Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-year-1-of-the-natural-sciences-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2001/paper-1/7/b/solution

Row reduction, or the cofactor formula for a matrix inverse, gives
Multiplying by the right-hand-side column gives, at ,
For general , the coefficient matrix has determinant . Thus other parameter values give a unique solution. If , subtracting the first equation from the second gives , while subtracting it from the third gives , a contradiction. If , subtraction gives and , again inconsistent. Hence

New to topics? Read the docs here!