(1) Complex Numbers

z+2
(a) Find the real and imaginary part of P = .
z−1
Solution:
x + iy + 2 x + 2 + iy x − 1 − iy
= ·
x + iy − 1 x − 1 + iy x − 1 − iy
(x + 2)(x − 1) + y 2 −3y
= 2 2
+i
(x − 1) + y (x − 1)2 + y 2

(x + 2)(x − 1) + y 2
So Re(P ) =
(x − 1)2 + y 2
−3y
and im(P ) = .
(x − 1)2 + y 2
2
(b) Solve z 4 − i = 0.
Solution: z 4 − i = 0 =⇒ z 4 = i = ω where |ω| = 1 and Arg(ω) = π/2. So
ω = cos(π/2 + 2nπ) + i sin(π/2 + 2nπ).

It follows that

zn = ω 1/4 = (cos(π/2 + 2nπ) + i sin(π/2 + 2nπ))1/4

   
π + 4nπ π + 4nπ
= cos + i sin
8 8

for n = 0, 1, 2, . . .. Thus z0 = cos π8 + i sin π8 , z1 = cos 5π 5π

8
+ i sin 8
, z2 =
9π 9π 13π 13π





cos 8 + i sin 8 , z3 = cos 8 + i sin 8 .
2
√
q
(c) Find all possible values of i.
√
q
Solution: z = i =⇒ z 4 = i. So the solutions of (1b) apply. 2
(d) Express cos(4x) in terms cos(x) and sin(x).
Solution:

cos(4x) + i sin(4x) = ei4x = (cos(x) + i sin(x))4

= cos4 (x) − 6 cos2 (x) sin2 (x) + sin4 (x)
+ i 4 cos3 (x) sin(x) − 4 cos(x) sin3 (x) .

Therefore,
cos(4x) = cos4 (x) − 6 cos2 (x) sin2 (x) + sin4 (x).

2
 (e) When does equality hold in the triangle inequality |z1 + z2 | ≤ |z1 | + |z2 |?
Solution: When z1 and z2 have the same argument, i.e. are on the same ray
from the origin. 2

(2) Complex Functions

(a) Show that sinh(z) = −i sin(iz)

Solution:
ei(iz) − e−i(iz)
 
−i sin(iz) = −i
2i
 −z
e − ez

= −i
2i
z −z
e −e
=
2
= sinh(z).

2
(b) Give the real and imaginary part of cos(z) in terms of x and y using regular and
hyperbolic sin and cos.
Solution: We calculate this using exponentials. Let z = x + iy, where x, y ∈ R.

eiz + e−iz
cos(z) =
2
ei(x+iy) + e−i(x+iy)
=
2
eix−y
+ e−ix+y
=
2
e−y eix + ey e−ix
=
2
e−y (cos(x) + i sin(x)) + ey (cos(x) − i sin(x))
=
2
(e + e ) cos(x) + i(e−y − ey ) sin(x)
−y y
=
2
= cos(x) cosh(y) − i sin(x) sinh(y).

Alternatively, using the cosine addition formula:

cos(z) = cos(x + iy)

= cos(x) cos(iy) − sin(x) sin(iy)
= cos(x) cosh(y) − i sin(x) sinh(y).

Therefore, the real part of cos(z) is cos(x) cosh(y) and the imaginary part is
− sin(x) sinh(y). 2

page 2 of 7
 (c) Is it true that |ab | = |a||b| ?
Solution: No: here is a counterexample.
We know that e2πi = 1, but

|e2πi | = 1 while |e||2πi| = e2π = e2π > 1.

Therefore, |ab | = |a||b| is not true in general. 2

(3) Let z1 = 1 + i and z2 = 1 + 3i. Compute the following:

(a) z1 z2
z1
(b) z2

(c) z1z2

Solution: Let z1 = 1 + i and z2 = 1 + 3i.

