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Linear Algebra Quiz

This document contains a quiz with two problems asking students to determine if given subsets of the vector space R2 are subspaces. For the first subset W1 = {(a, b) ∈ R2 : a · b = 0}, the student explains that it is not a subspace because the sum of two vectors (0,1) and (1,0) in W1 results in a vector (1,1) not in W1, violating the subspace property. For the second subset W2 = {(a, b) ∈ R2 : a - 2b = 0}, the student proves it is a subspace by showing the zero vector is in W2, the

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195 views2 pages

Linear Algebra Quiz

This document contains a quiz with two problems asking students to determine if given subsets of the vector space R2 are subspaces. For the first subset W1 = {(a, b) ∈ R2 : a · b = 0}, the student explains that it is not a subspace because the sum of two vectors (0,1) and (1,0) in W1 results in a vector (1,1) not in W1, violating the subspace property. For the second subset W2 = {(a, b) ∈ R2 : a - 2b = 0}, the student proves it is a subspace by showing the zero vector is in W2, the

Uploaded by

Kai Yang
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Math 115A Quiz 1 Fall 2018

Name UID:
• You have 15 minutes

For each of the following subsets of the vector space R2 (the usual vector space over R),
state whether they are subspaces. Justify your answer: if it is a subspace, give a proof. If it
is not a subspace provide a specific reason for why it is not.

1. W1 = (a, b) ∈ R2 : a · b = 0

2. W2 = (a, b) ∈ R2 : a − 2b = 0

Solution. 1. No, W1 is not a subspace of R2 . To see this note that (0, 1) ∈ W1 (because
0 · 1 = 0) and (1, 0) ∈ W1 (because 1 · 0 = 0). However, (0, 1) + (1, 0) = (1, 1) 6∈ W1
because 1 · 1 = 1 6= 0. This violates part (b) of the Subspace Test (Theorem 1.3 from
the textbook). Thus W1 is not a subspace.
Some other remarks:
• For W1 , parts (a) and (c) of the Subspace Test actually hold, only (b) fails.
• The expression “a · b” is not the dot product from multivariable calculus, it
denotes scalar multiplication. Here a and b are real numbers (scalars) as they are
the coefficients of a vector from R2 .
2. Yes, W2 is a subspace of R2 . To prove this, we will check that parts (a), (b), and (c)
of the Subspace Test are all true for the subset W2 .
(a) We need to show that the zero vector of R2 is in W2 . For the vector space R2 ,
the zero vector is (0, 0). The membership requirement for a vector (a, b) to be in
the set W2 is that a − 2b = 0. Clearly for the zero vector, 0 − 2 · 0 = 0. Thus
(0, 0) ∈ W2 .
(b) Let (a, b), (c, d) ∈ W2 be two arbitrary vectors in W2 . We need to show that their
vector sum (a, b)+(c, d) is also in W2 . Since (a, b) ∈ W2 , this means that a−2b = 0,
and since (c, d) ∈ W2 , this means that c − 2d = 0 (this is literally the only specific
things we know about (a, b) and (c, d), so we better use these facts). Now to check
that (a, b) + (c, d) = (a + c, b + d) is in W2 , we need to know that it satisfies the
membership requirement for W2 , i.e., we need to show that (a + c) − 2 · (b + d) = 0.
Note that:
   
(a + c) − 2 · (b + d) = a − 2
| {z }· b + − ·
| {z } = 0 + 0 = 0,
c 2 d
=0 =0

where we used the assumption that a − 2 · b = 0 and c − 2 · d = 0 since (a, b), (c, d) ∈
W2 . We conclude that (a, b) + (c, d) ∈ W2 .
(c) Finally, we need to show that if (a, b) ∈ W2 and α ∈ R are arbitrary, then α · (a, b)
is also in W2 . By assumption, since (a, b) ∈ W2 , this means that a − 2b = 0 (we
will use this fact). To show that α · (a, b) = (α · a, α · b) is in W2 , we need to show
that it satisfies the membership requirement for W2 , i.e., we need to show that
α · a − 2 · (α · b) = 0. Note that

α · a − 2 · (α · b) = α(a − 2 · b) = α · 0 = 0.

Thus α · (a, b) ∈ W2 .

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