 Polar form of a complex number

A nonzero complex number has polar formwhere $r$ is its modulus and $\theta$ is an argument. The equality uses Euler's formula; sine and cosine recover the imaginary part and real part from polar coordinates. For $z=3+4i$, take $r=5$ and $\theta =\arctan (4/3)\approx 0.927295$ radians, so $\cos \theta =3/5$ and $\sin \theta =4/5$.

If $w=s{e}^{i\varphi }\ne 0$, thenThus multiplication multiplies moduli and adds arguments modulo $2\pi$; division divides moduli and subtracts arguments modulo $2\pi$. Since $1+i=\sqrt{2}{e}^{i\pi /4}$, multiplying $3+4i$ by $1+i$ gives $-1+7i$, of modulus $5\sqrt{2}$ and argument $\theta +\pi /4\approx 1.712693$ radians. One formula simultaneously describes its new size and direction.

Repeated multiplication now becomes especially simple: $(r{e}^{i\theta }{)}^n=r^n{e}^{in\theta }$ for a positive integer $n$. This explains the evenly spaced arguments of the roots of a complex number. For example, $(3+4i{)}^2=-7+24i$ has modulus $25$ and principal argument $2\theta \approx 1.854590$ radians. The Cartesian calculation and the polar form provide independent checks on both its location and its size. Choose polar form when the task concerns multiplication, division, or repeated turns; use real parts and imaginary parts for addition.