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Polar & Exponential Form

Most people are familiar with complex numbers in the form z = a + bi, however there are
some alternate forms that are useful at times. In this section we’ll look at both of those as well
as a couple of nice facts that arise from them.

Geometric Interpretation
Before we get into the alternate forms we should first take a very brief look at a natural
geometric interpretation of complex numbers since this will lead us into our first alternate form.

Consider the complex number z = a + bi. We can think of this complex number as either the
point (a, b) in the standard Cartesian coordinate system or as the vector that starts at the
origin and ends at the point (a, b). An example of this is shown in the figure below.

In this interpretation we call the x-axis the real axis and the y-axis the imaginary axis. We
often call the xy-plane in this interpretation the complex plane.

Note as well that we can now get a geometric interpretation of the modulus. From the image
above, we can see that |z| = √a2 + b2 is nothing more than the length of the vector that
we’re using to represent the complex number z = a + bi. This interpretation also tells us that
the inequality |z1 | < |z2 | means that z1 is closer to the origin (in the complex plane) than z2
is.

Polar Form
Let’s now take a look at the first alternate form for a complex number. If we think of the non-
zero complex number z = a + bi as the point (a, b) in the xy-plane we also know that we
can represent this point by the polar coordinates (r, θ), where r is the distance of the point
from the origin and θ is the angle, in radians, from the positive x-axis to the ray connecting the
origin to the point.

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When working with complex numbers we assume that r is positive and that θ can be any of
the possible (both positive and negative) angles that end at the ray. Note that this means that
there are literally an infinite number of choices for θ.

We excluded z = 0 since θ is not defined for the point (0,0). We will therefore only consider
the polar form of non-zero complex numbers.

We have the following conversion formulas for converting the polar coordinates (r, θ) into the
corresponding Cartesian coordinates of the point, (a, b).

a = r cos θ b = r sin θ

If we substitute these into z = a + bi and factor an r out we arrive at the polar form of the
complex number,

z = r (cos θ + i sin θ) (1)

Note as well that we also have the following formula from polar coordinates relating r to a and
b.

2 2
r = √a + b

but, the right side is nothing more than the definition of the modulus and we see that,

r = |z| (2)

So, sometimes the polar form will be written as,

z = |z| (cos θ + i sin θ) (3)

The angle θ is called the argument of z and is denoted by,

θ = arg z

The argument of z can be any of the infinite possible values of θ each of which can be found
by solving

b
tan θ = (4)
a

and making sure that θ is in the correct quadrant.

Note as well that any two values of the argument will differ from each other by an integer
multiple of 2π. This makes sense when you consider the following.

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For a given complex number z pick any of the possible values of the argument, say θ. If you
now increase the value of θ, which is really just increasing the angle that the point makes with
the positive x-axis, you are rotating the point about the origin in a counter-clockwise manner.
Since it takes 2π radians to make one complete revolution you will be back at your initial
starting point when you reach θ + 2π and so have a new value of the argument. See the
figure below.

If you keep increasing the angle you will again be back at the starting point when you reach
θ + 4π, which is again a new value of the argument. Continuing in this fashion we can see
that every time we reach a new value of the argument we will simply be adding multiples of 2π
onto the original value of the argument.

Likewise, if you start at θ and decrease the angle you will be rotating the point about the origin
in a clockwise manner and will return to your original starting point when you reach θ − 2π.
Continuing in this fashion and we can again see that each new value of the argument will be
found by subtracting a multiple of 2π from the original value of the argument.

So, we can see that if θ1 and θ2 are two values of arg z then for some integer k we will have,

θ1 − θ2 = 2πk (5)

Note that we’ve also shown here that z = r (cos θ + i sin θ) is a parametric representation
for a circle of radius r centered at the origin and that it will trace out a complete circle in a
counter-clockwise direction as the angle increases from θ to θ + 2π.

The principal value of the argument (sometimes called the principal argument) is the
unique value of the argument that is in the range −π < arg z ≤ π and is denoted by Argz.
Note that the inequalities at either end of the range tells that a negative real number will have
a principal value of the argument of Argz = π.

