APPENDIX H COMPLEX NUMBERS |||| A57

5. Prove the third law of logarithms. [Hint: Start by showing that 9. Prove the fourth law of exponents [see (15)].
both sides of the equation have the same derivative.]
10. Deduce the following laws of logarithms from (15):
6. Prove the second law of exponents for e x [see (11)]. (a) log a!xy" ! log a x ! log a y
7. Prove the third law of exponents for e x [see (11)]. (b) log a!x#y" ! log a x " log a y
8. Prove the second law of exponents [see (15)]. (c) log a!x y " ! y log a x

H COMPLEX NUMBERS

Im A complex number can be represented by an expression of the form a ! bi, where a and
2+3i b are real numbers and i is a symbol with the property that i 2 ! "1. The complex num-
_4+2i ber a ! bi can also be represented by the ordered pair !a, b" and plotted as a point in a
i plane (called the Argand plane) as in Figure 1. Thus the complex number i ! 0 ! 1 ! i is
0 Re
identified with the point !0, 1".
1
_i The real part of the complex number a ! bi is the real number a and the imaginary
_2-2i 3-2i part is the real number b. Thus the real part of 4 " 3i is 4 and the imaginary part is "3.
Two complex numbers a ! bi and c ! di are equal if a ! c and b ! d; that is, their real
parts are equal and their imaginary parts are equal. In the Argand plane the horizontal axis
FIGURE 1 is called the real axis and the vertical axis is called the imaginary axis.
Complex numbers as points in The sum and difference of two complex numbers are defined by adding or subtracting
the Argand plane their real parts and their imaginary parts:

!a ! bi" ! !c ! di" ! !a ! c" ! !b ! d "i

!a ! bi" " !c ! di" ! !a " c" ! !b " d "i

For instance,
!1 " i" ! !4 ! 7i" ! !1 ! 4" ! !"1 ! 7"i ! 5 ! 6i

The product of complex numbers is defined so that the usual commutative and distributive
laws hold:
!a ! bi"!c ! di" ! a!c ! di" ! !bi"!c ! di"
! ac ! adi ! bci ! bdi 2
Since i 2 ! "1, this becomes

!a ! bi"!c ! di" ! !ac " bd " ! !ad ! bc"i

EXAMPLE 1
!"1 ! 3i"!2 " 5i" ! !"1"!2 " 5i" ! 3i!2 " 5i"
! "2 ! 5i ! 6i " 15!"1" ! 13 ! 11i M

Division of complex numbers is much like rationalizing the denominator of a rational

expression. For the complex number z ! a ! bi, we define its complex conjugate to be
z ! a " bi. To find the quotient of two complex numbers we multiply numerator and
denominator by the complex conjugate of the denominator.

"1 ! 3i
EXAMPLE 2 Express the number in the form a ! bi.
2 ! 5i
A58 |||| APPENDIX H COMPLEX NUMBERS

SOLUTION We multiply numerator and denominator by the complex conjugate of 2 ! 5i,

namely 2 " 5i, and we take advantage of the result of Example 1:

"1 ! 3i "1 ! 3i 2 " 5i 13 ! 11i 13 11

! ! ! 2 ! ! i M
2 ! 5i 2 ! 5i 2 " 5i 2 ! 52 29 29

Im The geometric interpretation of the complex conjugate is shown in Figure 2: z is the

z=a+bi reflection of z in the real axis. We list some of the properties of the complex conjugate in
i
the following box. The proofs follow from the definition and are requested in Exercise 18.

