Education Technology


Precalculus: Complex Number Addition

by Texas Instruments

Objectives

  • Students will compute the sum of two complex numbers.
  • Students will visualize and geometrically describe the sum of two complex numbers.
  • Students will compute the absolute value and use trigonometry to find the argument of complex numbers.
  • Students will compare the absolute values and arguments of two complex numbers to the absolute value and argument of their sum.

Vocabulary

  • complex number
  • position vector
  • absolute value or magnitude of a complex number
  • argument of a complex number

About the Lesson

This lesson involves the addition of two complex numbers.
As a result, students will:

  • Compute the sum of specific complex numbers, make a general statement to describe this sum, and characterize the sum geometrically.
  • Compute the absolute value and argument of complex numbers.
  • Investigate and analyze the sum of two complex numbers with point representations that lie on the same line.