user4612744

you are a brilliant tutor, thanks for helping out

indeed :D

so basically sin^2 x/ 1 on the left side

1 multiplied by sin^2 x

indeed

ah so we have 1/sin^2 x

1!

(cos^2 x + sin^2 x)/(sin^2 x)

cos^2 x and sin^2 x

a + b/b ?

I'm sorry, my trig is terrible.. a little brain-freeze right now

hmm

Simply (cos x/sin x)^2 ?

cos x/sin x

@BalarkaSen could you extend upon your idea?

Interesting, will try that

Hmm, I need help with this one: "show that if $\ sin x \neq 0$, then $\ \frac{1}{1 + cot^2 x} = sin^2 x $

I meant as in converting the complex number from rectangular to polar form seems like it would be an "extra step"

I did not. I may have missed something, but I was not aware this was necessary for a simple equation like this? I'm simply supposed to show that the complex number 3+i is a root in the complex polynomial P(z) = z^4 -8z^3 + 39z^2 + 122z + 170

37+69i

for clarification, that particular expression is part of a bigger polynomial equation

28+96i

thanks for answering @Danu and @AlexClark

it's not the complex number that's making it tricky, believe it or not.. I tried doing it manually step by step and got the wrong answer several times (according to my text-book..)

But if it were just real numbers, an expression like this (3 + 2)^4 for instance...

Hello, please explain like I'm five, any good techniques for simply multiplying a polynomial expression like this (3+i)^4 ? I've forgotten the most basic algebra it seems