0 Re PROPERTIES OF CONJUGATES
_i

–
z=a-bi z!w!z!w zw ! z w zn ! zn

FIGURE 2
$ $
The modulus, or absolute value, z of a complex number z ! a ! bi is its distance
from the origin. From Figure 3 we see that if z ! a ! bi, then
Im
z=a+bi
bi
„@ „„
+
b„@ $ z $ ! sa 2
! b2
œ„a
=
|z| b
Notice that
0 a Re zz ! !a ! bi"!a " bi" ! a 2 ! abi " abi " b 2i 2 ! a 2 ! b 2
FIGURE 3
and so zz ! z $ $ 2

This explains why the division procedure in Example 2 works in general:

z zw zw
! !
w ww $w$ 2

Since i 2 ! "1, we can think of i as a square root of "1. But notice that we also have
!"i"2 ! i 2 ! "1 and so "i is also a square root of "1. We say that i is the principal
square root of "1 and write s"1 ! i. In general, if c is any positive number, we write
s"c ! sc i
With this convention, the usual derivation and formula for the roots of the quadratic equa-
tion ax 2 ! bx ! c ! 0 are valid even when b 2 " 4ac $ 0:

"b # sb 2 " 4ac

x!
2a

EXAMPLE 3 Find the roots of the equation x 2 ! x ! 1 ! 0.

SOLUTION Using the quadratic formula, we have

"1 # s1 2 " 4 ! 1 "1 # s"3 "1 # s3 i

x! ! ! M
2 2 2
 APPENDIX H COMPLEX NUMBERS |||| A59

We observe that the solutions of the equation in Example 3 are complex conjugates of
each other. In general, the solutions of any quadratic equation ax 2 ! bx ! c ! 0 with real
coefficients a, b, and c are always complex conjugates. (If z is real, z ! z, so z is its own
conjugate.)
We have seen that if we allow complex numbers as solutions, then every quadratic equa-
tion has a solution. More generally, it is true that every polynomial equation

a n x n ! a n"1 x n"1 ! ( ( ( ! a 1 x ! a 0 ! 0

of degree at least one has a solution among the complex numbers. This fact is known as
the Fundamental Theorem of Algebra and was proved by Gauss.

POLAR FORM
Im We know that any complex number z ! a ! bi can be considered as a point !a, b" and that
a+bi
any such point can be represented by polar coordinates !r, & " with r ' 0. In fact,
r
b a ! r cos & b ! r sin &
¨
0 a Re as in Figure 4. Therefore we have

FIGURE 4 z ! a ! bi ! !r cos & " ! !r sin & "i

Thus we can write any complex number z in the form

z ! r!cos & ! i sin & "

b
where $ $
r ! z ! sa 2 ! b 2 and tan & !
a

The angle & is called the argument of z and we write & ! arg!z". Note that arg!z" is not
unique; any two arguments of z differ by an integer multiple of 2%.

EXAMPLE 4 Write the following numbers in polar form.

(a) z ! 1 ! i (b) w ! s3 " i
SOLUTION
$ $
(a) We have r ! z ! s12 ! 12 ! s2 and tan & ! 1, so we can take & ! %#4.
Therefore the polar form is
Im

œ„
2
1+i z ! s2 & cos
%
4
! i sin
%
4
'
π
4 $ $
(b) Here we have r ! w ! s3 ! 1 ! 2 and tan & ! "1#s3 . Since w lies in the
0 _
π Re fourth quadrant, we take & ! "%#6 and
6
2
œ„
3-i % & ' & '(
w ! 2 cos "
%
6
! i sin "
%
6

FIGURE 5 The numbers z and w are shown in Figure 5. M

A60 |||| APPENDIX H COMPLEX NUMBERS

The polar form of complex numbers gives insight into multiplication and division. Let

z1 ! r1!cos &1 ! i sin &1 " z2 ! r2!cos & 2 ! i sin & 2 "

be two complex numbers written in polar form. Then

z1 z2 ! r1r2!cos &1 ! i sin &1 "!cos & 2 ! i sin & 2 "

! r1r2 )!cos &1 cos & 2 " sin &1 sin & 2 " ! i!sin &1 cos & 2 ! cos &1 sin & 2 "*

