So many sides

Algebra Level 4

If line segments are drawn from the origin of the complex plane to each of the solutions of x n = 1 x^n = 1 , and consecutive solutions are also connected by line segments we obtain n n isosceles triangles in a regular n n -gon. Let a + b i a+bi be the solution with the smallest possible positive argument. If arctan ( b a ) = π 90 \arctan{\left(\dfrac{b}{a}\right)} = \dfrac{\pi}{90} , then find the value of n n .


The answer is 180.

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1 solution

Mayank Chaturvedi
Apr 11, 2017

Each of the solutions of x n = 1 x^n = 1 lie on the circle of radius 1 in complex plane. The smallest possible positive argument is 2 π n \dfrac{2\pi}{n} which is equated with π 90 \dfrac{\pi}{90} to get n=180

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