Problem 1. Prove that an isometry takes different points to different points, i.e.

if a 6= b,
then (a) 6= (b).
Solution. Let |ab| denote the distance between a and b.
Suppose that |ab| 6= 0 (i.e. a 6= b).
The isometry is a distance preserving transformation.
From these two, it follows that |(a), (b)| =
6 0 which means that (a) 6= (b).
Problem 2. Prove that any translation, reflection or rotation is an isometry.
Solution. Translation. Consider two points in the plane a = (x1 , y1 ) and b = (x2 , y2 ).
The distance between the two points is
p
d = 2 (x1 x2 )2 + (y1 y2 )2
Applying a translation T : (x, y) 7 (x + , y + ) to these two points, we obtain the
points a1 = (x1 + , y1 + ) and b1 = (x2 + , y2 + ). This means that the distance
between these two points, d1 , will be:
p
d1 = 2 (x1 + x2 )2 + (y1 + y2 )2 = d
Rotation. Consider three points A, B, O in the plane such that OA = a, OB = b
and let O be the point around which the rotation is made. Let be the angle between
the edges OA and OB and, also, let d be the distance between A and B. By doing the
rotation by a certain angle we will have
points A1 and B1 with respective distances a and b to the point O (by doing a
rotation, the distance between A and O preserves)
angle = because the angle between OA and OB preserves.
d1 the distance between A1 and B1
Considering triangles OAB and OA1 B1 , we can state that they are congruent since they
have two edges and the angle between them equal (OA = OA1 , OB = OB1 and = .
This results in the fact that d1 = d.
Reflection. Consider two points a = (x1 , y1 ) and b = (x2 , y2 ) in the plane and the
line d in which the reflection is made. Assume that d is the x-axis (we can always
arrange that by a suitable choice of coordinate system). Then, let a and b be the
two points representing the images of the points a and b: we have a = (x1 , y1 ) and
b = (x02 , y20 ). Now, we calculate
p the distance between points pa and b and the distance
between a and b . |ab| = (x1 x2 )2 + (y1 y2 )2 |a b | = (x1 x2 )2 + (y2 y1 )2
which leads to |ab| = |a b | proving that the reflection is an isometry.
Problem 3. Show that the graph of the function y = sin x has translational symmetry.
Find all such symmetries.
Solution. The translational symmetry is a particular translation that does not change
the object.
T (sin x, 2) = sin(x + 2) = sin x
So, the translation by 2 is a translational symmetry. But this does not happen only
for 2, but also for 2k with k Z. This means that there is an infinite number of
translations of type 2k that produce a translational symmetry.
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On the other hand, let T : (x, y) 7 (x + , y + ) be any translational symmetry

of the sine curve. Then T n is also a symmetry. If 6= 0, then we can choose n such
that |n| > 4, therefore, T n (x, y) cannot belong to the sine curve for |y| 1. This
is a contradiction showing that = 0. We know that the solutions of sin(x + ) = 0
are 2k , and these must coincide with the solutions of sin(x) = 0 (because, by our
assumption, sin(x + ) = sin(x) for all x). It follows that is an integer multiple of 2.
Problem 4. Prove that the rotation by an angle around (0,0) is given by the formula
(x, y) (x cos y sin , x sin + y cos )
Solution. For this proof we shall use polar coordinates. Consider points a = (x, y) and
b = (x0 , y 0 ) in the plane, with b being the image of a under the rotation by around
(0, 0). Then there exists certain (r, ) and (r0 , ) such that
x = r cos
y = r sin
x0 = r0 cos
y 0 = r0 sin
Also, b can be expressed as
b(r cos( + ), r sin( + ))
since = + . Since x = r cos and y = r sin , the above relation transforms into:
(by splitting the cos and sin)
x0 = r(cos cos sin sin ) = x cos y sin
y 0 = r(sin cos + sin cos ) = x sin + y cos