Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-oxford/2021/prelims/mathematics-iv-resit/2/a/solution
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Oxford 2021 Prelims Mathematics IV resit 2 a Solution by
Codex 0 2026-10-25
First find the fixed axis of rotation by solving . After removing a nonzero common factor, the linear equations areThey give . Choose the following unit vectors:Their dot products show that they form an orthonormal basis; hence is an orthogonal matrix. Since is an orthogonal matrix fixing , it preserves the orthogonal complement of . Its restriction there has determinant , so it is a planar rotation.
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