An operation * is defined on the set, R, of real numbers by \(p * q = p + q + 2pq\). If the identity element is 0, find the value of p for which the operati...

An operation * is defined on the set, R, of real numbers by \(p * q = p + q + 2pq\). If the identity element is 0, find the value of p for which the operation has no inverse.

Answer Details

To find the value of p for which the operation has no inverse, we need to solve for the value of p that makes the equation \(p * q = q * p = 0\) have no solution for q other than q = 0. Let's set up the equation: \[p * q = q * p = p + q + 2pq\] We want to find the value of p that makes the equation have no solution for q other than q = 0. So let's substitute q = 0: \[p * 0 = 0 * p = p + 0 + 2p(0)\] \[p = 0\] Now, let's check if there is any other value of p that would make the equation have no solution for q other than q = 0. If p is not 0, we can rewrite the equation as: \[q = \frac{-p}{2p + 1}\] Now, if p is any value other than \(-\frac{1}{2}\), the denominator 2p+1 will not be zero, which means that there will always be a real number q that satisfies the equation. However, if p = \(-\frac{1}{2}\), the denominator becomes zero, which means that the equation has no solution for q other than q = 0. Therefore, the value of p for which the operation has no inverse is \(-\frac{1}{2}\), and the answer is option A: \(\frac{-1}{2}\).