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#1 2007-06-26 05:32:43

shocamefromebay
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Registered: 2007-05-30
Posts: 103

demoive

can someone explain to me how to do demoive's theorem to find the five fifthe roots of one?

are they irrational or can they be displayed in radical form?

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#2 2007-06-26 05:41:00

Ricky
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Registered: 2005-12-04
Posts: 3,791

Re: demoive

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_Moivre's_formula

Look at the very bottom of that.  Remember that 1 is in fact a complex number, 1 + 0i.


"In the real world, this would be a problem.  But in mathematics, we can just define a place where this problem doesn't exist.  So we'll go ahead and do that now..."

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#3 2007-06-26 11:07:10

shocamefromebay
Member
Registered: 2007-05-30
Posts: 103

Re: demoive

yes
i understand taht
but when u work it out
i cant figure out what the real parts or the imaginary parts are of the answers
i cant tell if they are just irrational or if there is a way to put it in radical form

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#4 2007-06-26 13:54:42

Ricky
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Registered: 2005-12-04
Posts: 3,791

Re: demoive

I meant to correct you on that before.  Something like the square root of three is irrational.  In fact, the square root of any integer that isn't a perfect square is irrational.  Irrational simply means that a number can not be expressed as a/b, where a and b are integers, b nonzero.

On the other hand, there are transcendental and algebraic numbers.  A number is called algebraic if and only if it is the root of (solution to)  a finite polynomial:

A number is transcendental if it is not a solution to any polynomial.  Examples are pi and e, as well as Euler's constant.

But that's not a bad question.  Is sin(2*pi*k/n) always expressible as radicals?  I have a feeling yes, but I'm not certain.


"In the real world, this would be a problem.  But in mathematics, we can just define a place where this problem doesn't exist.  So we'll go ahead and do that now..."

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#5 2007-06-26 16:25:17

shocamefromebay
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Registered: 2007-05-30
Posts: 103

Re: demoive

yea i get what u r sayin and all but the reall problem taht i am having is how to get

cos((4pi)/5)

as a radical form
is there a way to use the unit circle to find taht ???

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#6 2007-06-26 22:35:06

HallsofIvy
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Re: demoive

MOST trig values cannot be written in terms of radials.  pi/5 is one of them.

#7 2007-06-27 04:35:40

Ricky
Moderator
Registered: 2005-12-04
Posts: 3,791

Re: demoive

That's not true.  Check out the 5th roots of unity:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roots_of_unity

Also, here is the exact value of sin and cos of pi/5:

http://www.mcs.surrey.ac.uk/Personal/R.Knott/Fibonacci/simpleTrig.html


"In the real world, this would be a problem.  But in mathematics, we can just define a place where this problem doesn't exist.  So we'll go ahead and do that now..."

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#8 2007-06-27 05:07:35

shocamefromebay
Member
Registered: 2007-05-30
Posts: 103

Re: demoive

wow thanks a lot
those links halped a lot
and who said taht wikipedia was un reliable

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#9 2007-06-27 16:33:52

shocamefromebay
Member
Registered: 2007-05-30
Posts: 103

Re: demoive

is there a site that has the cos and sin of pi/7 ?????

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#10 2007-07-03 18:27:06

Ricky
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Registered: 2005-12-04
Posts: 3,791

Re: demoive

I don't know of any.  But for any rational r, sin(pi*r) and cos(pi*r) are both algebraic.  Note that this does not mean expressible by roots.


"In the real world, this would be a problem.  But in mathematics, we can just define a place where this problem doesn't exist.  So we'll go ahead and do that now..."

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#11 2007-07-07 07:58:24

shocamefromebay
Member
Registered: 2007-05-30
Posts: 103

Re: demoive

what do u mean by algebraic

Last edited by shocamefromebay (2007-07-07 07:58:40)

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#12 2007-07-07 08:01:50

Ricky
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Registered: 2005-12-04
Posts: 3,791

Re: demoive

A number is algebraic if it is the root (solution) to a polynomial:

Note that such polynomials are all of finite, but arbitrary length.

Pi, e, log(11) are examples of non-algebraic (called transcendental) numbers.


"In the real world, this would be a problem.  But in mathematics, we can just define a place where this problem doesn't exist.  So we'll go ahead and do that now..."

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#13 2007-07-07 11:40:28

shocamefromebay
Member
Registered: 2007-05-30
Posts: 103

Re: demoive

why isnt e or pi algebraic if it is the solution to

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#14 2007-07-07 12:51:11

Ricky
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Registered: 2005-12-04
Posts: 3,791

Re: demoive

The a_k coefficients must be integers.


"In the real world, this would be a problem.  But in mathematics, we can just define a place where this problem doesn't exist.  So we'll go ahead and do that now..."

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#15 2007-07-07 14:01:14

shocamefromebay
Member
Registered: 2007-05-30
Posts: 103

Re: demoive

hmmm
but what about


isnt that algebraic

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#16 2007-07-07 18:05:46

Ricky
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Registered: 2005-12-04
Posts: 3,791

Re: demoive

Multiply both sides by 2, what do you get?  Note that this can be done for any rational coefficients and it leads to the rational roots theorem.


"In the real world, this would be a problem.  But in mathematics, we can just define a place where this problem doesn't exist.  So we'll go ahead and do that now..."

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