How do you simplify i247?

1 Answer
Jan 19, 2016

A great trick to solving this type of problem is understanding that there are only 4 possible solution ...

Explanation:

Raising the imaginary number i to a power can only result in 4 possible solutions :

i0=1
i1=i
i2=1
i3=i

Here's the trick ... divide the exponent by the number 4 and calculate the remainder. Then, use the remainder as the new exponent .

In this example, 2474=61 with remainder 3

Answer: i247=i3=i

hope that helped