Let v be a vector and let k be a scalar. From the axioms of a vector space, prove that if kv = 0 theneither k = 0 or v = 0.

To prove this, we will use the axioms of a vector space and the properties of scalar multiplication.

Step 1: Assume that kv = 0 for some scalar k and vector v.

Step 2: We have two cases to consider: k = 0 or k ≠ 0.

Case 1: If k = 0, then we have 0v = 0, which is true by the zero scalar multiplication property of vector spaces (any vector multiplied by the scalar 0 is the zero vector).

Case 2: If k ≠ 0, we can multiply both sides of the equation kv = 0 by the multiplicative inverse of k, which is 1/k. This gives us (1/k)kv = (1/k)0.

Step 3: By the associative property of scalar multiplication, we can rewrite the left side of the equation as ((1/k)k)v = 0.

Step 4: The expression (1/k)k simplifies to 1, so we have 1v = 0.

Step 5: By the identity property of scalar multiplication (any vector multiplied by the scalar 1 is the vector itself), we have v = 0.

So, if kv = 0, then either k = 0 or v = 0. This completes the proof.