Tutorial #9: Vector Space, Subspace, Linear Combination, Spanning,

Linear Dependence, Independence, Basis, and Co-ordinates

1. Which of the following sets of vectors α = (a1 , a2 , · · · , an ) subspaces of Rn (n ≥ 3)

(a) all α such that a1 ≥ 0;

(b) all α such that a1 + 3a2 = a3 ;
(c) all α such that a2 = a21 ;
(d) all α such that a1 a2 = 0;
(e) all α such that a2 is rational

2. Let V be the (real) vector space of all functions f : R → R. Which of the following are subspaces of V ?

(a) all f such that f (x2 ) = f (x)2 ;

(b) all f such that f (0) = f (1);
(c) all f such that f (3) = 1 + f (−5);
(d) all f such that f (−1) = 0;
(e) all f which are continuous.
3. Let F be a Field and let n be a positive integer (n ≥ 2). Let V be a vector space of all n × n matrices over F .
Which of the following set of matrices A in V are subspaces of V?
(a) all invertible A;
(b) all non-invertible A;
(c) all A such that AB = BA, where B is some fixed matrix in V;
(d) all A such that A2 = A.
4. Show that (1, 4) and (0, 1) form a basis of R2 over R.

5. Determine if the given vectors span the vector space V or not. If they do, find a basis for V.
(a) v1 = (1, 2, 3), v2 = (2, 4, 6), v3 = (−1, 0, 1) in R3 .
(b) w1 = (1, 0, 1), w2 = (0, 1, 0), w3 = (1, 1, 1) in R3 .
6. Determine if the following sets of vectors are linearly independent or linearly dependent.

(a) {(1, 2, 3), (4, 5, 6), (7, 8, 9)} in R3 .

   
1 −3 −2 6
(b) , in M2 (R).
−2 4 4 −8
(c) {1, x, x2 , x3 } in P3 (R).
(d) {x3 + 2x2 , −x2 + 3x + 1, x3 − x2 + 2x − 1} in P3 (R).

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 7. Find the value(s) of h for which the following set of vectors
     
1 h 1
v1 =  0  , v2 =  1  , andv3 =  2h 
0 −h 3h + 1

are linearly independent.

8. Let A be a m by n matrix over F . Show that the set of all vectors X such that AX = 0 is a subspace
of F n . This subspace is called the null space of A and its dimension is the nullity of A.

9. Let A be a m by n matrix over F . Show that the set of all vectors spanned by the row vectors of A is a subspace
of F n . This subspace is called the row space of A and its dimension in the row rank of A.
10. Let A be a m by n matrix over F . Show that the set of all vectors Y such that AX = Y has a solution for X is a
subspace of F m . This subspace is called the range space of A and its dimension in the column rank of A (why?).

11. Show that for any matrix A

(a) nullity + row rank = n
(b) nullity + column rank = n
and conclude that row rank of A = column rank of A.

12. Let B = {α1 , α2 , α3 } be an ordered basis for R3 where α1 = (1, 0, −1), α2 = (1, 1, 1), α3 = (1, 0, 0). What are the
coordinates of (a, bc) in the ordered basis B?
13. Let α = (x1 , x2 ) and β = (y1 , y2 ) be vectors in R2 such that x1 y1 + x2 y2 = 0 and x21 + x22 = y12 + y22 = 1 Show
that B = (α, β) is a basis for R2 . Find the coordinates of (a, b) in this ordered basis. What do the conditions mean
geometrically?

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Other practice problems
1. Let V be a vector space over the field R. Prove that the set of all polynomials of degree at most n, denoted by
Pn (R), is a subspace of V.
2. Determine if the following sets are subspaces of the given vector space or not. If it is a subspace, prove it; if not,
provide a counterexample.

(a) W = {(x, y) ∈ R2 | x + y = 1} in R2 .
(b) U = {f (x) ∈ R[x] | f (0) = 0} in R[x].
 
1 2 0 3 0
1 2 1 1 0
 
3. Consider the 5 by 5 matrix A =  0 0 1 4 0
2 4 1 10 1
0 0 0 0 1

(a) Find an invertible matrix P such that P A is a row-reduced echelon matrix R.

(b) Find a basis for the row space W of R.
(c) Say which vectors (b1 b2 b3 b4 b5 ) are in W.
(d) Find the coordinate matrix of each vector (b1 b2 b3 b4 b5 ) ∈ W in the ordered basis chosen in (b).
(e) Write each vector (b1 b2 b3 b4 b5 ) ∈ W as a linear combination of the rows of A.
(f) Give an explicit description of the null space of A.
(g) Find a basis for the null space.
(h) For what column matrices Y does the equation AX = Y have solutions X?
(i) Explicitly find the range space of A and and a basis.
(j) Verify the relations regarding the nullity, row rank and column rank of A.
4. Let V be a vector space over R. Prove that the set of linear combinations of a given set of vectors {v1 , v2 , . . . , vn }
in V forms a subspace of V.
5. Let V be the real vector space of all polynomial functions from R into R of degree 2 or less. Let t be a fixed number
and define
g1 (x) = 1, g2 (x) = (x + t), g3 (x) = (x + t)2
Prove that B = (g1 , g2 , g3 ) is a basis for V. If f (x) = c0 + c1 x + c2 x2 what are the coordinates of f in this ordered
basis B?
6. Let V be a vector space over the field R. Prove that the intersection of two subspaces of V is also a subspace of V.
7. Determine if the following sets are subspaces of the given vector space or not. If it is a subspace, prove it; if not,
provide a counterexample.
(a) W = {(x, y, z) ∈ R3 | x + y + z = 0} in R3 .
(b) U = {f (x) ∈ R[x] | f (1) = 0} in R[x].
8. Let V be a vector space over R. Prove that the set of all linearly independent subsets of V forms a vector space.

9. Determine if the given vectors span the vector space V or not. If they do, find a basis for V.
(a) v1 = (1, 0, 0), v2 = (0, 1, 0), v3 = (0, 0, 1) in R3 .
(b) w1 = (1, 1, 0), w2 = (0, 1, 1), w3 = (1, 0, 1) in R3 .

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10.
11. Determine if the following sets of vectors are linearly independent or linearly dependent.
(a) {(1, 2), (3, 1), (−1, 4)} in R2 .
(b) {1, x, x2 , x3 , sin x, cos x} in C[−1, 1] (the set of continuous functions on [−1, 1]).
12. Prove or disprove: If V has a finite basis, then every spanning set of V contains a basis of V.
13. Let V be a vector space over R. Prove that any linearly independent set in V can be extended to a basis for V.

14. Let W be the set of all (x1 , x2 x3 , x4 , x5 ) ∈ R5 which satisfy

4
2x1 − x2 + x3 − x4 = 0
3
2
x1 + x3 − x5 = 0
3
9x1 − 3x2 + 6x3 − 3x4 − 3x5 = 0

Find a finite set of vectors which spans W.

15. Prove or disprove: Every vector space has a unique basis.

16. Let V be a vector space over R. Prove that every finite-dimensional vector space has a finite basis.
17. Let W be a proper subspace of a finite-dimensional vector space V. (a) Show that there is a subspace U of V
such that W ∩ U = {0} and U + W = V. (b) Show that there is no subspace U such that U ∩ W = {0} and
dimU + dimW > dimV.

18. Suppose A is a 3 by 4 matrix and B is a 4 by 5 matrix with AB = 0. Show that

rank (A) + rank (B) ≤ 4

19. Let A ∈ Mm n(R) and B ∈ Mn p(R) with rank (A) = rank (B) = n. Show that rank (AB) = n.