Therefore, using the addition formulas for cosine and sine, we have
Im
z™ z¡

¨™ 1 z1 z2 ! r1r2 )cos!&1 ! & 2 " ! i sin!&1 ! & 2 "*

¨¡
Re This formula says that to multiply two complex numbers we multiply the moduli and add
¨¡+¨™
the arguments. (See Figure 6.)
A similar argument using the subtraction formulas for sine and cosine shows that to
divide two complex numbers we divide the moduli and subtract the arguments.
z¡z™

FIGURE 6 z1 r1
! )cos!&1 " & 2 " ! i sin!&1 " & 2 "* z2 " 0
z2 r2
Im
z

r
In particular, taking z1 ! 1 and z2 ! z (and therefore & 1 ! 0 and & 2 ! & ), we have the fol-
lowing, which is illustrated in Figure 7.
¨
0 _¨ Re
1 1
1 1 If z ! r!cos & ! i sin & ", then ! !cos & " i sin & ".
r z z r

FIGURE 7
EXAMPLE 5 Find the product of the complex numbers 1 ! i and s3 " i in polar form.

SOLUTION From Example 4 we have

1 ! i ! s2 & cos
%
4
! i sin
%
4
'
Im
z=1+i
and % & '
s3 " i ! 2 cos "
%
6
& '(
! i sin "
%
6
zw
So, by Equation 1,
œ„
2 2œ„
2

0
π
12
Re
!1 ! i"(s3 " i) ! 2 s2 % & cos
%
4
"
%
6
' &! i sin
%
4
"
%
6
'(
2
w=œ„
3-i ! 2 s2 & cos
%
12
! i sin '
%
12
FIGURE 8 This is illustrated in Figure 8. M
 APPENDIX H COMPLEX NUMBERS |||| A61

Repeated use of Formula 1 shows how to compute powers of a complex number. If

z ! r!cos & ! i sin & "

then z 2 ! r 2!cos 2& ! i sin 2& "

and z 3 ! zz 2 ! r 3!cos 3& ! i sin 3& "

In general, we obtain the following result, which is named after the French mathematician
Abraham De Moivre (1667–1754).

2 DE MOIVRE’S THEOREM If z ! r!cos & ! i sin & " and n is a positive integer,
then
z n ! )r!cos & ! i sin & "* n ! r n!cos n& ! i sin n& "

This says that to take the nth power of a complex number we take the nth power of the
modulus and multiply the argument by n.

EXAMPLE 6 Find ( 12 ! 12 i)10.

1 1 1 1 1
SOLUTION Since 2 ! 2 i ! 2 !1 ! i", it follows from Example 4(a) that 2 ! 2 i has the polar
form
1
2
1
! i!
2
s2
2
& cos
%
4
! i sin
%
4
'
So by De Moivre’s Theorem,

& 1
2
1
! i
2
' & '&
10
!
s2
2
10
cos
10%
4
! i sin
10%
4
'
& !
25
2 10
cos
5%
2
! i sin
5%
2
' !
1
32
i M

De Moivre’s Theorem can also be used to find the n th roots of complex numbers. An
n th root of the complex number z is a complex number w such that

wn ! z

Writing these two numbers in trigonometric form as

w ! s!cos ) ! i sin )" and z ! r!cos & ! i sin & "

and using De Moivre’s Theorem, we get

s n !cos n ) ! i sin n )" ! r!cos & ! i sin & "

The equality of these two complex numbers shows that

sn ! r or s ! r 1#n

and cos n ) ! cos & and sin n ) ! sin &

A62 |||| APPENDIX H COMPLEX NUMBERS

From the fact that sine and cosine have period 2% it follows that

& ! 2k %
n ) ! & ! 2k% or )!
n

Thus % &
w ! r 1#n cos
& ! 2k %
n
' & ! i sin
& ! 2k %
n
'(
Since this expression gives a different value of w for k ! 0, 1, 2, . . . , n " 1, we have the
following.