Recalling that we noted above that any two values of the argument will differ from each other
by a multiple of 2π leads us to the following fact.

arg z = Argz + 2πn n = 0, ±1, ±2, … (6)

We should probably do a couple of quick numerical examples at this point before we move on
to look the second alternate form of a complex number.

Example 1 Write down the polar form of each of the following complex numbers.
(a) z = −1 + i √3

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(b) z = −9

(c) z = 12 i

(a) Hide Solution 

Let’s first get r.

r = |z| = √1 + 3 = 2

Now let’s find the argument of z. This can be any angle that satisfies (4), but it’s usually
easiest to find the principal value so we’ll find that one. The principal value of the argument
will be the value of θ that is in the range −π < θ ≤ π, satisfies,

√3
−1
tan θ = ⇒ θ = tan (−√3)
−1

and is in the second quadrant since that is the location the complex number in the complex
plane.

If you’re using a calculator to find the value of this inverse tangent make sure that you
understand that your calculator will only return values in the range − π < θ < π and so you
2 2

may get the incorrect value. Recall that if your calculator returns a value of θ1 then the
second value that will also satisfy the equation will be θ2 = θ1 + π. So, if you’re using a
calculator be careful. You will need to compute both and the determine which falls into the
correct quadrant to match the complex number we have because only one of them will be in
the correct quadrant.

In our case the two values are,

π π 2π
θ1 = − θ2 = − + π =
3 3 3

The first one is in quadrant four and the second one is in quadrant two and so is the one that
we’re after. Therefore, the principal value of the argument is,

2π
Arg z =
3

and all possible values of the argument are then

2π
arg z = + 2πn n = 0, ±1, ±2, …
3

Now, let’s actually do what we were originally asked to do. Here is the polar form of
z = −1 + i √3.

2π 2π
z = 2 (cos( ) + i sin( ))
3 3

Now, for the sake of completeness we should acknowledge that there are many more
equally valid polar forms for this complex number. To get any of the other forms we just need
to compute a different value of the argument by picking n. Here are a couple of other
possible polar forms.

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8π 8π
z = 2 (cos( ) + i sin( )) n = 1
3 3

16π 16π
z = 2 (cos(− ) + i sin(− )) n = −3
3 3

(a) Hide Solution 

In this case we’ve already noted that the principal value of a negative real number is π so we
don’t need to compute that. For completeness sake here are all possible values of the
argument of any negative number.

arg z = π + 2πn = π (1 + 2n) n = 0, ±1, ±2, …

Now, r is,

r = |z| = √81 + 0 = 9

The polar form (using the principal value) is,

z = 9 (cos(π) + i sin(π))

Note that if we’d had a positive real number the principal value would be Arg z = 0

(a) Hide Solution 

This another special case much like real numbers. If we were to use (4) to find the argument
we would run into problems since the real part is zero and this would give division by zero.
However, all we need to do to get the argument is think about where this complex number is
in the complex plane. In the complex plane purely imaginary numbers are either on the
positive y-axis or the negative y-axis depending on the sign of the imaginary part.

For our case the imaginary part is positive and so this complex number will be on the
positive y-axis. Therefore, the principal value and the general argument for this complex
number is,

π π 1
Argz = arg z = + 2πn = π ( + 2n) n = 0, ±1, ±2, …
2 2 2

Also, in this case r = 12 and so the polar form (again using the principal value) is,
π π
z = 12 (cos( ) + i sin( ))
2 2

Exponential Form
Now that we’ve discussed the polar form of a complex number we can introduce the second
alternate form of a complex number. First, we’ll need Euler’s formula,
i θ
e = cos θ + i sin θ (7)

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With Euler’s formula we can rewrite the polar form of a complex number into its exponential
form as follows.
i θ
z = re

where θ = arg z and so we can see that, much like the polar form, there are an infinite
number of possible exponential forms for a given complex number. Also, because any two
arguments for a give complex number differ by an integer multiple of 2π we will sometimes
write the exponential form as,
i (θ+2πn)
z = re n = 0, ±1, ±2, …

where θ is any value of the argument although it is more often than not the principal value of
the argument.

