Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-year-1-of-the-natural-sciences-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2010/paper-1/15/b/solution

Let . Taking a dot product with reduces the vector equation to . If , this determines a unique scalar and hence a unique vector:
Direct substitution verifies it, so necessity has also produced sufficiency. The formula includes , when .
If , the reduced scalar equation becomes . When , there is no solution. When , all solutions are with arbitrary : their dot product with is indeed . Since forces , this is an entire affine line, not a single point. These alternatives are the solvability of an affine rank-one vector equation.

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