OpenStudy (anonymous):

Question 1: What are the characteristics of a complex number? Question 2: What is the relationship between a complex number and its conjugate? Question 3: Describe the usefulness of the conjugate and its effect on other complex numbers.

OpenStudy (across):

Complex numbers are made up of a real and an imaginary part and written in the form: $a+bi$Where a and b are real numbers and i is an imaginary number. Complex conjugates are a pair of real numbers, both having the same real part, but with imaginary parts of equal magnitude and opposite signs, for example: $3+4i$$3-4i$Are complex conjugates. Pairs of conjugates are significant because the imaginary unit i is qualitatively indistinct from its additive and multiplicative inverse -i, as they both satisfy the definition for the imaginary unit: $x^2=-1$Thus in most "natural" settings, if a complex number provides a solution to a problem, so does its conjugate, such as is the case for complex solutions of the quadratic formula with real coefficients.