3 ROOTS OF A COMPLEX NUMBER Let z ! r!cos & ! i sin & " and let n be a posi-
tive integer. Then z has the n distinct n th roots

% &
wk ! r 1#n cos
& ! 2k %
n
' ! i sin & & ! 2k %
n
'(
where k ! 0, 1, 2, . . . , n " 1.

$ $
Notice that each of the nth roots of z has modulus wk ! r 1#n. Thus all the nth roots
of z lie on the circle of radius r 1#n in the complex plane. Also, since the argument of each
successive nth root exceeds the argument of the previous root by 2%#n, we see that the
n th roots of z are equally spaced on this circle.

EXAMPLE 7 Find the six sixth roots of z ! "8 and graph these roots in the complex
plane.
SOLUTION In trigonometric form, z ! 8!cos % ! i sin %". Applying Equation 3 with n ! 6,
we get

&
wk ! 8 1#6 cos
% ! 2k %
6
! i sin
% ! 2k %
6
'
We get the six sixth roots of "8 by taking k ! 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 in this formula:

&
w0 ! 8 1#6 cos
%
6
! i sin
%
6
' & '
! s2
s3
2
1
! i
2

&
w1 ! 8 1#6 cos
%
2
! i sin
%
2
' ! s2 i

& ' & '

Im
5% 5% s3 1
œ„2 i w¡ w2 ! 8 1#6 cos ! i sin ! s2 " ! i
6 6 2 2
w™ w¸
&
w3 ! 8 1#6 cos
7%
6
! i sin
7%
6
' & '
! s2 "
s3
2
1
" i
2

& '
_œ„
2 0 2 Re
œ„
3% 3%
w£ w∞ w4 ! 8 1#6 cos ! i sin ! "s2 i
2 2

FIGURE 9
_œ„2 i
w¢
&
w5 ! 8 1#6 cos
11%
6
! i sin
11%
6
' & ' ! s2
s3
2
1
" i
2
The six sixth roots of z=_8 All these points lie on the circle of radius s2 as shown in Figure 9. M
 APPENDIX H COMPLEX NUMBERS |||| A63

COMPLEX EXPONENTIALS

We also need to give a meaning to the expression e z when z ! x ! iy is a complex num-

ber. The theory of infinite series as developed in Chapter 11 can be extended to the case
where the terms are complex numbers. Using the Taylor series for e x (11.10.11) as our
guide, we define
*
zn z2 z3
4 ez ! +
n!0 n!
!1!z!
2!
!
3!
! (((

and it turns out that this complex exponential function has the same properties as the real
exponential function. In particular, it is true that

5 e z !z ! e z e z
1 2 1 2

If we put z ! iy, where y is a real number, in Equation 4, and use the facts that

i 2 ! "1, i 3 ! i 2i ! "i, i 4 ! 1, i 5 ! i, ...

!iy"2 !iy"3 !iy"4 !iy"5

we get e iy ! 1 ! iy ! ! ! ! ! (((
2! 3! 4! 5!
y2 y3 y4 y5
! 1 ! iy " "i ! !i ! (((
2! 3! 4! 5!

&
! 1"
y2
2!
!
y4
4!
"
y6
6!
! ((( ! i y "
y3
3!
! ' &
y5
5!
" ((( '
! cos y ! i sin y

Here we have used the Taylor series for cos y and sin y (Equations 11.10.16 and 11.10.15).
The result is a famous formula called Euler’s formula:

6 e iy ! cos y ! i sin y

Combining Euler’s formula with Equation 5, we get

7 e x!iy ! e xe iy ! e x !cos y ! i sin y"

EXAMPLE 8 Evaluate: (a) e i% (b) e"1!i%#2

SOLUTION
N We could write the result of Example 8(a) as (a) From Euler’s equation (6) we have
e i% ! 1 ! 0
e i% ! cos % ! i sin % ! "1 ! i!0" ! "1
This equation relates the five most famous num-
bers in all of mathematics: 0, 1, e, i, and %. (b) Using Equation 7 we get

