Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-year-1-of-the-natural-sciences-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2014/paper-2/12/b/iii/solution

The same elimination at general gives the rows
The coefficient determinant is . Only or can therefore fail to have a unique solution. At , the second row reads , so there is no solution. At , the last two rows are proportional and both specify , leaving one free unknown; hence there are infinitely many solutions. Every other real gives a unique solution.

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