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| Question 588556:  Simplify the equation 9 - 6i - (2 - 3i)^2.
 i tried 9-6i-(2-3i)(2-3i)
 Answer by Theo(13342)
      (Show Source): 
You can put this solution on YOUR website! you had the right idea but you didn't go far enough. you needed to multiply (2-3i) * (2-3i) to get the result of that multiplication.
 based on the law of distributive multiplication, the result of that multiplication would be as follows:
 (2-3i) * (2-3i) equals:
 2*(2-3i) - 3i*(2-3i) which equals:
 4 - 6i - 6i + 9i^2
 subtract that from 9 - 6i and you get:
 9 - 6i - (4 - 6i - 6i + 9i^2)
 remove parentheses to get:
 9 - 6i - 4 + 6i + 6i - 9i^2
 combine like terms to get:
 5 + 6i - 9i^2
 since i^2 = -1, this becomes:
 5 + 6i - 9*(-1) which becomes:
 5 + 6i + 9
 combine like terms to get:
 14 + 6i
 that's your result.
 the properties for imaginary numbers are:
 i = square root of (-1)
 i^2 = -1
 i^3 = - square root of (-1)
 i^4 = 1
 this pattern then repeats.
 i^5 is the same as i
 i^6 is the same as i^2
 i^7 is the same as i^3
 i^8 is the same as i^4
 etc.
 if you want to know the value of i^7, you would do the following.
 divide the exponent by 4 and then your equivalent expression will be i raised to the remainder of the division.
 example:
 i^7 is translated to its equivalent value as follows:
 7/4 = 1 with a remainder of 3.
 the base value of i^7 is equal to i^3.
 the equivalent value of i^3 is equal to - square root of (-1).
 all the calculations are done with i remaining as a variable and then when all the calculations are completed, you translate i to it's equivalent value.
 in some cases, you can leave the i unchanged.
 in other cases, you will need to translate the i to it's equivalent value.
 it depends on the requirements of the problem and what your instructor expects you to do.
 another example of converting the i to it's equivalent value:
 i^37 is translated to it's equivalent value as follows:
 37/4 = 9 with a remainder of 1.
 the base value of i^37 is equal to i^1.
 the equivalent value of i^1 is equal to square root of (-1).
 
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