Show that a non-empty subset $S ⊂ R$ is a subring of $R$ if for all $r, s ∈ S$ we have $r − s ∈ S$ and $rs ∈ S$. (This makes it easier to verify a set is a ring, if you know the set lives in a larger ring.)
Also show that $\mathbb Z[√2] ∪ \mathbb Z[i]$ is not a subring of $\mathbb C$.
I'm clueless. How do I start this?