Conjugation preserves order

Conjugate elements have the same order in a group
Conjugation preserves order

Proposition (Conjugation preserves order). Let GG be a . For xGx\in G, the order of xx, denoted ord(x)\mathrm{ord}(x), is the least positive integer nn such that xn=ex^n=e (if such an nn exists), and ord(x)=\mathrm{ord}(x)=\infty otherwise. If x,yGx,y\in G are , i.e. y=gxg1y=gxg^{-1} for some gGg\in G, then ord(y)=ord(x)\mathrm{ord}(y)=\mathrm{ord}(x).

Context. Many group-theoretic invariants are constant on conjugacy classes. Order is the first basic example and is used, for instance, in the class equation and Sylow theory.