&
e"1!i%#2 ! e"1 cos
%
2
! i sin
%
2
' !
1
e
)0 ! i!1"* !
i
e
M

Finally, we note that Euler’s equation provides us with an easier method of proving
De Moivre’s Theorem:

)r!cos & ! i sin & "* n ! !re i& "n ! r ne in& ! r n!cos n& ! i sin n& "
A64 |||| APPENDIX H COMPLEX NUMBERS

H EXERCISES

1–14 Evaluate the expression and write your answer in the 33–36 Find the indicated power using De Moivre’s Theorem.
form a ! bi.
34. (1 " s3 i )
5
33. !1 ! i "20
2. (4 " 2 i) " (9 ! 2 i)
1 5
1. !5 " 6i " ! !3 ! 2i "
35. (2 s3 ! 2i )
5
36. !1 " i "8
3. !2 ! 5i "!4 " i" 4. !1 " 2i "!8 " 3i "

5. 12 ! 7i 6. 2i ( 12 " i ) 37– 40 Find the indicated roots. Sketch the roots in the complex
1 ! 4i 3 ! 2i plane.
7. 8.
3 ! 2i 1 " 4i 37. The eighth roots of 1 38. The fifth roots of 32
1 3 39. The cube roots of i 40. The cube roots of 1 ! i
9. 10.
1!i 4 " 3i
11. i 3 12. i 100
41– 46 Write the number in the form a ! bi.
13. s"25 14. s"3 s"12
41. e i%#2 42. e 2% i

15–17 Find the complex conjugate and the modulus of the 43. e i%#3 44. e "i%
number.
45. e 2!i% 46. e %!i
15. 12 " 5i 16. "1 ! 2 s2 i
17. "4i
47. Use De Moivre’s Theorem with n ! 3 to express cos 3& and
sin 3& in terms of cos & and sin &.
18. Prove the following properties of complex numbers.
(a) z ! w ! z ! w (b) zw ! z w 48. Use Euler’s formula to prove the following formulas for cos x
(c) z n ! z n, where n is a positive integer and sin x :
[Hint: Write z ! a ! bi, w ! c ! di.]
e ix ! e"ix e ix " e"ix
19–24 Find all solutions of the equation.
cos x ! sin x !
2 2i
19. 4x 2 ! 9 ! 0 20. x 4 ! 1
49. If u!x" ! f !x" ! it!x" is a complex-valued function of a real
21. x 2 ! 2x ! 5 ! 0 22. 2x 2 " 2x ! 1 ! 0 variable x and the real and imaginary parts f !x" and t!x" are
23. z 2 ! z ! 2 ! 0
1 1
24. z 2 ! 2 z ! 4 ! 0 differentiable functions of x, then the derivative of u is defined
to be u+!x" ! f +!x" ! it+!x". Use this together with Equation 7
to prove that if F!x" ! e rx, then F+!x" ! re rx when r ! a ! bi
25–28 Write the number in polar form with argument between 0 is a complex number.
and 2%.
50. (a) If u is a complex-valued function of a real variable, its
25. "3 ! 3i 26. 1 " s3 i
indefinite integral x u!x" dx is an antiderivative of u.
27. 3 ! 4i 28. 8i Evaluate

29–32 Find polar forms for z w, z#w, and 1#z by first putting z and
ye !1!i "x
dx

w into polar form.

(b) By considering the real and imaginary parts of the integral
29. z ! s3 ! i, w ! 1 ! s3 i in part (a), evaluate the real integrals
30. z ! 4 s3 " 4i, w ! 8i
ye x
cos x dx and ye x
sin x dx
31. z ! 2 s3 " 2i, w ! "1 ! i

32. z ! 4(s3 ! i ), w ! "3 " 3i (c) Compare with the method used in Example 4 in Sec-
tion 7.1.