Visual C# (Windows) Guide
Fractals: Complex Numbers
Producing the types of fractal image shown on the previous page requires a very basic understanding of complex numbers. The image itself is based on the results of a series of operations on a complex number.
A complex number comes in the following form,
a + b i
In the above number, a and b are real numbers. The letter i represents what is called the imaginary part of the number. The letter i stands for the square root of -1.
Some examples of complex numbers are,
3 + 2i
2.4 + 0.5i
0 + 5i
Plotting Complex Numbers
You can plot a complex number on a graph by using the real component for the position on the x axis and the imaginary component for the position on the y axis.
The number is represented by either the point plotted on the graph or as a vector with a line drawn from the origin to that point.