How do you find the 3rd root of 8e^(30i)?

1 Answer
Sep 16, 2016

root(3)(8e^(30i)) = 2e^((10+(2pi)/3)i)

Explanation:

Note that 2e^(10i) is a third root of 8e^(30i), but it may or may not be the principal one...

(2e^(10i))^3 = 2^3*e^((10i)*3) = 8e^(30i)

To determine what the principal cube root is, we first need to determine which quadrant 8e^(30i) is in.

30/(pi/2) ~~ 19.1 -= 3.1" " modulo 4

This places 8e^(30i) in Q4, so its principal cube root is also in Q4.

10/(pi/2) ~~ 6.4 -= 2.4" " modulo 4

So 2e^(10i) is in Q3 and is not the principal cube root.

To get the principal cube root we can multiply by the primitive Complex cube root of 1:

omega = -1/2+sqrt(3)/2 = e^((2pi)/3i)

This will result in a number in Q4

2e^(10i) * omega = 2e^(10i) e^((2pi)/3i) = 2e^((10+(2pi)/3)i)