Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-year-1-of-the-natural-sciences-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2013/paper-2/5/solution

The characteristic polynomial is . Solving each eigenvalue equation gives the eigenvalues and eigenvectors
For unit-length representatives divide each displayed direction by . The two eigendirections are orthogonal, consistently with the matrix being a symmetric matrix.

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