macedonianmoper
macedonianmoper t1_j6b9mpy wrote
Reply to comment by Genshed in ELI5: Why do imaginary numbers even need to exist? by Tharsis101
Ah I see, then it's totally understandable, unlike fractions and negatives they don't really serve a purpose for day to day.
Education changes from place to place, I see a lot of people apparently had calculus in highschool while I only started it in college (this was only a few years ago), I did however learn about imaginary numbers in high school
macedonianmoper t1_j6b7etg wrote
Reply to comment by Tharsis101 in ELI5: Why do imaginary numbers even need to exist? by Tharsis101
He understood, the thing is that the square root of a negative number is only impossible if you exclude "imaginary" numbers as a solution.
Very much like saying 3-6 is impossible if you don't think negative numbers are possible.
Just like banks might need negative numbers to say you're in debt, imaginary numbers are useful for other things, engineers use it to describe electricity in AC circuits for example
So you can say that imaginary numbers aren't possible, but that excludes real solutions that help you solve problems, very much like excluding fractional numbers would stop you from sharing an apple with a friend since you can either have an entire apple or none at all
macedonianmoper t1_j6b5xnw wrote
Reply to comment by Genshed in ELI5: Why do imaginary numbers even need to exist? by Tharsis101
What did you take then? I can't imagine an engineering degree that wouldn't use them, especially if you have any classes on anything electrical
macedonianmoper t1_j29qsl7 wrote
Reply to comment by SirDuke6 in ELI5: Why does putting one foot out from under the blankets bring so much relief of heat while laying in bed? by SirDuke6
Keep in mind that if you have one foot out the blankets are most likely not perfectly closed so air from outside can come in so it's not just the cooler blood circulating in your veins, it's also that the moment you put your foot outside the entire air below the blankets also cooled
macedonianmoper t1_jaalina wrote
Reply to comment by a4mula in ELI5: Why are clothes considered essential for survival? by acerthorn3
You don't even need to go that far, 10 degrees with any wind and you're fucked, you might not die but you wouldn't be fine