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Complex Numbers
Complex Numbers
A complex number is expressed in the standard form a + bi, where a and b are real numbers and i is defined by i^2 = -1 (that is, i is the square root of -1). For example, 3 + 2i is a complex number.
The bi term is often referred to as an imaginary number (though this may be misleading, as it is no more "imaginary" than the symbolic abstractions we know as the "real" numbers). Thus, every complex number has a real part, a, and an imaginary part, bi.
Complex numbers are often represented on a graph known as the "complex plane," where the horizontal axis represents the infinity of real numbers, and the vertical axis represents the infinity of imaginary numbers. Thus, each complex number has a unique representation on the complex plane: some closer to real; others, more imaginary. If a = b, the number is equal parts real and imaginary.
Very simple transformations applied to numbers in the complex plane can lead to fractal structures of enormous intricacy and astonishing beauty.
November 8, 2020 at 12:04am November 8, 2020 at 12:04am
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I'm not sure I've ever been on what one might define as an "adventure."
PROMPT November 8th
Tell us about the most memorable adventure you've ever been on. Did everything go according to plan, or did anything unexpected happen?
Also, if everything goes according to plan, I'm pretty sure it doesn't qualify as an adventure.
Sigh. I guess I'm going to have to resort to the dictionary again.
adventure (n) an unusual and exciting, typically hazardous, experience or activity.
I mean, it's not like I've trekked across Antarctica or braved the Sahara or rowed across the Atlantic or shit like that. Nor will I, at least not willingly.
I could, I suppose, talk about the time I went horseback riding through a Central American rainforest. Or the week I spent at 10,000 feet in the Rockies. Or the time I attempted to learn scuba diving off of St. Thomas only to be betrayed by my eustachian tubes. Or the times I managed to not get shot by jealous husbands / boyfriends.
There was also my first cross-country trip, which I mentioned in here fairly recently. Like, all the way back in July. Here: "The Not-Shining" I'd say that was unusual, somewhat exciting, mildly hazardous, and both an experience and an activity. And memorable too.
Or one time on a different cross-country trip, I stayed at the Clown Motel in Tonopah, Nevada. Why do I mention this? Well, just to freak out anyone with coulrophobia, of course. The worst danger I ran into there, though, wasn't the clowns, or the ghosts that are supposed to be haunting the place, but a wonky room heater because Tonopah gets awfully damn cold in the winter.
I've walked around New York City at night, navigated back roads in Iowa, drunk beer at a biker bar in Montana, driven through a blizzard in New Mexico, gotten pulled over for speeding in Texas, and visited an active volcano in the Caribbean.
There's more, but since I can't think of them right now, I guess they don't count as "memorable."
So I guess what I have to say is there's only been one "most memorable adventure" for me, one that's had its share of hazards, excitement, and a great deal of the unexpected.
By which, of course, I mean life. |
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