Q.If , then the greatest and least values of are _____ and _____.
You're viewing a preview — the full solution, concept, methods & PYQ mapping are locked.
Start your 14-day free trial to unlock the full solution →The inequality describes a closed disk in the complex plane centered at with radius . The extreme values of occur at points on this disk that are farthest from and closest to , giving maximum and minimum .
The key insight here is geometric. When we work with moduli of complex numbers, we're really measuring distances in the plane. The condition tells us that lies within or on a circle, and we need to find how far points in this region can be from another fixed point.
Let me rewrite the expressions to make the geometry transparent. The inequality is equivalent to , which means lies in a closed disk of radius centered at the point on the real axis. Similarly, measures the distance from to the point .
So the question becomes: among all points in the disk centered at with radius , which are farthest from and closest to ?
The distance between the two centers is . This is exactly equal to the radius of the disk, which means the point lies on the boundary of the disk. This is a special case worth noting.
Finding the maximum value:
-
The farthest point from in the disk will lie on the boundary (the circle ), on the ray from through extended outward.
-
Moving from toward , we travel a distance of to reach the center. Then continuing in the same direction for another units (the radius) takes us to the far edge of the disk.
-
The maximum distance is therefore .
Algebraically, the farthest point is , and indeed .
Finding the minimum value:
- The closest point from in the disk will also lie on the boundary, but in the opposite direction—on the ray from toward . …
Unlock everything free for 14 days
- Full step-by-step solutions
- Concept-first explanations
- Methods, shortcuts & mistakes
- PYQ mapping + timed mock tests
Full access for 14 days. No credit card required.