SAT Math : Exponents

Study concepts, example questions & explanations for SAT Math

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Example Questions

Example Question #2 : How To Divide Complex Numbers

Define an operation  so that for any two complex numbers  and :

Evaluate .

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

, so

Rationalize the denominator by multiplying both numerator and denominator by the complex conjugate of the latter, which is :

 

Example Question #602 : Algebra

Define an operation  such that, for any complex number 

If , then evaluate .

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

, so

, so

, and

Rationalize the denominator by multiplying both numerator and denominator by the complex conjugate of the latter, which is :

Example Question #3 : How To Divide Complex Numbers

Define an operation  as follows:

For any two complex numbers  and ,

Evaluate .

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

, so

We can simplify each expression separately by rationalizing the denominators.

 

 

Therefore, 

Example Question #11 : Complex Numbers

Define an operation  so that for any two complex numbers  and :

Evaluate 

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

, so

Rationalize the denominator by multiplying both numerator and denominator by the complex conjugate of the latter, which is :

Example Question #2381 : Sat Mathematics

Define an operation  such that for any complex number ,

If , evaluate .

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

First substitute our variable N in where ever there is an a.

Thus, , becomes .

Since , substitute:

In order to solve for the variable we will need to isolate the variable on one side with all other constants on the other side. To do this, apply the oppisite operation to the function.

First subtract i from both sides.

Now divide by 2i on both sides.

From here multiply the numerator and denominator by i to further solve.

Recall that  by definition. Therefore,

.

 

Example Question #21 : Squaring / Square Roots / Radicals

Let . What is the following equivalent to, in terms of :

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

Solve for x first in terms of y, and plug back into the equation.

Then go back to the equation you are solving for:

 substitute in

Example Question #22 : Squaring / Square Roots / Radicals

Simplify the expression by rationalizing the denominator, and write the result in standard form: 

Possible Answers:


Correct answer:

Explanation:

Multiply both numerator and denominator by the complex conjugate of the denominator, which is :

Example Question #2381 : Sat Mathematics

Find the product of (3 + 4i)(4 - 3i) given that i is the square root of negative one.

Possible Answers:
24 + 7i
0
24
7 + i
12 - 12i
Correct answer: 24 + 7i
Explanation:

Distribute (3 + 4i)(4 - 3i)

3(4) + 3(-3i) + 4i(4) + 4i(-3i)

12 - 9i + 16i -12i2

12 + 7i - 12(-1)

12 + 7i + 12

24 + 7i

 

Example Question #2382 : Sat Mathematics

 has 4 roots, including the complex numbers.  Take the product of  with each of these roots.  Take the sum of these 4 results.  Which of the following is equal to this sum?

Possible Answers:

The correct answer is not listed.

Correct answer:

Explanation:

This gives us roots of 

 

The product of  with each of these gives us:

The sum of these 4 is:

 

What we notice is that each of the roots has a negative.  It thus makes sense that they will all cancel out.  Rather than going through all the multiplication, we can instead look at the very beginning setup, which we can simplify using the distributive property:

Example Question #2386 : Sat Mathematics

Simplify:

Possible Answers:

None of the other responses gives the correct answer.

Correct answer:

Explanation:

Apply the Power of a Product Property:

A power of  can be found by dividing the exponent by 4 and noting the remainder. 6 divided by 4 is equal to 1, with remainder 2, so 

Substituting, 

.

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