EC400 Revision Mathematics

Answers to Quiz 1: Introduction to Vectors and Matrices

Margaret Bray
London School of Economics

This quiz consists of simple questions on vectors and matrices. Most people will be able to do this
quiz very fast. These questions covers introductory topics from the chapters 2 on vectors and chapter
3 on matrices of the revision maths notes.

1 Diagrams for Vector Addition and Scalar Multiplication

In Figure 1

• 0 is the vector u, 0 is the vector v and similarly for 0, w, 0, x and 0, y .
• The lines 0 and  are parallel and are the same length.
• The lines 0 and  are parallel and are the same length.
• The lines 0 and  are the same length.
• The lines  and  are the same length.

Quiz 1 question 1 What is u + w?

1. u 2. v 3. w 4. x 5. y 6. none of these.

Answer: 2 u + w = v

Quiz 1 question 2 What is 2w?

1. u 2. v 3. w 4. x 5. y 6. none of these.

Answer 4: 2w = x.

Quiz 1 question 3 What is w − u?

1. u 2. v 3. w 4. x 5. y 6. none of these.

Answer: 5 w = u + y so y = w − u

1
 x

v
w
y

Figure 1: Quiz 1: questions 1-3

2 Vector Addition, Subtraction and Scalar Multiplication with

Numbers

2.1 Definitions

Questions 4-7 work with the vectors

⎞⎛ ⎛ ⎞ ⎛ ⎞
1 6 7
u = ⎝ 2 ⎠ v=⎝ 4 ⎠ w=⎝ 6 ⎠
3 10 13

⎞ ⎛
5 µ ¶ µ ¶
1 3
x = ⎝ 2 ⎠ y= and z = 
2 6
7

Quiz 1 question 4 What is u + v?

1. u 2. v 3. w 4. x 5. z 6. none of these.

Answer: 3 w = u + v

Quiz 1 question 5 What is u + y?

1. u 2. v 3. w 4. x 5. z 6. none of these.

Answer 6: u and y have different number of components so cannot be added.

Quiz 1 question 6 What is w − u?

1. u 2. v 3. w 4. x 5. z 6. none of these.

Answer 2: w = u + v so w − u = v.

2
Quiz 1 question 7 What is 3y?
1. u 2. v 3. w 4. x 5. z 6. none of these.
µ ¶ µ ¶
1 3
Answer: 3y = 3 = = z.
2 6

3 Rules For Vectors

Quiz 1 question 8 Is the statement x + y = y + x

1. true for all  vectors x and y

2. true for some but not all  vectors x and y
3. true for no  vectors x and y

Answer: 1.

Quiz 1 question 9 Is the statement

(x + y) = x + y

1. true for all real numbers  and all  vectors x and y

2. true for some but not all real numbers  and all  vectors x and y
3. true for no real numbers  and all  vectors x and y.

Answer: 1

4 Inner Products (essential topic, questions 10 - 13)

Note that some questions in this section use the term scalar. In this context scalar means real number.

Quiz 1 question 10 The inner product (sometimes called the dot product) of the  vectors x and y
is defined as: 
X
x0 y =   
=1

If x and y are  vectors is the statement x y 6= y0 x

0

1. true for all  vectors x and y

2. true for some but not all  vectors x and y
3. true for no  vectors x and y

Answer: 3

3
Quiz 1 question 11 If x and y are  vectors and  is a real number is the statement

(x0 y) = (x)0 y = x0 (y)

1. true for all real numbers  and all  vectors x and y

2. true for some but not all real numbers  and all  vectors x and y
3. true for no real numbers  and all  vectors x and y

Answer: 1

if  is a scalar
à  !  
X X X
0
(x y) =    = ( ) = (x)0 y =  ( ) = x0 (y)
=1 =1 =1

Therefore the statement is true for all real numbers  and all  vectors x and y

Quiz 1 question 12 Think about the  vectors t, u, v and w, and the scalars     Click the
correct statements

1. t0 (u + v) = t0 u + t0 v for all t, u, v and w

0
2. (u + v) t 6= t0 (u + v) for some t, u, v and w
0
3. (t + w) (u + v) = t0 u + w0 u + t0 v + w0 v for all t, u, v and w
0
4. (t + w) (u + v) 6= u0 t + u0 w + v0 t + v0 w for some t, u, v and w
5. (t+w)0 (u+v) = t0 u+w0 u+t0 v+w0 v for all     t, u, v and w

