University of Nottingham

School of Mathematical Sciences

MMME1038
HG1M11 Mathematics for Engineers 1
Engineering Mathematics

Complex numbers Problem Sheet 1

1. Solve (a) 2x2 − x + 2 = 0, (b) x2 + 2x + 2 = 0.

2. Express the following complex numbers in the form x + iy, where x and y are real.
18 − i (1 + i)3 (1 − i)(1 + 3i)
(a) (3 + 4i)(4 − 5i); (b) ; (c) ; (d) .
2 − 3i (1 − i) (2 + i)2
Show each answer on an Argand diagram.

3. Let
1+z
Z= �
1−z

where z = x + iy and x and y are real. Write Z in the form X + iY where X and Y are
real. That is, find expressions for X and Y in terms of x and y.

4. Let
1
Z1 = R� Z2 = iωL and Z3 = �
iωC

where ω, R, L and C are all real constants and let Z be defined by the equation

1 1 1
= + .
Z Z1 Z2 + Z3

Show that the real part of Z is

� �2
1
R ωL − ωC
Re Z = � �2
1
R2 + ωL − ωC

and find a similar expression for its imaginary part.

5. Express the following in the form reiθ = r(cos θ + i sin θ)� −π < θ ≤ π.
� √ � � √ �8
(a) −i (b) 1 + i (c) −8 i 3 − 1 (d) 1 + i 3
Show each number on the Argand diagram.

6. Complete the following table

x + iy modulus argument polar form exponential form
√
(a) −2 + 2i 3
(b) 3 −3π/4
(c) 6(cos π6 + i sin π6 )
(d) πei

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7. Find all roots of the following equations.
(a) z 4 = 1 (b) z 4 = 16 (c) z 3 = −27i
√
(d) z 3 = −4 (e) z 6 = 64(1 + i)/ 2

8. (a) Use de Moivre’s theorem to show that

cos nθ = 12 (wn + w−n )� (dM)
where w = cos θ + i sin θ.
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(b) By writing cos4 θ = ((w + w−1 )/2) , hence confirm that
cos4 θ = 18 cos 4θ + 21 cos 2θ + 38 .

9. The equations for a mechanical vibration problem are found to have the following
mathematical solution

eiωt
z(t) = �
ω02 − ω 2 + iγ

where t represents time and ω, ω0 and γ are all positive real physical constants. Although
z(t) is complex and cannot directly represent a physical solution, it turns out that the real
and imaginary parts x(t) and y(t) in z(t) = x(t) + iy(t) can. Polar notation can be used
to extract this physical information efficiently as follows.

(a) Put the numerator in the form

ω02 − ω 2 + iγ = aeiδ �
where you should give explicit expressions for a and δ in terms of ω, ω0 and γ.
(b) Hence find contants b and ϕ such that
x(t) = b cos(ωt + ϕ)
and write a similar expression for y(t).

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