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Understanding Why Complex Multiplication Works

Seeing imaginary numbers as rotations was one my favorite aha moments:

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i, the square root of -1, is a number in a different dimension! Once that clicks, we can Read more...
use multiplication to “combine” rotations of two complex numbers:
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The Boring Explanation: How? (Illustrated)
Here’s the common explanation of why complex multiplication adds the angles. First,
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write the complex numbers as polar coordinates (radius & angle):

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http://betterexplained.com/articles/understanding-why-complex-multiplication-works/[8/9/2011 5:21:42 PM]

Understanding Why Complex Multiplication Works | BetterExplained

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Lastly, notice how this matches the sine and cosine angle addition formulas: Web

And there you have it! What’s that? You don’t intuitively think in terms of sine and cosine
expansions? Too bad, the math checks out!

Still here? Good. The problem is we’ve lost the magic: it’s like saying two poems are
similar because we analyzed the distribution of letters. Accurate but unsatisfying!

I like sine as much as anyone, but the details come after seeing the relationship click.

The Fun Explanation: Why!

What’s our goal again? Oh yes — to see why we can multiply two complex numbers and
add the angles.

First, let’s figure out what multiplication does:

Regular multiplication (“times 2″) scales up a number (makes it larger or

smaller)
Imaginary multiplication (“times i”) rotates you by 90 degrees

And what if we combine the effects in a complex number? Multiplying by (2 + i) means

“double your number — oh, add in a perpendicular rotation”.

Quick example: 4 · (3+i) = 4 · 3 + 4 · i = 12 + 4i

That is, take our original (4), make it 3 times larger (4 * 3) and then add the effect of
rotation (+4i). Again, if we wanted only rotation, we’d multiply by “i”. If we wanted only
scaling we’d multiply by plain old 3. A complex number (a + bi) has both effects.

Visualizing Complex Multiplication

That was easy — a real number (4) times a complex (3+i). What about two complex
numbers (“triangles”), like (3 + 4i) · (2 + 3i)?

http://betterexplained.com/articles/understanding-why-complex-multiplication-works/[8/9/2011 5:21:42 PM]

Understanding Why Complex Multiplication Works | BetterExplained

Now we’re talking! I see this as “Make a scaled version of our original triangle (times 2)
and add a scaled/rotated triangle (times 3i)”. The final endpoint is the new complex
number.

But… I love alternate explanations! Here’s another:

Instead of grouping the multiplication by triangle, we analyze each part of the FOIL (first,
outside, inside, last). Adding each component takes us along a path and ends in the same
spot!

But What About the Angles?

Ah yes, the angles. It looks like we’re adding the angles, but can we be sure?

http://betterexplained.com/articles/understanding-why-complex-multiplication-works/[8/9/2011 5:21:42 PM]

Understanding Why Complex Multiplication Works | BetterExplained

Captain Geometry to the rescue! Oh, how I’ve missed you from 9th grade. Is the the
result (dotted blue line) at the same angle as plopping the triangles on each other?

In the normal case, we start with a triangle (3 + 4i) and plop on the other (2 + 3i) to
get the combined angle.

After the multiplication, we start with a scaled triangle (2x) and plop on another scaled
triangle (times 3i). Even though it’s larger, similar triangles have the same angles —
they’re just bigger (but don’t ask about its size, ok?).

We scaled up the original triangle (no change in angle) and “plopped on” another scaled
triangle (no change in angle), so the result is the same! I love seeing this come together
— we scale up, rotate out, and boom — we’re at the combined angle. This isn’t about
“imaginary numbers” — it’s a way to combine triangles without trigonometry!

Side Effects May Including Scaling

Notice how we’re making larger copies of our original triangle and adding them together.
What’s the change in size compared to our starting blue triangle?

Well, let’s call our original length “x”. Whatever it is, we end up getting a new triangle
layered on top, with a size of 2x + 3x (a + bi in general). And from Pythagoras (I love
that gentleman) the “real” distance is

That is, we take our original distance (x) and scale it by the size of the new triangle (size
of a + bi).

If the new triangle is size 1 (a 2 + b2 = 1) then the distance won’t change!

A Few Thoughts
I don’t hate rigorous proofs — I hate pretending they’re helpful when they’re not. Proofs
have two goals:

Show that a result is true. This is for mathematicians presenting results —

students rarely question the validity of facts in math class.

http://betterexplained.com/articles/understanding-why-complex-multiplication-works/[8/9/2011 5:21:42 PM]