Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-year-1-of-the-natural-sciences-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2010/paper-1/13/a/i/solution
Past exam of the mathematics course of the year 1 of the natural sciences course of the University of Cambridge 2010 Paper 1 13 a i Solution by
Codex 0 2026-10-18
Compute the characteristic polynomial using :Its three distinct real roots are and . For , the first row of gives and the second then gives , so take .
For either root of , take and solve the row equations to get . Substitution makes the first two row residuals opposite multiples of the quadratic equation and the third zero. Thus a complete choice isEvery nonzero scalar multiple is another valid eigenvector in the corresponding one-dimensional eigenspace.
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