Complex Numbers

Students learn that a complex number is the sum or difference of a real number and an imaginary number and can be written in a + bi form. For example, 1 + 2i and – 5 – i root 7 are complex numbers. Students then learn to add, subtract, multiply, and divide complex numbers that do not contain radicals, such as (5 + 3i) / (6 – 2i). To divide (5 + 3i) / (6 – 2i), the first step is to multiply both the numerator and denominator of the fraction by the conjugate of the denominator, which is (6 + 2i), then FOIL in both the numerator and denominator, and combine like terms.