Instructor: Hacker Name:

Course: Engineering Analysis

Chapter 8 Homework Set

Instructions: This homework is broke into three components: Part 1: true-false concept questions,
Part 2: basic computational skills, and Part 3: derivation, analysis, and problem-solving questions.
The rules for each component are listed below.
Part 1: There is no partial credit given for true-false problems. Since these are concept questions, you do
not need to show any work for these problems.
Part 2: There is no partial credit given for multiple-choice problems. Although there is no partial credit
on this assignment, you must show your work on all of the problems. If you fail to show work you
will receive a zero for the problem even if it is correct.
Part 3: On these problems you must show all of your work to receive any credit. If in doubt, write it out!
Show your work as clearly as you can: if I can’t understand how you got an answer, I will not
give you credit for it. Remember, I know how to solve the problem; and to make matters worse,
I have a lot of training in following logical arguments!
Warning: The definition of “little or no work” will be determined by the instructor, not the
student.

Part 1. Circle your answers here. Do not detach this sheet from the homework.

1. T F 4. T F 7. T F 10. T F 13. T F

2. T F 5. T F 8. T F 11. T F 14. T F

3. T F 6. T F 9. T F 12. T F 15. T F

Part 2. Circle your answers here. Do not detach this sheet from the homework.

16. a b c d e 20. a b c d e 24. a b c d e

17. a b c d e 21. a b c d e 25. a b c d e

18. a b c d e 22. a b c d e

19. a b c d e 23. a b c d e

Part 3. Do not write in the space(s) below!

26. (5 pts) 29. (5 pts) 32. (5 pts)

27. (5 pts) 30. (5 pts) 33. (5 pts)

28. (5 pts) 31. (5 pts) 34. (5 pts)

chapter 8 homework set Copyright ©Wayne Hacker 2018. All rights reserved. 2

Chapter 8: Matrix Eigenvalue Problems

Part 1: True-or-False Concept Questions Component

Chapter 8.1: The matrix eigenvalue problem, determining eigenvalues and

eigenvectors

Problem 1. True or False: The trivial solution x = 0 to the eigenvalue problem

Ax = λx is only an eigenvector if it corresponds to the eigenvalue λ = 0.

Problem 2. True or False: If λ is an eigenvalue with corresponding eigenvector v to

the equation Ax = λx, then the normalized vector v/kvk is also an eigenvector to the
eigenvalue λ.

Problem 3. (Eigenvalues and Matrix Addition)

True or False: Let A and B be n × n matrices. The eigenvalues of the sum of A + B
are always equal to the sum of the eigenvalues of A and B?

Chapter 8.2: Some applications of eigenvalue problems

No part 1 problems for this section.

Chapter 8.3: Symmetric, Skew-Symmetric, and Orthogonal Matrices

Problem 4. True or False: Any matrix can A be written as the sum of a symmetric
R and skew-symmetric S matrix.

Problem 5. True or False: The only diagonal skew-symmetric matrix is the zero ma-
trix.

Problem 6. True or False: A symmetric matrix cannot have any eigenvalues that are
zero.

Problem 7. True or False: A 2 × 2 skew-symmetric matrix always has at least one

zero eigenvalue.

Problem 8. True or False: The zero matrix is both a symmetric matrix and a skew-
symmetric matrix.

Problem 9. True or False: The identity matrix is an orthogonal matrix.

chapter 8 homework set Copyright ©Wayne Hacker 2018. All rights reserved. 3

Problem 10 (Skew-symmetric matrices). .

True or False: The inverse of a skew-symmetric matrix is skew-symmetric.

Problem 11 (Skew-symmetric matrices). .

True or False: There exist a 3 × 3 skew-symmetric orthogonal matrix?

Problem 12 (Skew-symmetric matrices). .

True or False: There exist n × n nonsingular skew-symmetric matrices for n is odd.

Problem 13. True or False: The matrix A is an orthogonal matrix.

 
0 0 1
A=  0 1 0
−1 0 0

Chapter 8.4: Eigenbases, Diagonalization, and Quadratic Forms

Let An×n be a real-valued matrix. Recall that a matrix and its quadratic form q are said
to be positive definite if q(x) ≡ xT Ax > 0 (∀x ∈ Rn − {0}).

Problem 14. True or False: If A is a diagonal matrix, then A is a positive definite.

