If $n$ is a positive integer, then $(1+i \sqrt{3})^n+(1-i \sqrt{3})^n$ is equal to

If $n$ is a positive integer, then $(1+i \sqrt{3})^n+(1-i \sqrt{3})^n$ is equal to
  1. $2^{n-1} \cos \frac{n \pi}{3}$
  2. $2^n \cos \frac{n \pi}{3}$
  3. $2^{n+1} \cos \frac{n \pi}{3}$
  4. $2^{2 n} \cos \frac{n \pi}{3}$

Solution

We have, $ \begin{aligned} & (1+\sqrt{3} i)^n-(1-\sqrt{3} i)^n \\ & =2^n\left[\left(\cos \frac{\pi}{3}+2 \sin \frac{\pi}{3}\right)^n+\left(\cos \frac{\pi}{3}-i \sin \frac{\pi}{3}\right)^n\right] \\ & \quad\left[\because 1 \pm \sqrt{3} i=2\left(\cos \frac{\pi}{3} \pm i \sin \frac{\pi}{3}\right)\right] \\ & =2^n\left[\cos \frac{n \pi}{3}+i \sin \frac{n \pi}{3}+\cos \frac{n \pi}{3}-i \sin \frac{n \pi}{3}\right] \\ & =2^{n+1} \cos \frac{n \pi}{3} \end{aligned} $

Asked in: AP EAMCET 2021 (25 Aug Shift 1)

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