To get the value of r we can either use (3) to write the exponential form or we can take a
more direct approach. Let’s take the direct approach. Take the modulus of both sides and then
do a little simplification as follows,
i θ i θ 2 2 2
|z| = ∣
∣re
∣ = |r| ∣e
∣ ∣
∣ = |r| |cos θ + i sin θ| = √r
∣ + 0 √cos θ + sin θ = r

and we see that r = |z| .

Note as well that because we can consider z = r (cos θ + i sin θ) as a parametric

representation of a circle of radius r and the exponential form of a complex number is really
another way of writing the polar form we can also consider z = rei θ a parametric
representation of a circle of radius r.

Now that we’ve got the exponential form of a complex number out of the way we can use this
along with basic exponent properties to derive some nice facts about complex numbers and
their arguments.

First, let’s start with the non-zero complex number z = rei θ . In the arithmetic section we gave
a fairly complex formula for the multiplicative inverse, however, with the exponential form of
the complex number we can get a much nicer formula for the multiplicative inverse.
−1 −1
1
−1 i θ −1 i θ −1 −i θ i (−θ)
z = (re ) = r (e ) = r e = e
r

Note that since r is a non-zero real number we know that r−1 =

1

r
. So, putting this together
the exponential form of the multiplicative inverse is,

1
−1 i (−θ)
z = e (8)
r

and the polar form of the multiplicative inverse is,

1
−1
z = (cos(−θ) + i sin(−θ)) (9)
r

We can also get some nice formulas for the product or quotient of complex numbers. Given
two complex numbers z1 = r1 ei θ and z2 = r2 ei θ , where θ1 is any value of arg z1 and θ2
1 2

is any value of arg z2 , we have

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i θ 1 i θ 2 i (θ 1 +θ 2 )
z1 z2 = (r1 e ) (r2 e ) = r1 r2 e (10)

i θ 1
z1 r1 e r1
i (θ 1 − θ 2)
= = e (11)
i θ
z2 r2 e 2 r2

The polar forms for both of these are,

z1 z2 = r1 r2 (cos(θ 1 + θ 2) + i sin(θ 1 + θ 2 )) (12)

z1 r1
= (cos(θ 1 − θ 2) + i sin(θ 1 − θ 2 )) (13)
z2 r2

We can also use (10) and (11) to get some nice facts about the arguments of a product and
a quotient of complex numbers. Since θ1 is any value of arg z1 and θ2 is any value of arg z2
we can see that,

arg(z1 z2 ) = arg z1 + arg z2 (14)

z1
arg( ) = arg z1 − arg z2 (15)
z2

Note that (14) and (15) may or may not work if you use the principal value of the argument,
Arg z. For example, consider z1 = i and z2 = −1. In this case we have z1 z2 = −i and the

principal value of the argument for each is,

π π
Arg (i) = Arg (−1) = π Arg (−i) = −
2 2

However,

3π π
Arg (i) + Arg (−1) = ≠ −
2 2

and so (14) doesn’t hold if we use the principal value of the argument. Note however, if we
use,
π
arg(i) = arg(−1) = π
2

then,

3π
arg(i) + arg(−1) =
2

3π
is valid since 2
is a possible argument for –i, it just isn’t the principal value of the argument.

As an interesting side note, (15) actually does work for this example if we use the principal
arguments. That won’t always happen, but it does in this case so be careful!

We will close this section with a nice fact about the equality of two complex numbers that we
will make heavy use of in the next section. Suppose that we have two complex numbers given

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by their exponential forms, z1 = r1 e

i θ 1
and z2 = r2 e
i θ 2
. Also suppose that we know that
z1 = z2 . In this case we have,

i θ 1 i θ 2
r1 e = r2 e

Then we will have z1 = z2 if and only if,

r1 = r2 and θ2 = θ1 + 2πk for some integer k (i. e. k = 0, ±1, ±2, …) (16)

Note that the phrase “if and only if” is a fancy mathematical phrase that means that if z1 = z2

is true then so is (16) and likewise, if (16) is true then we’ll have z1 = z2 .

This may seem like a silly fact, but we are going to use this in the next section to help us find
the powers and roots of complex numbers.

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