Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematical-methods-i-course-of-the-university-of-oxford/2017/10/a/solution

For two nonparallel vectors , a nontrivial relation would make one a scalar multiple of the other. They are therefore linearly independent. Two independent vectors in a two-dimensional vector space form a basis.
Likewise, three vectors in that are not contained in one plane through the origin cannot obey a nontrivial linear dependence: such a relation would express one as a combination of the other two, or already make that pair dependent. Thus they are independent and form a basis of . The plane condition here is linear coplanarity with the origin, as required for vectors, rather than affine coplanarity of three arbitrary points.

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