From De Moivre's Theorem, the nth root of unity is,
z=cos(2kπn)+isin(2kπn)
=cis(2kπn)
Hence, 18th and 48th roots of unity are,
cis(2πk118) and cis(2πk248) respectively,
where k1 and k2 are integers from 0 to 17 and 0 to 47 respectively.
zizj=cis(2πk118+2πk248) =cis(2π(8k1+3k2)144)
So, by De Moivre's Theorem, there are 144 distinct elements in C.
Alternate Solution:
zizj=cis(2πk118+2πk248) =cis(8πk1+3πk272)
Since, sinθ and cosθ are periodic with period 2π, there are at most 72×2=144 distinct elements in C.