Answer: statements 1, 3 and 5 are correct. They are implied by the definitions of vector addition,
inner products and scalar multiplication as


X 
X 
X 
X
t0 (u + v) =  ( +  ) =   +   = t0 u + t0 v = ( +  )  = u0 t + v0 t
=1 =1 =1 =1

and

X 
X
(t + w)0 (u + v) = ( +  ) ( +  ) = (  +   +   +   )
=1 =1
= t u + w0 u + t0 v + w0 v
0

= u0 t + u0 w + v0 t + v0 w

Similarly
0 0 0 0 0
(t+w) (u+v) = (t) (u) + (w) (u) + (t) (v) + (w) (v)
= t0 u+w0 u+t0 v+w0 v

4
Quiz 1 question 13 If y and x are  vectors and  a scalar, click the correct statements.

1. (y−x)0 (y−x) = y0 y + x0 x2 

2. (y−x)0 (y−x) = y0 y+x0 y+y0 x + x0 x2 
0
3. (y−x) (y−x) = y0 y − x0 y−y0 x+x0 x2
0
4. (y−x) (y−x) = y0 y+2x0 y+x0 x2 
5. (y−x)0 (y−x) = y0 y−2x0 y+x0 x2

Answer: statements 3 and 5 are correct because, as x0 y = y0 x

(y−x)0 (y−x) = y0 y − x0 y−y0 x+x0 x2

= y0 y−2x0 y+x0 x2 

5 Length (essential topic, questions 14 -16)

Quiz 1 question 14 What is the length of the vector (1  2 ) in 2 dimensional space?

1. 21 + 22
2. 1 + 2
3. 1 2
1
4. (1 + 2 ) 2
¡ ¢1
5. 21 + 22 2
6. none of the above

Answer: Pythagoras’ Theorem implies that answer 5 is correct.

Quiz 1 question 15 What is the length of the vector (1  2  3 ) in 3 dimensional space?

1. 21 + 22 + 23

2. 1 + 2 + 3
3. 1 2 3
1
4. (1 + 2 + 3 ) 2
¡ ¢1
5. 21 + 22 + 23 2
6. none of the above

Answer: Pythagoras’ Theorem implies that answer 5 is correct.

5
Quiz 1 question 16 If x0 x = 0 what does this tell you about x?

1. x ≤ 0
2. x ≥ 0
3. 1 ≥ 2 ≥ 3 ≥  ≥ 
4. x = 0
5. none of the above.

Answer: 5, x = 0 is correct. This is because

P
• By definition x0 x = =1 2 
• If 2 = 0.then  = 0. If  6= 0 then 2  0.
• Thus either x0 x  0 in which case  6= 0 for some , that is x 6= 0.
• or x0 x = 0 in which case  = 0 for all  so x = 0.

6 Using Matrix Algebra: Questions 17 - 37

6.1 Questions
For questions 17 - 37
∙ ¸ ∙ ¸ ∙ ¸
2 5 1 −10 3 −5
= = =
1 3 −2 −1 −1 2
∙ ¸ ∙ ¸ ∙ ¸
−8 −25 2 0 6 −5
= =  =
−5 −13 0 1 −2 2
∙ ¸ ∙ ¸ ∙ ¸
6 −10 6 −2 1 0
= = =
−1 2 −5 2 0 1
⎡ ⎤ ⎡ ⎤
∙ ¸ 3 2 8 21
6 −1
= =⎣ 1 4 ⎦  = ⎣ 6 17 ⎦ 
−10 2
2 1 5 13

Look at figure 2 which refers to the matrices  −  above. Circle the right answer and do the
multiple choice questions on Moodle. For example for question 17  +  =  so click alternative
3C. You will often be able to answer these questions more quickly if you bear in mind your answers
to earlier questions and the facts about matrix algebra in sections 1-8 of chapter 3 on matrices in the
revision maths notes.

