Existence vs uniqueness

A theorem giving one was read as giving both.

Would you have fallen for these?

Each is a real option from a previous-year paper. Read it cold and decide before opening it.

• Option C

  Countably infinite

  Why this is wrong, and why it looks right

  The option is above and the answer is on the question page, both free. This is the part that is not: the reasoning that makes this particular wrong option feel like the right one.

  Part B · june 2024

• Option D

  Uncountable

  Why this is wrong, and why it looks right

  The option is above and the answer is on the question page, both free. This is the part that is not: the reasoning that makes this particular wrong option feel like the right one.

  Part B · june 2024

• Option B

  f may be any rotation

  Why this is wrong, and why it looks right

  The option is above and the answer is on the question page, both free. This is the part that is not: the reasoning that makes this particular wrong option feel like the right one.

  Part B

• Option D

  IVP has NO solution

  Why this is wrong, and why it looks right

  The option is above and the answer is on the question page, both free. This is the part that is not: the reasoning that makes this particular wrong option feel like the right one.

  Part C · june 2025

• Option B

  If a = 0, then the sequence {$x_{n}$} converges to −1/2.

  Why this is wrong, and why it looks right

  The option is above and the answer is on the question page, both free. This is the part that is not: the reasoning that makes this particular wrong option feel like the right one.

  Part C · june 2023

• Option D

  (CP) has an infinite number of solutions, each of which is defined on some neighbourhood of the origin

  Why this is wrong, and why it looks right

  The option is above and the answer is on the question page, both free. This is the part that is not: the reasoning that makes this particular wrong option feel like the right one.

  Part C · june 2025

• Option D

  The right-hand side is Lipschitz in y in a neighbourhood of y = 0.

  Why this is wrong, and why it looks right

  The option is above and the answer is on the question page, both free. This is the part that is not: the reasoning that makes this particular wrong option feel like the right one.

  Part C

• Option A

  f(x) = cos x

  Why this is wrong, and why it looks right

  The option is above and the answer is on the question page, both free. This is the part that is not: the reasoning that makes this particular wrong option feel like the right one.

  Part C · december 2024

• Option B

  exactly one solution

  Why this is wrong, and why it looks right

  The option is above and the answer is on the question page, both free. This is the part that is not: the reasoning that makes this particular wrong option feel like the right one.

  Part B · december 2024

• Option A

  e⁻$^{1}$

  Why this is wrong, and why it looks right

  The option is above and the answer is on the question page, both free. This is the part that is not: the reasoning that makes this particular wrong option feel like the right one.

  Part C · december 2024

• Option A

  1

  Why this is wrong, and why it looks right

  The option is above and the answer is on the question page, both free. This is the part that is not: the reasoning that makes this particular wrong option feel like the right one.

  Part B · december 2025

• Option A

  both $S_{1}$ and $S_{2}$ are true

  Why this is wrong, and why it looks right

  The option is above and the answer is on the question page, both free. This is the part that is not: the reasoning that makes this particular wrong option feel like the right one.

  Part B · june 2024

• Option B

  $S_{1}$ is true but $S_{2}$ is false

  Why this is wrong, and why it looks right

  The option is above and the answer is on the question page, both free. This is the part that is not: the reasoning that makes this particular wrong option feel like the right one.

  Part B · june 2024

• Option C

  $S_{1}$ is false but $S_{2}$ is true

  Why this is wrong, and why it looks right

  The option is above and the answer is on the question page, both free. This is the part that is not: the reasoning that makes this particular wrong option feel like the right one.

  Part B · june 2024

• Option A

  $S_{1}$ is true but $S_{2}$ is false

  Why this is wrong, and why it looks right

  The option is above and the answer is on the question page, both free. This is the part that is not: the reasoning that makes this particular wrong option feel like the right one.

  Part C · june 2024

• Option D

  both $S_{1}$ and $S_{2}$ are false

  Why this is wrong, and why it looks right

  The option is above and the answer is on the question page, both free. This is the part that is not: the reasoning that makes this particular wrong option feel like the right one.

  Part C · june 2024

• Option B

  −6

  Why this is wrong, and why it looks right

  The option is above and the answer is on the question page, both free. This is the part that is not: the reasoning that makes this particular wrong option feel like the right one.

  Part C · june 2024

• Option C

  2

  Why this is wrong, and why it looks right

  The option is above and the answer is on the question page, both free. This is the part that is not: the reasoning that makes this particular wrong option feel like the right one.

  Part C · june 2024

• Option D

  6

  Why this is wrong, and why it looks right

  The option is above and the answer is on the question page, both free. This is the part that is not: the reasoning that makes this particular wrong option feel like the right one.

  Part C · june 2024

• Option A

  exactly one solution

  Why this is wrong, and why it looks right

  The option is above and the answer is on the question page, both free. This is the part that is not: the reasoning that makes this particular wrong option feel like the right one.

  Part B

• Option D

  exactly two solutions

  Why this is wrong, and why it looks right

  The option is above and the answer is on the question page, both free. This is the part that is not: the reasoning that makes this particular wrong option feel like the right one.

  Part B

The counterexamples that settle these

One example is enough to kill a false statement. These are the standard ones for the claims above.

• Continuous on a bounded interval ⇒ bounded
• Uniformly continuous ⇒ Lipschitz
• Every IVP has a unique solution
• Cesàro means converge ⇒ the sequence converges
• aₙ^{1/n} → L ⇒ aₙ₊₁/aₙ → L
• Bounded and continuous on ℝ ⇒ uniformly continuous

Other mistakes that cost marks