T HE U NIVERSITY OF S YDNEY

P URE M ATHEMATICS

Linear Mathematics Intensive January Session 2024

Tutorial 3 — Solutions

1. In each of the following find a basis for Span(X), and say whether or not Span(X) is equal to
n
the vector space  X
n  R ofwhich  isaosubset.
a) X = 1 , 2 , 3 , 4
5 6 7 8 ⊆ R2 .
n     o
1 4 0
b) X = 2 , 5 , 0 ⊆ R3 .
3 6 0
n1 2 0o
c) X = 2 , 4 , 0
3 6 0 ⊆ R4 .
( 4 8 0
 1   −1
)
−1
 4
1 4
d) X = 1 , −1 , 4 ⊆ R5 .
1 −1 4
1 −1 4

Solution n   o    
1 2 2
a) Since 5 , 6 is linearly independent, and dim(R ) = 2, { 15 , 26 } is a basis
for Span(X), and Span(X) = R2 . (Indeed, any subset of X containingn twovectors
 o is
linearly independent, and is a basis for Span(X), as is the standard basis 1 , 0 .)
0 1
n       o n     o
1 4 0 1 4
b) Span(X) = a 2 + b 5 + c 0 | a, b, c ∈ R = a 2 + b 5 | a, b ∈ R ,
n   o 3 6 0 3 6
1 4
and 2 , 5 is linearly independent. Hence this set is a basis for Span(X), which
3 6
therefore has dimension 2, and is not equal to R3 .
2 0 1
c) The vectors 46 and 00 are scalar multiples of 23 , and so a basis for Span(X) is
n1o 8 0 4
2
3 . Span(X) therefore has dimension 1, and is not equal to R4 .
4
 −1
4
−1
 1
4
d) The vectors −1 and 4 are scalar multiples of 11 , and so a basis for Span(X) is
−1 4 1
( ) −1 4
1
1
1 . Span(X) therefore has dimension 1, and is not equal to R5 .
1
1

2. Determine whether the following sets are linearly independent, and whether or not they span
R3 .
n     o
1 0 0
a) X = 0 , 2 , 0
n     31 o
0 0
1 4
b) Y = 2 , 5 , 2
−3
3 6

Solution x
3
a) This set is clearly linearly independent, and it spans R . (Note that any yz can be written
     
1 0 0
as x 0 + y2 2 + z3 0 .)
0 0 3
 Linear Mathematics Tutorial 3 — Solutions Page 2

1 4 1
  
1 4 1
b) Let A = 2 5 2
3 6 −3
. This matrix reduces to 0 1 0 .
0 01    1

1 4
Hence the only solution to the equation +c a 2 +b 5
= 0 is a = b = c = 0. 2
−3
3 6
That is, Y is linearly independent.       1  x
x 1 4
Similarly, there is a solution to yz = a 2 + b 5 + c −32 for every yz ∈ R3 ,
3 6
so Y spans R3 .
Note that this means that Y is a basis of R3 .
1 4 1 1

3. Determine the column space of A = 2 5 1 0
3 6 1 −1
and interpret it geometrically.
3
Do the columns of A form a basis for R ?
x
Solution Use Gaussian elimination to check whether or not an arbitrary vector y
z
belongs to
Col(A):
1 4 1 1 x ! 1 4 1 1 x !
Row reduce
2 5 1 0 y −−−−−→ 0 1 1
3
2
3
1
3 (2x − y) .
3 6 1 −1 z 0 0 0 0 x − 2y + z
nx o
Hence, Col(A) = y
z
∈ R3 y = 12 (x + z) corresponds to a plane in R3 .
Any basis of R3 contains three vectors. Therefore the four columns of A do not form a basis.
Note also that y = 12 (x + z) is the cartesian equation of a plane in 3-dimensional space, and
only those vectors corresponding to a point on the plane are in the column space. So there are
vectors in R3 that do not belong to Col(A). That is, Col(A) does not span R3 , and hence is not
a basis.
(Since Col(A) is spanned by only two vectors, at most two of the columns of A form a linearly
independent set.)

4. Let Y = {p1 , p2 , p3 }, where p1 (x) = 1, p2 (x) = 2x − 1 and p3 (x) = (2x − 1)2 .

a) Show that Y is a basis of P2 .
b) Find the unique expression for q ∈ P2 , where q(x) = 5 + x + x2 , as a linear combination
of vectors in Y .
Solution
a) First we check for linear independence.
Suppose a1 + b(2x − 1) + c(2x − 1)2 = 0, for all x. Then

(a − b + c) + (2b − 4c)x + 4cx2 = 0, for all x.

