1970 A-level Pure Mathematics Paper I

1. Consider the system of equations

ax  by  c,

(*) cy  az  b ,
cx  bz  a ,

where a , b and c are fixed real numbers.
(i) Show that (*) has a unique solution for x, y, z if and only if all the three constants a , b and c are
non-zero. In this case, solve (*).
(ii) Does (*) have solutions if all a , b and c are zero ? Determine the set of solutions in this case.
(iii) Prove that (*) has no solution if exactly two of the constants a , b and c are zero.
(iv) If a = 0 and both b and c are non-zero, find a necessary and sufficient condition ( in terms of b
and c ) for (*) to have solutions. Determine the set of solutions in this case. (1970)

2. The two sequences of positive integers a 1 ,a 2 ,a 3 ,... , a n , ... and b1 ,b 2 , b 3 ,..., b n , ... satisfy the following
conditions :
a 1  b1 1, and a n 1  a n  2b n , b n 1  a n  b n for all positive integers n.
(i) Prove that for each positive integer n, a n  n, bn  n, and a n2 2bn2  (1) n
an a a
(ii) Deduce from (i) that  2 if n is odd, n  2 if n is even, and lim n  2 .
bn bn n   bn
a n 1 a a n 1 a
(iii)Express in terms of n and show that  2  n  2 . (1970)
b n 1 bn b n 1 bn

3. Let f (x)  x n  a 1x n 1 ...  a n be a polynomial in x with real coefficients. Denote by 1 ,  2 ,...,  n the n
roots of f (x) .
(i) Express the coefficients a j ( j = 1 , 2 , ... , n ) in terms of the roots 1 ,  2 ,...,  n .
(ii) Prove that for each j , the complex conjugate  j of  j is again a root of f (x).
(iii) Show that if n is odd , then at least one of  j is real.
(iv) Show that the converse of (iii) is not true by giving a polynomial x 2  a1x  a 2 with real roots.
(v) Show that  j   k for some j k if and only if f (x) and its derivative f ' (x) have a non- constant
common factor. (1970)

4. (a)(i)Derive a formula for the number of combinations of n different objects taken r at a time, and deduce
from it the fact that the product of r consecutive positive integers is divisible by the product
12...r .
(ii) By factorizing a 3 a or otherwise prove that, if a, b are positive integers and
a > b, then a 3 b  ab 3 is a multiple of 6.
(b)(i) In how many ways can 7 like balls be put into 3 unlike boxes so that each box contains at least
one ball?
(ii) In how many ways can 7 unlike balls be put into 3 like boxes so that each box contains at least
one ball? (1970)
5. (a) In this question , the elements of a matrix are all real numbers. Let I be the 2 2 unit matrix and

 a 1 b1 
 a1 a 2 a 3   
A    , A'   a 2 b 2  .
 b1 b 2 b 3  a b 
 3 3

x y B 
x
Compute the matrix B = I + AA' , and prove that the 1 1 matrix  is zero if and only if
 y
x=0=y.
(b) Consider the equation
 1  2     
(*) x1 x 2  
  x 3 x 4   3 4   0.
   2 1    4 3 
(i)Write (*) as two linear equations in x1,x 2 ,x 3 ,x 4 .
(ii)If  3 , 4 are not both zero , prove that (*) can be written in the form
 1 2 
x 3 x 4   x 1 x 2    . Express 1 , 2 in terms of  1 , 2 , 3 , 4 . (1970)
  2 1 

i
6. (a)(i) Express 1 in the form r (cos i sin), where r  0 and 0    2.
3
n i 2n
(ii)Let   be the coefficient of x k in the binomial expansion of (1  x ) n . By expanding (1  )
k 3
n 1  2n  n 1 1  2n 
or otherwise, calculate the sums  ( ) k   ,  ( ) k  .
k 0 3  2k  k 0 3  2k  1
(b) A complex number z = x + iy can be represented by a point with rectangular coordinates (x,y) on
the plane ( the Argand diagram ). If j = 1, 2, 3, 4, and P j are the points on the plane representing
the complex numbers z j , prove the following statements :
z 3  z1 P1P3 z z 
(i)  , arg 3 1   P2 P3 P1 .
z 3  z 2 P2 P3  z3  z 2 
z 3  z1 z 4  z1
(ii) The four points P j lie on a circle if and only if   a real number . (1970)
z3  z2 z4  z2

7. Let Z be the set of all integers and p any non-negative integer. A relation R in Z is given by :
x R y if and only if x – y is a multiple of p.
(i) Show that R is an equivalence relation.
(ii) Denote by a/R the equivalence class of a  Z . List the elements of a/R.
(iii) Denote by Z / R  Z p the quotient set, i.e., the set of all equivalence classes. How many elements
does Z p contain if p = 0, and if p  0 ?
(iv) Show that if a/R = b/R and a' / R  b' / R , then aa' / R  bb' / R .
(v) If p = 7, show that Z p \ 0 / R  is a group with respect to the multiplication (x/R)(y/R) = xy/R.

(1970)
8. Let X be a set . Denote by X  the set X{X} .
(i) Express the elements of ,  ,  ,  and   by ,{},.... and ... .
(ii) Show that             . ( Here A  B means that A is a proper subset of B . )
    
 (iii)Consider the sequence A 0 , A1   , A 2    ,..., A n  ... (n times ) , ... .
By induction on j , show that
(a) A j  {A i : i  j } for every non-negative integer j ;
(b)if i < j , then Ai  A j . (1970)


9. Let X = { x : 0  x  4} , Y = { x : 0  x  3} , and let f : X X be the mapping defined by f(x) =

x/2 . For any positive integer n , denote by f n the composite mapping f  f   f ( n times ) .
(i) Show that f is an injective but not a surjective mapping.
(ii) Prove that if S Y is such that f [X \ S]  Y \ S , then the mapping g : X Y defined by
f (x ) for x  S,
g(x ) is a bijective mapping.
x for x  S
(iii)Let Z  {x : 2  x  3}. Show that Z Y \ f [X].
(iv)Let S be the union of Z and all the subsets of X of the form f n [ Z], where n is any positive
integer. Plot S on the real line and prove that f [X \ S]Y \ S. (1970)