• Article

Complex.Magnitude Property

Microsoft Silverlight will reach end of support after October 2021. Learn more.

Gets the magnitude (or absolute value) of a complex number.

Namespace:  System.Numerics
Assembly:  System.Numerics (in System.Numerics.dll)

Syntax

'Declaration
Public ReadOnly Property Magnitude As Double

public double Magnitude { get; }

Property Value

Type: System.Double
The magnitude of the current instance.

Remarks

The Magnitude property is equivalent to the absolute value of a complex number. It specifies the distance from the origin (the intersection of the x-axis and the y-axis in the Cartesian coordinate system) to the two-dimensional point represented by a complex number. The absolute value is calculated as follows:

| a + bi | = Math.Sqrt(a2 + b2)

If the calculation of the absolute value results in an overflow, this property returns either Double.PositiveInfinity or Double.NegativeInfinity.

The Magnitude and the Phase properties define the position of a point that represents a complex number in the polar coordinate system.

You can instantiate a complex number based on its polar coordinates instead of its Cartesian coordinates by calling the FromPolarCoordinates method.

Examples

The following example calculates the absolute value of a complex number and demonstrates that it is equivalent to the value of the Magnitude property.

Imports System.Numerics

Module Example
   Public Sub Demo(ByVal outputBlock As System.Windows.Controls.TextBlock)
      Dim complex1 As New Complex(2.0, 3.0)
      outputBlock.Text += String.Format("|{0}| = {1:N2}", complex1, Complex.Abs(complex1)) & vbCrLf
      outputBlock.Text += String.Format("Equal to Magnitude: {0}",  
                        Complex.Abs(complex1).Equals(complex1.Magnitude)) & vbCrLf
   End Sub
End Module
' The example displays the following output:
'       |(2, 3)| = 3.61
'       Equal to Magnitude: True

using System;
using System.Numerics;

public class Example
{
   public static void Demo(System.Windows.Controls.TextBlock outputBlock)
   {
      Complex complex1 = new Complex(2.0, 3.0);
      outputBlock.Text += String.Format("|{0}| = {1:N2}", complex1, Complex.Abs(complex1)) + "\n";
      outputBlock.Text += String.Format("Equal to Magnitude: {0}",
                        Complex.Abs(complex1).Equals(complex1.Magnitude)) + "\n";
   }
}
// The example displays the following output:
//       |(2, 3)| = 3.60555127546399
//       Equal to Magnitude: True

Version Information

Silverlight

Supported in: 5, 4

Platforms

For a list of the operating systems and browsers that are supported by Silverlight, see Supported Operating Systems and Browsers.