(a) Compute z1 z2 :

z1 z2 = (1 + i)(1 + 3i) = 1 + 3i + i + 3i2 = 1 + 4i − 3 = −2 + 4i.

z1
(b) Compute z2
:

z1 1+i (1 + i)(1 − 3i) 1 − 3i + i − 3i2 1 − 3i + i + 3 4 − 2i 2−i

= = = = = = .
z2 1 + 3i (1 + 3i)(1 − 3i) 1+9 10 10 5

(c) Compute z1z2 :

√ √ π
First, we compute |z1 | = 12 + 12 = 2 and arg(z1 ) = 4
(principal branch).
Thus,
√ π 1 π
log(z1 ) = log |z1 | + i arg(z1 ) = log( 2) + i = log(2) + i .
4 2 4
Therefore,
1 π
z1z2 = ez2 log(z1 ) = e(1+3i)( 2 log(2)+i 4 ) .

Expanding:
1 π 3 π
z1z2 = e 2 log(2)−3 4 · ei(3 2 log(2)+ 4 ) = e 2 log(2)− 4 · ei( 2 log(2)+ 4 ) .
1 π 1 3π

(4) Compute all the values of ii . Identify which value comes from the principal branch
of log.
Is it surprising that ii is real?
Solution: We know that |i| = 1 and arg(i) = π2 .

page 3 of 7
 Thus, the logarithm of i is given by
π 
log(i) = i + 2nπ
2
where n is any integer.
Therefore,
π
ii = ei log(i) = e− 2 −2nπ .

On the principal branch (where n = 0), we have

π
ii = e− 2 .

This is a real number!

It is indeed surprising that ii is real, since both the base and the exponent are purely
imaginary. 2
√
(5) Let z = 1 + i 3.

(i) Compute z 8 . (Give your answer in standard form.)

(ii) Find all the 4th roots of z.
√
Solution: (i) We have z = 1 + i 3 = 2eiπ/3 .
Thus,
√ !
1 3 √
z 8 = 28 ei8π/3 = 256ei2π/3 = 256 − + i = 128(−1 + i 3).
2 2

(ii) The 4th roots of z are given by

z 1/4 = 21/4 ei(π/3+2nπ)/4 = 21/4 ei(π/12+nπ/2)

for n = 0, 1, 2, 3.
Therefore, the 4th roots are:

21/4 eiπ/12 , 21/4 ei7π/12 , 21/4 ei13π/12 , 21/4 ei19π/12 .

Since π/12 = 15◦ , these roots do not have a nice standard form, so we leave them in
exponential form. Numerical approximations can be obtained if needed. 2

page 4 of 7
(6) Copy the following figure and add all the 5th roots of z to it. (The figure indicates
that |z| = 2.5. The circle on the outside is a handy protractor marked off in 10◦
increments.)

Let z = 2.5eiθ be a complex number represented on an Argand diagram as shown

below. The general formula for the n-th roots of a complex number z = reiθ is:

zk = r1/n ei(θ+2kπ)/n , k = 0, 1, 2, . . . , n − 1

Given r = 2.5 and n = 5, the modulus of each root is:

r1/5 = 2.51/5

The arguments of the 5 roots are:

θ + 2kπ
θk = , k = 0, 1, 2, 3, 4
5

Thus, the 5th roots of z are equally spaced on a circle of radius 2.51/5 centered at the
origin.

page 5 of 7
 Figure 1: The 5th roots of z represented on the Argand diagram

(a) Show that ez = ez

(b) Show that if |z| = 1, then z −1 = z.
x+iy
(c) Let x−iy
= a + ib. Show that a2 + b2 = 1.

Solution:

(a) Let z = x + iy. Then,

ez = ex eiy = ex (cos y + i sin y).

Therefore,
ez = ex (cos y − i sin y) = ex e−iy = ex−iy = ez .

(b) There are two methods to show this:

Method 1: Since |z| = 1, we know that
1 z
z −1 = = 2 = z.
z |z|

Method 2: Write z = eiθ (since |z| = 1). Then,

z −1 = e−iθ = z.

(c) Let x + iy = reiθ . Then,

x − iy = re−iθ .

Thus,
x + iy reiθ
= = |e2iθ | = 1.
x − iy re−iθ
x+iy
Therefore, if x−iy
= a + ib, then

|a + ib| = 1 ⇒ a2 + b2 = 1.

page 6 of 7
 2

END

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