Problem 15. True or False: The zero matrix is positive definite.

chapter 8 homework set Copyright ©Wayne Hacker 2018. All rights reserved. 4

Part 2: Basic Computational Skills Component

Section 8.1: Determining Eigenvalues and Eigenvectors

Problem 16. (Computing eigenvalues of a matrix)

Find the eigenvalues for the lower triangular matrix
 
1 0
A=
2 −1

Write them in increasing order, unless their complex, then put the reals first.
(a) λ1 = 1, λ2 = 4 (b) λ1 = −1, λ2 = 1
(c) λ1 = 0, λ2 = 5 (d) λ1 = −4, λ2 = −1
(e) None of these

Problem 17. (Computing eigenvalues of a matrix)

The symmetric tridiagonal matrix
 
1 1 0
A= 1 2
 1
0 1 1

is known to have three distinct eigenvalues: λ1 = 0, λ2 = 1, and λ3 . Find λ3 .

(a) λ3 = 2 (b) λ3 = 3
(c) λ3 = 4 (d) λ3 = 5
(e) None of these

Problem 18. (Computing eigenvectors of a matrix)

Which of the following vectors given below is an eigenvector corresponding to the eigen-
value λ = 1 for the matrix S given below?
 
1 1
S=
0 −1

Circle the correct answer below. The format for the answers is
 
x
x = 1 = (x1 , x2 )T .
x2

(a) (1, 1)T (b) (1, −1)T

(c) (0, 1)T (d) (1, 0)T
(e) None of these
chapter 8 homework set Copyright ©Wayne Hacker 2018. All rights reserved. 5

Problem 19. Find the eigenvalues and corresponding eigenvectors for the matrix
 
3 5 3
A = 0 4 6
0 0 1

(a) (λ1 , λ2 , λ3 ) = (3, 4, 1) with corresponding eigenvectors, (1, 0, 0)T , (5, 1, 0)T , (7, −4, 2)T .
(b) (λ1 , λ2 , λ3 ) = (3, 4, 1) with corresponding eigenvectors, (1, 0, 0)T , (0, 1, 0)T , (0, 0, 1)T .
(c) (λ1 , λ2 , λ3 ) = (0, 2, 1) with corresponding eigenvectors, (1, 0, 0)T , (5, 1, 0)T , (7, 4, 2)T .
(d) (λ1 , λ2 , λ3 ) = (0, 2, 1) with corresponding eigenvectors, (1, 0, 0)T , (0, 1, 0)T , (0, 0, 1)T .
(e) None of these

Problem 20. Find the eigenvalues and corresponding vectors of the matrix
 
0 0 1
A= 0 1 0
−1 0 0

(a) eigenvalues: λ1 = 0, λ2 = 0, and λ3 = 1;

eigenvectors: v T1 = (1 0 1), v T2 = (0 1 0), and v T3 = (0 0 − 1), respectively.

(b) eigenvalues: λ1 = 1, λ2 = 1, and λ3 = −1;

eigenvectors: v T1 = (1 0 0), v T2 = (0 1 0), and v T3 = (0 0 1), respectively.

(c) eigenvalues: λ1 = 1, λ2 = i, and λ3 = −i;

eigenvectors: v T1 = (0 1 0), v T2 = (1 0 i), and v T3 = (1 0 − i), respectively.

(d) The correct eigenvalues show up in one of the answers in (a)-(c), but the eigenvectors
are wrong. respectively.

(e) None of these.

chapter 8 homework set Copyright ©Wayne Hacker 2018. All rights reserved. 6

Section 8.2: Some Applications of Eigenvalue Problems

Problem 21. (elastic deformations)

Given A in a deformation y = Ax, find the directions −90◦ ≤ θ ≤ 90◦ (as measured
counterclockwise from the x-axis) of extension or contraction. Express them as an ordered
pair in increasing numerical order. The symmetric matrix A is known to have eigenvalues
λ1 = 4 and λ2 = 6.  
5 1
A=
1 5
(a) (θ1 , θ2 ) = (−45◦ , 30◦ ) (b) (θ1 , θ2 ) = (−45◦ , 45◦ )
(c) (θ1 , θ2 ) = (−30◦ , 60◦ ) (d) (θ1 , θ2 ) = (−90◦ , 0◦ )
(e) None of these

Chapter 8.3: Symmetric, Skew-Symmetric, and Orthogonal Ma-

trices

Problem 22. For what value of a, if any, will the matrix

 
a 0
A=
0 1

be orthogonal.
(a) a=0 (b) a = −1
(c) a=1 (d) a = ±1
(e) None of these

Chapter 8.4: Eigenbases, Diagonalization, and Quadratic Forms

Problem 23. Find an eigenbasis (a basis of eigenvectors) for the matrix

 
1 0
A=
2 −1

and use them to diagonalize A: D = X −1 AX. What the sum of the diagonal elements,
d11 + d22 ?
(a) 5 (b) -1
√
(c) 5 (d) 0
(e) None of these
chapter 8 homework set Copyright ©Wayne Hacker 2018. All rights reserved. 7

