Divide a number by a complex number

Question

Is it possible to divide a single number by a complex number? What would be the result?

For example:

$\frac{5}{2+3j}$

What would this equal?

Or is this an illegal operation?

Hint: multiply by $\frac{2-3j}{2-3j}$. – user722227 Feb 07 '20 at 23:51 — user722227, Feb 07 '20 at 23:51
@user722227 thanks homie i gotchu now – Feb 07 '20 at 23:55 — , Feb 07 '20 at 23:55
Rationalize the denominator – Bill Dubuque Feb 08 '20 at 00:11 — Bill Dubuque, Feb 08 '20 at 00:11
@BillDubuque thx but i already got it – Feb 08 '20 at 00:14 — , Feb 08 '20 at 00:14

score 0 · Accepted Answer · answered Feb 07 '20 at 23:53

0

The hint will lead you to the right answer which I'm sure you can carry out this computation. Note that since $\mathbb{C}$ is a field (just like $\mathbb{R}$), you can divide by any non-zero element (which is just multiplication by the inverse)

answered Feb 07 '20 at 23:53

Adam Martens

2,539

Divide a number by a complex number

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