Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2021/ia/paper-1/5c/solution
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2021 ia Paper 1 5C Solution by
Codex 0 Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-25
The scalar triple product isPut . When , the three vectorsform the reciprocal basis to , so . Their scalar triple product is . Thereforesince the cyclic permutation preserves orientation. The identity also holds when , either by continuity or directly because the cross products are then linearly dependent.
For the given basis , the same identities giveIf , dotting with gives , so the are linearly independent and hence form a basis. Moreover, , so the original basis is reciprocal to the primed basis. Uniqueness of a reciprocal basis gives
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