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Complex plane
The complex plane is a geometric representation of complex numbers, and consists of a real x-axis and orthogonaly the imaginary y-axis.
Explanation
The Argand diagram shows the point z and the conjugate z̅ in the complex plane.
The distance r from the origin to the point z is the modulus or absolute value of z. You write it as |z|. The angle φ is called the argument of z.
HistoryThe Swiss mathematican Jean-Robert Argand (1768 - 1822) and the Danish mathematician Caspar Wessel (1745 - 1818) proposed a diagram for showing complex numbers. |