Section 1: Complex Numbers and Variables

1.1 Introduction

When any real number, k, is squared the result is either positive or zero, i.e. k 2  0 .

Now consider the equation x 2  1 . The roots of this equation are clearly not real since when

squared they give -1 as the result. We are still interested in the solutions of this equation and

to determine them we need another category of numbers, namely the numbers whose

squares are negative real numbers. Such numbers are called imaginary numbers. Examples

of such numbers are 1 ,  7 and  20 . In general, an imaginary number can be written

as  n 2 where n is real. We can then write:

 n 2  n 2 x  1  n 2 x  1  ni where i   1

Therefore, every imaginary number can be written as ni where n is real and i   1 ,

e.g.  16  4i , 3  i 3 .

When a real number and an imaginary number are added or subtracted, the expression so

formed, which cannot be simplified, is called a complex number, e.g. 2+3i, 4-7i. In general, a

complex number of variable, z, can always be written as:

z  x  iy

1
where x and y can have any real value including zero. The number x (that does not multiply

the i) is called the real part of he complex number z and we write x  Re z . The number y

(that multiplies the i) is called the imaginary part of z and we write y  Im z . Thus if

z  6  4i , we have 6  Re z and  4  Im z .

Coming back to the equation x 2  1 or x2 1 0 , using the usual formula

 b  b 2  4ac
x for finding the roots of quadratic equations, we find that
2a

0  0  4 x1   4
x     1  i . Therefore the two roots of the equation are imaginary.
2 x1 2

Q1 Set the following quadratic functions to zero, find their roots and state whether they are

real or complex. Plot a curve sketch of f z  in each case.

a) f z   z 2  2z  2

b) f z   z 2  2z  1

c) f z   z 2  2z

2
1.2 The polar form of complex numbers

The complex number z  x  iy is represented on a plane by a point P with coordinates (x, y)

with respect to the Cartesian coordinate system (see Figure 1). Ox and Oy are called the real

and the imaginary axis respectively. Such a figure is called the Argand diagram. The

imaginary number i is represented by the point with Cartesian coordinates (0, 1).

Im

i

Re
O x

Figure 1: Representation of complex numbers

The modulus of z is defined to be the positive length OP, and we write:

r  z  x2  y 2 . (1)

The angle , i.e. the angle in radians between Ox and OP, is called the argument of z and

we write   arg z . From Figure 1, we note that x  r cos  and y  r sin , so:

z  x  iy  r cos   i sin  (2)