Problem 24. Find an eigenbasis (a basis of eigenvectors) for the matrix

 
1 2
A=
2 4

and use them to diagonalize A: D = X −1 AX. What the sum of the diagonal elements,
d11 + d22 ?
(a) 5 (b) -1
√
(c) 5 (d) 0
(e) None of these

Principle axes and conic sections

Problem 25. For the equation 4x21 + 12x1 x2 + 13x22 = 16 determine what type of conic
section (or pair of straight lines) is represented by the quadratic form, then transform it to
principal axes. Express xT = (x1 x2 ) in terms of the new coordinate vector y T = (y1 y2 )
via the transformation: x = Xy. What is the determinant of X?
√
(a) parabola, det(X) = 5 (b) ellipse, det(X) = 5
√ √
(c) ellipse, det(X) = − 5 (d) hyperbola, det(X) = 5
(e) None of these
chapter 8 homework set Copyright ©Wayne Hacker 2018. All rights reserved. 8

Part 3: Derivation, Analysis, and Problem-Solving Component

Attention Student: The solutions to the problems in this section can be found in the
corresponding practice problem set. Since you have the solutions to these problems, they
will only be graded for completeness, they will not be graded for accuracy. The student
is responsible for checking their work here.

Chapter 8 Appendix: Direct proofs of eigenvalue/eigenvector properties

Problems 26 - 32 are a sample collection of some classic direct proofs involving eigenvalues
and eigenvectors. These are similar to derivations in physics in that a direct calculation
is used to verify them. No fancy proof techniques are needed. For all of these problems
let k ∈ R and A = [aij ] be an n × n matrix with eigenvalues λ1 , . . . , λn , where these are
not necessarily distinct.

Problem 26 (Spectral shift). .

Show that if λi (i = 1, . . . , n) are the eigenvalues of A, then the “shifted matrix” A − kI
has the eigenvalues λ1 − k, . . . , λn − k and the same eigenvectors as A.

Problem 27 (Scalar multiplication). .

Show that if λi (i = 1, . . . , n) are the eigenvalues of A, then kA has the eigenvalues
kλ1 , . . . , kλn and the same eigenvectors as A.

Problem 28 (Raising to a Power). .

Show that if λi (i = 1, . . . , n) are the eigenvalues of A, then Am has the eigenvalues
λm m
1 , . . . , λn and the same eigenvectors as A.

Problem 29 (Trace). The trace of a matrix A is the sum of the main diagonal elements:
trace(A) = a11 + a22 + · · · + ann . It can be shown that for any n × n real-valued matrix
A, that the trace of A equals the sum of the eigenvalues of A:
n
X n
X
aii = λi .
i=1 i=1

Verify this is true explicitly by showing it for the case n = 3.

Problem 30 (Eigenvalues of the Inverse Matrix). Show that A−1 exists if and
only if the eigenvalues λ1 , λ2 , . . . , λn are all nonzero, and then A−1 has the eigenvalues
1/λ1 , 1/λ2 , . . . , 1/λn .
chapter 8 homework set Copyright ©Wayne Hacker 2018. All rights reserved. 9

Problem 31 (Spectral mapping theorem). .

Prove that the polynomial matrix

p(A) = km Am + km−1 Am−1 + · · · + k1 A + k0 I

has the eigenvalues

m−1
p(λi ) = km λm
i + km−1 λi + · · · + k1 λi + k0 ,

where i = 1, . . . , n, and the same eigenvectors as A.

Problem 32. (Eigenvectors of symmetric matrices)

Show that the eigenvectors of a symmetric matrix corresponding to different eigenvalues
are orthogonal.

Problem 33 (A Symmetric Orthogonal Matrix). .

Prove or Disprove: Does there exist a 3 × 3 non-diagonal symmetric matrix that is
also orthogonal? That is, can a matrix be both symmetric and orthogonal?

Problem 34. (Quadratic Forms) Definition: Let A be an n×n

symmetric matrix and x ∈ Rn . A quadratic form

q(x) ≡ q(x1 , x2 , . . . xn ) = xT Ax

together with its matrix A are called

(i) positive definite if q(x) > 0 (∀x ∈ Rn : x 6= 0),

(ii) negative definite if q(x) < 0 (∀x ∈ Rn : x 6= 0), and

(iii) indefinite definite if q(x) takes on both positive and negative

values.

Show that a necessary and sufficient condition for (i), (ii), and (iii)
is that the eigenvalues of A are (i) all positive, (ii) all negative, and
(iii) both positive and negative, respectively.
Hint: Use The Principle Axis Theorem.