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Geometric interpretation of the operations on complex numbers

X = A + B

X = AB

X = A*

The operations of addition, multiplication, and complex conjugation in the complex plane admit natural geometrical interpretations.

• The sum of two points A and B of the complex plane is the point X = A + B such that the triangles with vertices 0, A, B, and X, B, A, are congruent. Thus the addition of two complex numbers is the same as vector addition of two vectors.

• The product of two points A and B is the point X = AB such that the triangles with vertices 0, 1, A, and 0, B, X, are similar.

• The complex conjugate of a point A is the point X = A* such that the triangles with vertices 0, 1, A, and 0, 1, X, are mirror images of each other.

These geometric interpretations allow problems of geometry to be translated into algebra. And, conversely, geometric problems can be examined algebraically. For example, the problem of the geometric construction of the 17-gon is thus translated into the analysis of the algebraic equation x¹⁷ = 1.

Polar form

Alternatively to the cartesian representation z = x+iy, the complex number z can be specified by polar coordinates. The polar coordinates are r =  |z| ≥ 0, called the absolute value or modulus, and φ = arg(z), called the argument or the angle of z. The representation of a complex number by its polar coordinates is called the polar form of the complex number.

For r = 0 any value of φ describes the same number. To get a unique representation, a conventional choice is to set arg(0) = 0. For r > 0 the argument φ is unique modulo 2π; that is, if any two values of the complex argument differ by an exact integer multiple of 2π, they are considered equivalent. To get a unique representation, a conventional choice is to limit φ to the interval (-π,π], i.e. −π < φ ≤ π. This choice of φ is sometimes called the principal value of arg(z).