12.1 Complex numbers as vectors. Until the end of the 18th century complex numbers were not fully understood, but the square root of minus ‘one was being used more and more. Numbers of the form x + yi were in fairly frequent use by ‘mathematicians, and it became common to represent them as points in the plane. In 1799, when ‘Gauss published his first proof The Fundamental ‘Theorem of Algebra, it became known that complex ‘numbers (as solutions to algebraic equations) ‘were numbers. In one sense all the historical discussion before Gauss was the prehistory of ‘complex numbers. Since the Gauss proof, itis known that all complex ‘numbers are of the form x + yi, where x and y are real ‘numbers. Therefore, you can use the 2y-plane to display ‘complex numbers and to explore further the algebra of complex numbers, introduce a new system of coordinates and interpret the meaning of operations, Look at this representation of the complex plane, aan Argand diagram: Each complex number z = x+ yi on the Argand diagram is uniquely represented by a point P(x, ») where x= Re(z) and y = Im(2) are real numbers, Furthermore, since to each point P on the plane you can associate a position vector OF , you can think of complex numbers as 2-D vectors! Pay) pentylWe can plot any complex number on a plane as a unique ordered number pair. We refer to the plane as the complex plane or the Argand plane. On the complex plane, the x-axis is called the real axis and the y-axis is called the imaginary axis. © All real numbers with =0_ lie on the real axis. © All purely imaginary numbers with a =0 lie on the Imaginary numbers lie on the imaginary L~ axis, Rg imaginary axis, © The origin (0, 0) lies on both axes and it corresponds to 2=0, areal number. © Complex numbers that are neither real nor purely imaginary (a and } are not both 0) lie in one of the four quadrants Real numbers lie ‘on the real axis. We saw that any point P on the Cartesian plane can be represented by a vector. The position vector for the point P is OP. In the same way We can illustrate complex numbers using vectors ‘on the Argand plane. We call this an Argand diagram, (5) erentGeometrical meaning of addition of complex numbers Investigation - the complex plane Consider the complex numbers z, = 2 +i and z, = 3 + 2i. Represent them on the complex plane as the vectors u and v, respectively Find z, + z,. Draw the vector w that represents the complex number 2, + 2,. What is the relation between w, w and v? Choose other paits of complex numbers z, and z,, find their sum and represent the three ‘complex numbers by their position vectors. What do you observe? Prove your conjecture. From the Investigation on the previous page you should have concluded that the sum of complex numbers corresponds to the sum of two vectors. In fact, it can be interpreted in two ways Jorco+ © Consider the vectors that represent each of the complex numbers z, and z, as position vectors, then use the parallelogram law to obtain the position vector of their sum. © Consider the addition of z, as a transformation acting , over z,, then z, + 2, is just the image of z, under the translation defined by the vector associated tos, In ths case, the vector ‘wassociated to z, acts as a position vector and the vector ¥ associated to z, acts as a displacement vector. The triangle law then gives you the position vector w associated with z, + z,In either case, the addition of complex numbers is an addition of vectors and these properties holdmultiplication by real numbers Investigation — multiplication by real numbers Consider the complex number = 1 +2, Represent zon the complex number plane asthe vector Caleuat nslgebal form 22,282, 2, -22 tnd A raw the vectors that represent each of these complex numbers Chooee other complex numbers z end mull them by iret rl numbers. erate eee From the Investigation above you should have concluded that the Geometrically, the scalar multiplication corresponds to product of a complex number and a real number corresponds to an enlargement with center at the origin and enlargement ‘scalar multiplication studied in Chapters 3 and 11. Therefore these _ factor given by the real number. properties holdSuppose 7=142i and w=3~i, Find using both algebra and vectors: atw b :-2w a tw 2-2w = 21+ 2) +3 =14+21-26-1) | +i +37 Ssaoaal I +31 = 544i Re(z) t Re(z) EXERCISE Suppose i and 2»=2+3i, Find using both algebra and vectors: eat b +2 «ath Im(z) im(2) Re(z) Re(z) atin =(24+3)+34-1 +8i42—4i = 41421 aati =4thOther transformations of complex numbers Given a complex number z = x + iy, if you plot it on the complex plane and then reflect this point in the x-axis, you obtain another point that represents the conjugate of z, z* = x ~ iy. So, the conjugate corresponds to the image of a transformation called a ‘reflection in the x-axis’ and as a result, the following properties hold ext eta) Zex-yInvestigation - transformations of complex numbers Consider the complex number z= a + bi. Choose different pairs of values for a and b and represent z geometrically by a point P 1. Reflect each point P in the y-axis to obtain a point P” and write down the corresponding complex number 2’. What do you observe? Prove your conjecture. 