Home » Excel-Built-In-Functions » Excel-Engineering-Functions » Excel-Complex-Function

The Excel COMPLEX Function

Complex Numbers

Within the world of complex numbers, the 'imaginary' value, i is used to represent the square root of -1.

A Complex Number is composed of a real number combined with an imaginary number.

E.g. The complex number, z, is written as

z   =   5 + 2i

Function Description

The Excel Complex function takes two arguments, representing the real and the imaginary coefficients of a complex number, and from these, creates a complex number.

The syntax of the function is:

COMPLEX( real_num, i_num, [suffix] )

where the arguments are as shown in the table below:

real_num - The real component of the complex number.
i_num - The imaginary component of the complex number.
[suffix] -

An optional text argument, equal to "i" or "j" that specifies the suffix to be used.

I.e. whether the imaginary number is written in the style 5+2i or 5+2j.

If omitted, the [suffix] argument uses the default value "i".


Excel Complex Function Examples

The following spreadsheets show the Excel Complex function, used to create different complex numbers.

 Formulas:
  A
1 =COMPLEX( 5, 2 )
2 =COMPLEX( 5, -9 )
3 =COMPLEX( -1, 2, "j" )
4 =COMPLEX( 10, -5, "i" )
5 =COMPLEX( 0, 5 )
6 =COMPLEX( 3, 0 )
 Results:
  A
1 5+2i
2 5-9i
3 -1+2j
4 10-5i
5 5i
6 3

Further examples of the Excel Complex function are provided on the Microsoft Office website.


Complex Function Error

If you get an error from your Excel Complex function this is likely to be the #VALUE! error:

Common Error
#VALUE! -

Occurs if either:

  • One or both of the supplied real_num or i_num arguments are non-numeric
or
  • The supplied [suffix] argument is something other than "i" or "j".
Return to the Excel Engineering Functions Page
Return to the List of All Built-In Excel Functions