Imaginary number

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Revision as of 13:32, 16 April 2007 by imported>Michael Hardy (Added a caveat.)
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In mathematics, an imaginary number is a complex number whose real part is zero. A complex number is said to be real if the imaginary part is 0, and in all other cases it is non-real. Sometimes such complex numbers are called "pure imaginary numbers" to distinguish them from other complex numbers that are not real.

The terms real and imaginary are misnomers; they should not be taken literally.

For more information, see Complex number.