HOW TO GET THE ROOTS OF A COMPLEX NUMBER

You should know that if z 2 = 4, then z =

± 4=
±2. By this, we mean that 2 and -2 are
the solutions of z 2 = 4. . Equivalently, it means that (2) 2 =( −2 ) =
2
4.

Likewise, if z 3 = −8, then z = −2 and we call -2 the cube root of -8. This means
( −2 ) =( −2 ) × ( −2 ) × ( −2 ) =−8. We can also extend this argument and talk of a fourth,
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fifth, sixth, etc, root of a number.

We then ask the two following questions:

• How do we get the square root of a negative number, say what is the square
root of -4?
• We have already stated that the cube root of -8 is -2. But is -2 the cube root of
-8? Are there any other roots possible and how do we determine these roots?

The roots of both numbers given above do not lie not in the real number system, but
in the complex number system. A complex number whose imaginary part is zero is a
real number. From your knowledge of complex numbers, you should recall that
i= −1. Therefore, if z 2 = −1, then z = ±i. Hence +i and −i are the square roots of
−1.

Example

Solve the following equations

a) z 2 = 16
b) z 2 = −16

Solution

a) The solutions the equation z 2 = 16 are z = ±4

b) The solutions of z 2 = −16 are z =± −16 =± 16 ⋅ −1 =±4i

The above example shows how easy it is to solve equations like z 2 = −16 by using
complex numbers. The next question then is; how do we get the roots of a general
complex number.

For example, how do we get the nth roots of a complex number? How do we get the
nth roots of numbers like −2i, i, −2 − 2i, 3 + i, etc?

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 To answer this question, we first need to introduce a very important theory in
complex numbers, that is, the De Moivre’s Theorem.

• De Moivre’s Theorem

If n is a positive integer, and if z is a nonzero complex number with the polar form
=z r ( cos θ + i sin θ ) , then raising z to the nth power yields

z n =  r ( cos θ + i sin θ )  = r n ( cos nθ + i sin nθ ) .

n

Example

Using De Moivre’s theorem, evaluate the following

(1 + 3i )
6
a)

( 3 + i)
13
b)

Solution

a) First, we have to convert z = 1 + 3i into polar form. From what we covered in

part of this Complex Number series, we have

( 3)
2
r= 12 + = 1+ 3 = 4= 2

π
( 3) =
y 3
tan α = = = 3 ⇒ α = tan −1
x 1 3
 π π
∴ z = 1 + 3i = 2  cos + i sin 
 3 3

To get z 3 , we use de Moivre’s theorem:

z 6 = 26 ( cos 2π + i sin 2π )= 26 ( cos 0 + i sin 0 )= 64

b) We proceed as we did in (a). Let =

z 3 + i. Therefore

( 3)
2
r= + 12 = 3 +1= 2

1  1  π
tan α = ⇒ α = tan −1  =
3  3 6
 π π
∴ z= 3 + i= 2  cos + i sin 
 6 6

Using de Moivre’s theorem, we have

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   π  π   13π 13π 
=z13 213  cos 13 ×  + i sin 13=×   213  cos + i sin 
  6  6   6 6 
  π  π   13  π π
= 213  cos  2π +  + i sin  2π +=   2  cos + i sin
= 
  6  6   6 6
 3 i
= 213  + 
 2 2

The roots of a Complex Number using de Moivre’s Theorem

A useful function of the de Moivre’s theorem is in calculating the roots of a Complex

Number. To calculate the nth roots of a complex number one possible approach
would be:

• Convert the Complex Number into polar form

+ iy r ( cos (θ + 2π k ) + i sin (θ + 2π k ) )
x=

where θ is the principal argument and

= k 0, , n − 1 .

• Let zk be an nth root of the complex number. Therefore

zk=
n
r ( cos (θ + 2π k ) + i sin (θ + 2π k ) )

• Take the nth root on both sides:

1   θ + 2π k   θ + 2π k  
= zk r n  cos   + i sin  
  n   n  
=k 0, , n − 1

• Substitute the values of k from 0 to n-1 to get each root zk of the complex
number.
• If required or if you so wish, you may then convert the roots back to
rectangular format

Example

a) Use De Moivre’s theorem to find all the cube roots of -8.

b) Determine the cube roots of i in polar form.

Solution

zk 3 =−8 =8 ( cos (π + 2π k ) + i sin (π + 2π k ) )

a) k = 0,1, 2
and zk is a cube root of -8.

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 Taking the cube root and applying de Moivre’s theorem, we have

  π + 2π k   π + 2π k  
=zk 2  cos   + i sin  
  3   3 
k = 0,1, 2

Therefore

 π π
k =0 ⇒ z0 =2  cos + i sin 
 3 3
  π + 2π   π + 2π  
k =1 ⇒ z1 =2  cos   + i sin    =2 ( cos π + i sin π )
  3   3 
  π + 4π   π + 4π    5π 5π 
k =2 ⇒ z2 =2  cos   + i sin    =2  cos + i sin 
  3   3   3 3 

π  π 
zk 3 =i= cos  + 2π k  + i sin  + 2π k 
b) 2  2 
k = 0,1, 2
Therefore, taking the cube root and applying De Moivre’s theorem, we have:

π  π 
 2 + 2π k   2 + 2π k   π 2π k   π 2π k 
zk = cos   + i sin   = cos  +  + i sin  + 
 3   3  6 3  6 3 
   
k = 0,1, 2

Therefore, we have the following roots:

π π
k =0 ⇒ z0 =cos + i sin
6 6
 π 2π   π 2π   7π   7π 
k =1 ⇒ z1 =cos  +  + i sin  +  =cos   + i sin  
6 3  6 3   6   6 
 π 4π   π 4π   3π   3π 
k =2 ⇒ z2 =cos  +  + i sin  +  =cos   + i sin  
6 3  6 3   2   2 

NB: In both questions, the argument can easily be obtained from the sketch.
You should leave in polar form unless the roots you get are in terms of special
angles which you can easily reduce to rectangular form.