Knowing the characteristics of the imaginary unit “i” and integral multiples of 4 is essential to answering this question.
Integral multiple of 4: Any number that results from multiplying 4 by an integer is an integral multiple of 4. Put differently, 4n is an integral multiple of 4 (e.g., 4, 8, 12, -4, -8, etc.) if n is an integer.
Imaginary unit “i”: The square root of -1 is the definition of the imaginary unit “i,” so i2 = -1.
The right choice is option D.
This is the reason:
Assuming n = 4k (where k is another integer) and n is an integral multiple of 4, then:
in = i(4k)
A property of exponents states that (am)n = a(m.n). Consequently:
(i4)k = i(4k)
i2 = -1 is known to us. Thus:
i4 = (i2)2 = (-1)2 = 1.
Consequently:
(i4)k = 1k = 1 = i(4k)
This implies that i raised to the power of n will be 1 if n is a multiple of 4. We can also express it as ±i, though, since i is the square root of -1, and squaring either +i or -i yields 1.
Knowing the characteristics of the imaginary unit “i” and integral multiples of 4 is essential to answering this question.
Integral multiple of 4: Any number that results from multiplying 4 by an integer is an integral multiple of 4. Put differently, 4n is an integral multiple of 4 (e.g., 4, 8, 12, -4, -8, etc.) if n is an integer.
Imaginary unit “i”: The square root of -1 is the definition of the imaginary unit “i,” so i2 = -1.
The right choice is option D.
This is the reason:
Assuming n = 4k (where k is another integer) and n is an integral multiple of 4, then:
in = i(4k)
A property of exponents states that (am)n = a(m.n). Consequently:
(i4)k = i(4k)
i2 = -1 is known to us. Thus:
i4 = (i2)2 = (-1)2 = 1.
Consequently:
(i4)k = 1k = 1 = i(4k)
This implies that i raised to the power of n will be 1 if n is a multiple of 4. We can also express it as ±i, though, since i is the square root of -1, and squaring either +i or -i yields 1.