Show that zero is the identity for addition on R and 1 is the identity for multiplication on R. But there is no identity element for the operations
– : R x R → R and ÷ : R* x R* → R*.
a + 0 = 0 + a = a and a x 1 = a = 1 x a, ∀ a ∈ R implies that 0 and 1 are identity elements for the operations ‘+’ and ‘x’ respectively.
Further, there is no element e in R with a – e = e – a, ∀ a.
Similarly, we can not find any element e in R* such that
a ÷ e = e ÷ a, ∀ c in R.
∴ ‘–‘ and ‘ ÷’ do not have identity element.