody know why "j" is used?  I'm guessing that either "i" caused a
> conflict or that the Dutch word for "imaginary" starts with "j".
>
> --
> Lance E Sloan
> Web Services, Univ. of Michigan: Full-service Web and database design,
> development, and hosting.  Specializing in Python & Perl CGIs.
> http://websvcs.itd.umich.edu/ - "Putting U on the Web"
>
>
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