Complex numbers in high school

manpreet Best Answer 2 years ago

Are complex numbers taught in high school in other countries? I am from Germany and complex numbers are next to never touched in high school with the exception of extra-curricular activities, for example.

I guess complex numbers also won't be discussed in high schools in other countries and are simply neglected and never mentioned. However, I think it is important to at least let students know that complex numbers exist. I know that discussing complex numbers in full detail would require a lot of time which is often not available. Yet, without ever mentioning complex numbers, a teacher is leaving out an important piece of information. For example, when students are learning to find roots of polynomials they will usually be searching for them in the "wrong" set (ℝR). Very often examples are picked where a polynomial will have only real roots which guarantees the teacher to avoid the complex numbers. However, I think that it is also important to make students aware that things might not always be as easy as in the examples picked by the teacher and that a polynomial might very well have complex roots. The fundamental theorem of algebra, for example, is a theorem which is very easy to state and to discuss in school. The theorem will require some knowledge about the existence of complex numbers, yet, I think it is well worth discussing in high school: as the theorem's name suggests: it is fundamental to algebra.

What are your thoughts about the topic? Should complex numbers be discussed in high school? Or are there even countries where they are part of the curriculum?

manpreet 2 years ago