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Cyclic Pattern of Powers of the Imaginary Unit

The powers of the imaginary unit ii follow a cyclic, repeating pattern every four powers. The first four powers are: i1=ii^1 = i i2=1i^2 = -1 i3=ii^3 = -i i4=1i^4 = 1 This cycle (i,1,i,1i, -1, -i, 1) continues indefinitely for all positive integer powers of ii. Because the cycle resets every four powers, any higher power of ii can be simplified to one of these four base values.

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Updated 2026-05-25

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