6
question question alternatives
number
17 A+B 1A 2B 3C 4D 5E 6 undefined
18 B+A 1A 2B 3C 4D 5E 6 undefined
19 A+K 1H 2I 3J 4K 5L 6 undefined
20 KA 1H 2I 3J 4K 5L 6 undefined
21 AK 1H 2I 3J 4K 5L 6 undefined
22 AB 1A 2B 3C 4D 5E 6 undefined
23 BA 1A 2B 3C 4D 5E 6 undefined
24 CE 1F 2G 3H 4I 5J 6 undefined
25 EC 1F 2G 3H 4I 5J 6 undefined
26 F' 1F 2G 3H 4I 5J 6 undefined
27 H' 1F 2G 3H 4I 5J 6 undefined
28 G' 1F 2G 3H 4I 5J 6 undefined
29 (EC)' 1F 2G 3H 4I 5J 6 undefined
30 E'C' 1F 2G 3H 4I 5J 6 undefined
31 EA+EB 1F 2G 3H 4I 5J 6 undefined
32 AE+BE 1F 2G 3H 4I 5J 6 undefined
33 KI 1G 2H 3I 4J 5K 6 undefined
34 IH 1G 2H 3I 4J 5K 6 undefined
35 AC 1G 2H 3I 4J 5K 6 undefined
36 CA 1G 2H 3I 4J 5K 6 undefined
37 A'C' 1G 2H 3I 4J 5K 6 undefined

Figure 2: Questions 17 - 27

7
6.2 Questions 17 - 37 Answers

• 17 A+B=C
• 18 B + A = C If A and B are both  ×  matrices so can be added it is always true that A
+ B = B + A.
• 19 A + K is undefined. A and K have a different number of rows.
• 20 KA = L
• 21 AK is undefined The number of columns of A is different from the number of rows of K
so they can’t be multiplied.
• 22 AB = D
• 23 BA = D In this case the numbers happen to make AB = BA. However with matrix
multiplication order matters, it is not usually true that AB = BA.
• 24 CE = F
• 25 EC = G.
• 26 F’ = H
• 27 H’ = F It is always true that (F’)’ = F’
• 28 G’ = J
• 29 (EC)’ = J This has to be true because EC = G and G’ = J.
• 30 E’C’ = H It is not usually true that (EC)’ = E’C’ = . It is always true that (EC)’ =
C’E’.
• 31 EA + EB = G If E is an  ×  and A and B are  ×  matrices it is always true that
EA + EB = E(A + B). Here A + B = C so EA + EB = EC = G.
• 32 AE + BE = F. It is always true that if A and B are  ×  matrices and E is an  × 
matrix then AE + BE = (A + B)E. Here A + B = C so (A + B)E = CE = F.
• 33 KI = K If K is an  ×  matrix and I is the  ×  identity matrix it is always true that
KI = K.
• 34 IH = H If H is an  ×  matrix and I is the  ×  identity matrix it is always true that
IH = H
• 35 AC = I Here I is the 2 x 2 identity matrix.
• 36 CA = I A and C are both 2 x 2 matrices and have a nonzero determinant. Thus they
have an inverse. Here A−1 = C which implies that C−1 = A.
• 37 A’C’ = I. It is always true that A’C’ = (CA)’ so here A’C’ = I’ = I

8
7 Special Matrices
Quiz 1 question 38 Let ⎛ ⎞
1 0 0 0
⎜ 0 1 0 0 ⎟
=⎜
⎝ 0
⎟
0 1 0 ⎠
0 0 0 1
Click the correct statements
1.  has an inverse.
2.  is a diagonal matrix.
3.  is a lower triangular matrix.
4.  is a symmetric matrix.
5.  is an orthonormal matrix.
6.  is an idempotent matrix.

Answer: all these statements are correct. Note that  is the  ×  identity matrix so
1.  is the inverse of  because  =  :
2.  is a diagonal matrix because all off diagonal terms are 0:
3.  is a lower triangular matrix because all terms above the diagonal are 0.
4.  is a symmetric matrix because  0 = :
5.  is an orthonormal matrix because  0  = :
6.  is an idempotent matrix because  2 = :

Quiz 1 question 39 Let ⎛ ⎞

05 0 05
=⎝ 0 1 0 ⎠
05 0 05
Click the correct statements
1.  is a lower triangular matrix.
2.  is a symmetric matrix.
3.  is an orthonormal matrix.
4.  is an idempotent matrix

Answer: 2 and 4 are correct.

•  is not a lower triangular matrix because there are terms above the diagonal which are not zero.
•  is a symmetric matrix because 0 = 

• 0  6=  so  is not an orthonormal basis

• 2 =  so  is an idempotent matrix because 2 = .