2 Ifyou reflect P’ in the x-axis to obtain another point P”, which complex number do you obtain? ‘3. What if you reflect P first in the xaxis to obtain Q and then reflect Q in the y-axis to obtain Q"? Which complex number do you obtain? Prove your result. 4 How can you obtain P” from P using a single geometrical transformation? Describe it. 4 From the Investigation on the previous page, you should have concluded that the composition of the reflections on the two axes is simply a 180° rotation around the origin that maps the complex number z onto its opposite ~z As—zcan be seen as the product of ~1 and z, this suggests that multiplication of complex numbers may be related to rotations around the origin,Investigation - multiplication of complex numbers Consider the complex number z = a + bi. Choose different pairs of values for a and 6 and represent z geometrically by a point P. 1. For each pair of values @ and b, multiply the complex number z by i to obtain 2’ and plot the corresponding point P’ What do you observe? 2 What if you multiply z by ~ i? '3 Investigate the effect on the position of P” of the multiplication of 2 by 2i, 3i, -3... and other purely imaginary numbers. Is there any relation between the geometrical representation of these numbers and their effect on the position of P’? State your conjecture. + ‘From this Investigation, you should have conjectured that multiplication of complex numbers corresponds to a rotation and an enlargement whose scale factor depends on the modulus of the complex number it is multipled by. To prove this conjecture you can look at complex numbers from a different perspective and introduce a new system of coordinates that lets you deal with rotations easily. This is the focus of the next section.12.2 Complex plane and polar form Any complex number 2= x+ iy occupies a position P in the plane specified by its Cartesian coordinates (x, y). Another way of specifying the location of P is to give its distance r from the origin and the angle 0 its position vector makes with the positive direction of the waxis The pair (r, 6) gives the location of any point on the plane. rand @ are called polar coordinates of P. In relation to the complex number 2, ris the modulus of z, r= |z| and it is always a non-negative real number. 0s called the argument of z, @= arg(2) and, when you use polar coordinates to define z, the complex number is said to be in polar form. @ can be expressed either in radians or in degrees using the usual convention that, if you are not told otherwise, the angle is ‘measured in radians. When you add multiples of 360° 10 ‘arg(z) you obtain an equivalent expression tor arg).Iz, = Land arg(z,)= Represent these complex numbers in the plane: a |z,|=2andarg@z)=60° b |z,| = 3 and arg(s,) = -7 Ie 4 Foreach complex number draw a circle with centre at the origin with radius equal to its modulus Use a protractor to obtain a ray from the origin that makes an angle with the positive x-axis equal to the argument of the complex number. The intersection of the ray with the circle gives you the location of the complex number Alternatively, use a polar grid where the circles and rays are already given!Exercise 12A 1 Represent these complex numbers in the complex plane: a [2 =4 and argz,) = 120° b Iz, = Sand arg(z,)=== In © Ia =2and arg(s,)="= Cal = 3 and arg(z,)=*% e |z,| = Land arg(z,) = =Equality of complex numbers in polar form As you may have noticed from the previous example, the argument of a complex number can take different values that always differ by a multiple of 27 (or 360°) but its modulus is uniquely defined. ‘Therefore, 222513, Example 2 = |2,| and arg(z,) — arg(z,) = 2kr, ke Z Find all possible values of rand 0 such that z, =z, if 12,1 = 7, arg(z,) = 30, |z,| = 5-6 and arg(z,) = 0 + x where r>0. Answer P=5r-6=>F-5r+6=0 Usez, =2,=> lz,1 = lz] (F=2)(r=3)=0=r=2orr=3 | Factorize and solve for (30) - (0+ 2) =2kn, keZ 2, =, => argle,)- argle,) = 2kr, keZ Solve for 0,Exercise 12A 2 Given the complex numbers z, and z, such that |z,| =, arg(z,) = 40, |z,| =? + 2rand arg(z,)=0+= where r> 0, find 2 :,. Hence write down the complex numbers that satisfy the conditions given. all possible values of r and 9 for which z, =Exercise 12A 3 Find all real values of a and @ such that |a + ail = 2 and arg(a + ai) = 0. How many distinct complex numbers a+ ai verify the conditions given?Exercise 12A 4 Give examples to show that, in general, a ang, +2) #arg(e)targ@z,) b [2,21 #12, £141