PYQ Vault

MHT-CET Maths · Teaching notes

Complex Numbers — MHT-CET Maths

Complex Numbers is one question a paper and one of the more forgiving chapters in MHT-CET Maths: under a third of its past-year questions are HARD, and the same handful of stems recur across sittings with the numbers unchanged. The work is algebra with one extra rule (i² = −1) and one extra picture (the Argand plane), and almost every question is a conjugate multiplication, a modulus property, a quadrant check on an argument, or a modulus condition read as a circle or a line. Work the pages below in order: the algebra page fixes the habits the other two assume, the modulus-and-argument page is where most of the marks are, and the locus page turns the chapter's one geometric idea — distance in the plane — into the greatest-and-least-modulus shape that also appears in the Circle chapter. Every PYQ is tagged.

Every subtopic, worked example, formula and trap in one printable document — answers shown, ready to share.

Subtopic notes

PYQ weightage by concept

15 concepts · 45 PYQs — where the marks actually sit, so you know what to drill first

Algebra of Complex Numbers — Conjugates, Powers of i and Cube Roots of Unity15 PYQs · 33%
ConceptPYQsShare
A Polynomial at a Complex x: Use Its Minimal Quadratic, and Cube Expansions49%
Cube Roots of Unity: ω³ = 1 and 1 + ω + ω² = 049%
The Conjugate: Rationalising a Denominator and Equating Conjugates37%
Solving for z: Put z = x + iy and Equate Parts24%
Powers of i and the Standard Form x + iy12%
Purely Real or Purely Imaginary: Set the Other Part to Zero12%
Modulus and Argument — Polar Form, De Moivre and Square Roots18 PYQs · 40%
ConceptPYQsShare
The Argument: Reference Angle Plus the Quadrant49%
|z| + z = a + ib: Equate the Imaginary Part, Then Solve for |z|49%
Find z From a Given Modulus: Simplify, Then Fix the Parameter49%
Modulus and Its Properties: |z₁z₂| = |z₁||z₂|37%
Polar Form and De Moivre: Powers, Rotations and sin θ + i cos θ37%
Locus in the Argand Plane — Circles, Lines and Greatest/Least Modulus12 PYQs · 27%
ConceptPYQsShare
|z − a| = |z − b| Is the Perpendicular Bisector of ab49%
|z − a| = r Is a Circle: Centre a, Radius r37%
Re of a Quotient Equals Zero: Rationalise, Then Read the Circle37%
Greatest and Least |z| on a Disc: |a| + r and |a| − r24%

Formula & revision sheet

15 formulas · 15 gotchas across all subtopics — the exam-eve cheat-sheet

Algebra of Complex Numbers — Conjugates, Powers of i and Cube Roots of Unity

Formulas (6)

Modulus and Argument — Polar Form, De Moivre and Square Roots

Formulas (5)

Locus in the Argand Plane — Circles, Lines and Greatest/Least Modulus

Formulas (4)