Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-year-1-of-the-natural-sciences-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2024/paper-1/18/a/ii/solution

Subtracting the second row from the third gives a third row , so expansion along it shows . Thus the matrix inverse exists and every right-hand side has a unique solution.
To calculate it, temporarily solve with general . Subtracting the second equation from the third and from the first gives
Back-substitution into the second equation gives
Therefore
For the given right-hand side, matrix multiplication yields the unique answer

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