Since {f0 , f1 , f2 } is a linearly independent set where f0 (x) = 1, f1 (x) = x, f2 (x) = x2 ,

each of the coefficients must be zero. Comparing the coefficients of x0 , x and x2 on the
left and right hand sides of this equation we see that we need to solve the following system
of linear equations:
a − b + c =0
2b − 4c = 0
4c = 0
The only solution is a = b = c = 0. Hence, Y is a linearly independent subset of P2 .
Now we check to see whether or not Y spans P2 .
Let p, where p(x) = α + βx2 + γx2 , for α, β, γ ∈ R, be an arbitrary element of P2 .
Then p belongs to Span(Y ) if and only if there exist a, b, c ∈ R such that
 Linear Mathematics Tutorial 3 — Solutions Page 3

ap1 (x) + bp2 (x) + cp3 (x) = α + βx + γx2 ; that is,

a + b(2x − 1) + c(2x − 1)2 = α + βx + γx2 .

Equating coefficients, we have

a − b + c =α
2b − 4c = β
4c = γ

This system has a unique solution for any α, β, γ and hence any element of P2 can be
written as a linear combination of p1 , p2 and p3 . That is, Y spans P2 .
Since Y is linearly independent and spans P2 it is a basis for P2 .
b) By back-substitution, the solution to the system of equations above is

β γ
a=α+ +
2 4
β+γ
b=
2
γ
c= .
4
So we have
β γ β+γ γ
α + βx2 + γx2 = (α + + )p1 (x) + p2 (x) + p3 (x).
2 4 2 4
In particular, when α = 5, β = 1 and γ = 1 we have
23 1
5 + x + x2 = p1 (x) + p2 (x) + p3 (x),
4 4
23
so that q = 4 1
p + p2 + 14 p3 .

5. a) Suppose that {v1 , . . . , vn } (n ≥ 2) is a linearly independent subset of a vector space V .

Is it true that if r1 v1 + r2 v2 = 0, for some r1 , r2 ∈ R, then r1 = r2 = 0?
b) Suppose that {u1 , u2 , u3 } is a basis for a vector space V , and that W is a subspace of V .
Is it always true that some subset of {u1 , u2 , u3 } is a basis for W ?
Solution
a) Yes.
As the vectors v1 , . . . , vn are linearly independent, whenever r1 v1 +r2 v2 +· · ·+rn vn = 0,
for r1 , . . . , rn ∈ R, then r1 = r2 = · · · = rn = 0.
If r1 v1 + r2 v2 = 0 then r1 v1 + r2 v2 + 0v3 + · · · + 0vn = 0, so r1 = r2 = 0.
b) This is not true. What is true is that every element in W (and, in particular, any element
in a basis of W ), is a linear combination of u1 , u2 , u3 . However, as there is no guarantee
that u1 , u2 or u3 even belong to W , we cannot expect that a subset of {u1 , u2 , u3 }will 
1 0
be a basis of W . As a concrete example, suppose that V = R3 , u1 = 0 , u2 = 1 ,
  n o 0 0
0 1
u3 = 0 and W = Span 1 ; then no subset of {u1 , u2 , u3 } is a basis for W .
1 1
 Linear Mathematics Tutorial 3 — Solutions Page 4

6. For which values of λ ∈ R is the set

n λ
  −1   −1 o
−1 , λ , −1
−1 −1 λ

linearly independent in R3 ?
 λ   −1   −1   
0
Solution We want to find all λ such that a −1 + b λ + c −1 = 0 if and only if
−1 −1 λ 0
a = b = c = 0. As usual we apply Gaussian elimination to row reduce the matrix of column
vectors for this system of equations:
 λ −1 −1

Row reduce
1 1 −λ 
−1 λ −1 −−−−−→ 0 1+λ −(1+λ)
−1 −1 λ 0 0 (λ−2)(λ+1)

Therefore, this set of three vectors is linearly independent if and only if 1 + λ 6= 0 and
(λ − 2)(λ + 1) 6= 0; that is, if and only if λ 6= −1 and λ 6= 2.
(In other words, the set is linearly independent for any value of λ other than −1 or 2.)

7. Let g1 (x) = ex , g2 (x) = e2x and g3 (x) = e3x . Is X = {g1 , g2 , g3 } a linearly independent subset
of the vector space F?
Solution Suppose that ag1 + bg2 + cg3 = 0. Then ag1 (x) + bg2 (x) + cg3 (x) = 0 for all x ∈ R.
Putting x = 0, 1, 2, respectively we find that:

a + b + c =0 (x = 0)
2 3
ea + e b + e c = 0 (x = 1)
e2 a + e4 b + e6 c = 0 (x = 2)

This gives three equations in three unknowns. Applying Gaussian elimination to this system we
find that
1 1 1 0 1 1 1 0
! !
Row reduce
e e2 e3 0 −−−−−→ 0 1 e+1 0 .
e2 e4 e6 0 0 0 1 0
Hence, there is a unique solution, (namely, a = b = c = 0) and X is a linearly independent
subset of F.