De Moivre's theorem 

is a key theorem when it comes to dealing with complex numbers, andit

enables us in raising powers and obtaining roots of complex numbers in trigonometric form
(Bird, 2003). For instance, assume that we have z= r(cosθ+isinθ), based on De Moivre’s
theorem, we can effortlessly raise z to power n. We can look at the behavior of z as we raise it
to the second and third power to determine the patterns.

Starting at z and Z2, we have the following result shown below.

z2= r2(cosθ+isinθ)2
=r2(cos2θ+i2sinθcosθ+isin2θ)
=r2(cos2θ+isin2θ+i2sinθcosθ)
=r2(cos2θ+i2sinθcosθ), since cosθ=cos2θ+sin2θ
=r2(cos2θ+isin2θ) since sin2θ= sinθcosθ

We can then make use of FOIL method and then add the formulas for both sin and cosine to
determine z3
z3=z.z2
=r3(cosθ+isinθ)(cos2θ+isin2θ)
=r3[(CosθCos2θ+sinθsin2θ)+i(Cosθsinθ+sinθCos2θ)]
=r3[(Cos(θ+2θ)+isin(θ+2θ)
=r3(Cos3θθ+isin3θ)

We can therefore notice a pattern for Z, Z2, and Z3

z= r(cosθ+isinθ)
z2=r2(cos2θ+isin2θ)
z3=r3(Cos3θ+isin3θ)
We can thereby guess that z4=r4(Cos4+isin4θ)
You can see how it is to find the Z10 , that is why De Moivre’s theorem is important in getting the
powers and roots of complex numbers. It states that;
Suppose n is a rational and complex number in a trigonometric or polar form, we can raise it by
a power of n using the formula:

Zn=rn(Cosnθ+isinθ)

This implies that in raising z= Z=r(Cosnθ+isinnθ);

We raise the modulus, r by the power of n and multiply the value of θ inside the parenthesis
by n.

We can use the formula to raise any number in rectangular or polar form to the nth power.
Given the complex number in polar form, it must be converted to polar form first.

We can also use it to find nth root of complex numbers.

 We can raise any complex number (in either rectangular or polar form) to the nth power
easily using De Moivre’s theorem. When given a complex number in rectangular form, make
sure to convert it to polar form first.
 Besides, we can use it to solve equations involving complex number roots.

Examples for roots

The cube roots of 1 are

R1=1

R2=−1/2+i√3

R3=−1/2−i√3

Examples for powers

(1−i)3

(√2/2−i√/2/2)400
References

Bird, J. (2003). De Moivre’s theorem. In Engineering Mathematics (pp. 303–306). Elsevier.