the symbols used in the story are:

1. house and shops- it symbolizes Aksionov's family and material possessions
2. nightmare-it symbolizes a bad omen.
3. blood-stained knife- it indicates Aksionov's lack of control over his fate.
4. the prison- Aksionov's pain and subsequent mystical transformation are symbolized by the prison.
5. the book(the lives of the saints)- gives an impression of religiosity.

Here, the given equation of parabola is y²= 8x.

The equation of tangent to the parabola y²=8x is,

y= mx + 2/m

This tangent passes through the point (-2, 3)

So, 3 = -2m + 2/m

or, 3m + 2m² = 2

or, 2m²+3m - 2= 0

or, 2m² + (4 - 1)m -2 = 0

or, 2m² + 4m - m - 2 = 0

or, 2m(m + 2) - 1(m+2) = 0

or, (m + 2) (2m - 1) = 0

Either, Or,

m = -2 m = 1/2

Required angle is,

The two vectors (say A and B) of different magnitudes cannot be combined to give zero resultant since minimum value of combination is ІA-BІ which is not zero if AB.

The three vectors A, B and C of different magnitudes can be zero such that they form a closed triangle, then,

      A+B+C=0

or, C=-(A+B)

Hence, the sum of three vectors may be zero if vector sum of any two vectors is equal and opposite to the third vector.

Note: The vectors can give this result only if...