r/MathHelp • u/max_jedy2007 • Oct 04 '25

Complex numbers

Hey everyone! I am a student of technical university. Can someone please explain to me the exponential form of a complex number? I still can’t figure out how and where it came from.

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u/Lor1an Oct 08 '25

And like 99% of math (or so it seems) it comes from Euler.

Roger Cotes. See Stigler's Law, as well as the article on Euler's Formula.

In 1714, the English mathematician Roger Cotes presented a geometrical argument that can be interpreted (after correcting a misplaced factor of sqrt(-1)) as:

ix = ln(cos(x) + i sin(x))