 Complex force

In planar potential flow, encode a physical force $(F_x,F_y)$ by $F_x-i{F}_y$, using the same negative-imaginary-component convention as the complex velocity $u-iv$. The Blasius force theorem then expresses the force per unit span as a single contour integral. The encoding is a convention: the physical vertical component is the negative imaginary part of this complex number.