ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Imaginary line (mathematics)

Okay kiddo, imagine you and your friend are playing at the park and you want to divide the playground in half. You can use a rope or a stick to draw a line, right?

Now, in math, there is something called an imaginary line. It's like a line that is not really there, but we use it to make math easier. Imagine drawing a line between the numbers on a number line, like a line between 1 and 2 or 3 and 4. That line is imaginary because it's not really there, but we use it to help us understand math better.

An imaginary line can also be used in something called the complex plane. It's a fancy way of representing numbers in math. The complex plane has two axes, one for real numbers and one for imaginary numbers. An imaginary line is a vertical line that goes through all the points on the complex plane with only imaginary numbers.

So, an imaginary line is like a pretend line that we use in math to help us solve problems and understand numbers better!
Related topics others have asked about: