MATH 3120 Section 002 Practice Exam 1 (80 minutes)

The practice exam and the actual exam will both cover materials we have learnt from the
beginning of the semester up to the end of Lecture 7. To help yourself best assess your
readiness for the exam, please set aside 80 minutes to take the practice exam uninterruptedly
and please don’t use any notes, books, or electronic devices during the exam. You should
justify your solutions in detail unless otherwise specified by the problem.

 
1 2 3
Problem 1: Consider matrix A = 2 6 7.
2 2 4
(a) Use the cofactor expansion (along a row or column of your choice) to compute the determinant
of A.

(b) Use the inversion algorithm to determine whether A is invertible. If it is, find A−1 .

(c) Describe the solutions of the linear system A~x = ~0. Justify your answer.

Solution. (a) We expand along the first column:

6 7 2 3 2 3
det(A) = 1 · −2· +2· = 1 · 10 − 2 · 2 + 2 · (−4) = −2.
2 4 2 4 6 7

(b) We apply elementary row operations to convert the following matrix to its RREF:
     
1 2 3 1 0 0 1 2 3 1 0 0 1 2 3 1 0 0
E E
2 6 7 0 1 0 →1 0 2 1 −2 1 0 →2 0 2 1 −2 1 0
2 2 4 0 0 1 2 2 4 0 0 1 0 −2 −2 −2 0 1
   
1 2 3 1 0 0 1 2 3 1 0 0
E3 1 1 E4
→ 0 1 2 −1 2 0 → 0
  1 12 −1 21 0
0 −2 −2 −2 0 1 0 0 −1 −4 1 1
   
1 2 3 1 0 0 1 2 3 1 0 0
E5 1 1 E6 1 
→ 0  1 2 −1 2 0  → 0  1 0 −3 1 2
0 0 1 4 −1 −1 0 0 1 4 −1 −1
   
1 2 0 −11 3 3 1 0 0 −5 1 2
E7 1  E8  1 
→ 0 1 0 −3 1 2 → 0 1 0 −3 1 2
0 0 1 4 −1 −1 0 0 1 4 −1 −1
where E1 is the elementary matrix corresponding to subtracting 2 times Row 1 from Row 2, E2 is
the elementary matrix corresponding to subtracting 2 times Row 1 from Row 3, E3 is the elementary
matrix corresponding to dividing Row 2 by 2, E4 is the elementary matrix corresponding to adding
2 times Row 2 to Row 3, E5 is the elementary matrix corresponding to multiplying Row 3 by −1,
E6 is the elementary matrix corresponding to subtracting 21 times Row 3 from Row 2, E7 is the

1
elementary matrix corresponding to subtracting 3 times Row 3 from Row 1, E8 is the elementary
matrix corresponding to subtracting 2 times Row 2 from Row 1.  
−5 1 2
The left half of the RREF is the identity matrix, so A is invertible, and A−1 = −3 1 1 
2 .
4 −1 −1
(c) Since A is invertible, the homogeneous system has a unique solution, which is the trivial solution
~x = ~0. 

Problem 2: Each of the following matrices represents an augmented matrix for a system of linear
equations. For each matrix, fully describe the solutions of the system (in the parametric form).
     
1 2 3 0 1 0 0 2 2 0 1 2
(a) 0 1 1 2 , (b) 0 1 0 0 , (c) 0 1 2 0 .
0 0 0 2 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0

Solution. (a) There is no solution since the last row implies equation 0 = 2, hence the system is
inconsistent.
 
2
(b) There is a unique solution ~x = 0.
1
t
 
1− 2
(c) The solution is ~x =  −2t , t ∈ R. 
t

Problem 3: Consider the linear system


2x + 8y + 4z = 2

2x + 5y + z = 5

4x + 10y − z = 1


(a) Convert its augmented matrix into the RREF using Gauss-Jordan elimination.

(b) Denote the RREF as matrix R. Express the augmented matrix of the system as a product of
elementary matrices and R. Justify your answer.
 
2 4 2
(c) Consider another linear system whose augmented matrix is 2 1 5. Solve this system
4 −1 1
quickly by using the result of part (a). Justify your answer.

Solution. (a) The augmented matrix of the system can be converted as follows:
       
2 8 4 2 1 4 2 1 1 4 2 1 1 4 2 1
E E E
2 5 1 5 →1 2 5 1 5 →2 0 −3 −3 3 →3 0 −3 −3 3 
4 10 −1 1 4 10 −1 1 4 10 −1 1 0 −6 −9 −3

2
      
1 4 2 1 1 4 2 1 1 4 2 1
E E E
→4 0 1 1 −1 →5 0 1 1 −1 →6 0 1 1 −1
0 −6 −9 −3 0 0 −3 −9 0 0 1 3
     
1 4 2 1 1 4 0 −5 1 0 0 11
E7 E E
→ 0 1 0 −4 →8 0 1 0 −4 →9 0 1 0 −4
0 0 1 3 0 0 1 3 0 0 1 3
where E1 is the elementary matrix corresponding to dividing Row 1 by 2, E2 is the elementary
matrix corresponding to subtracting 2 times Row 1 from Row 2, E3 is the elementary matrix cor-
responding to subtracting 4 times Row 1 from Row 3, E4 is the elementary matrix corresponding
to dividing Row 2 by −3, E5 is the elementary matrix corresponding to adding 6 times Row 2 to
Row 3, E6 is the elementary matrix corresponding to dividing Row 3 by −3, E7 is the elementary
matrix corresponding to subtracting Row 3 from Row 2, E8 is the elementary matrix corresponding
to subtracting 2 times Row 3 from Row 1, E9 is the elementary matrix corresponding to subtracting
4 times Row 2 from Row 1.

(b) From the deduction in part (a), one has that

   
2 8 4 2 1 0 0 11
E9 E8 E7 · · · E2 E1 A = R, A = 2 5 1 5 , R = 0 1 0 −4 .
4 10 −1 1 0 0 1 3
Therefore, the augmented matrix A can be expressed as

A = (E9 E8 E7 · · · E2 E1 )−1 R = E1−1 E2−1 · · · E8−1 E9−1 R.

Each one of the inverse of the elementary matrices above is itself an elementary matrix, defined
by applying the reversed elementary row operation to the identity matrix. Therefore, the above is
the desired expression. More precisely, one can list the inverse elementary matrices explicitly as
follows:      
2 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0
E1−1 = 0 1 0 , E2−1 = 2 1 0 , E3−1 = 0 1 0 ,
0 0 1 0 0 1 4 0 1
     
1 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0
E4−1 = 0 −3 0 , E5−1 = 0 1 0 , E6−1 = 0 1 0  ,
0 0 1 0 −6 1 0 0 −3
     
1 0 0 1 0 2 1 4 0
E7−1 = 0 1 1 , E8−1 = 0 1 0 , E9−1 = 0 1 0 .
0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 1
(c) Since this matrix corresponds to Column 1, 3, 4 of the augmented matrix in part (a), it is row
equivalent to the matrix consisting of Column 1, 3, 4 of R, which is the RREF of A (this is because
elementary row operations do not  interfere with
 the columns). Hence, the augmented matrix of this

1 0 11 1 0 11
new system can be converted to 0 0 −4, which can be further converted to 0 1 3 .
0 1 3 0 0 −4
Since the last row is of the form (0 0 − 4), this system is inconsistent. 

3
  
a b c
Problem 4: Consider matrix A = 0 d e .
0 0 f
(a) Compute the determinant of A (express it using a, · · · , f ).

(b) Compute the determinant of 2AT A (express it using a, · · · , f ).

 
0 0 f
(c) Express the determinant of 0 3d 3e using det(A).
a b c

Solution. (a) Since the matrix is upper triangular, its determinant is equal to the product of its
diagonal entries. Hence, det(A) = adf .

(b) The matrix is 3 × 3, and note that transpose doesn’t change determinant, so

det(2AT A) = 23 det(AT A) = 23 det(AT )det(A) = 23 [det(A)]2 = 8a2 d2 f 2 .

(c) By the properties of determinant (how it changes after elementary row operations), one has

0 0 f a b c a b c
0 3d 3e = − 0 3d 3e = −3 0 d e = −3det(A).
a b c 0 0 f 0 0 f

Problem 5: For each of the matrices below, determine whether it is invertible. If so, find its
inverse (no need to justify), otherwise, explain why not.
   
2 0 0   1 4 8
0 1
(a) 0 1 0 , (b) , (c) 0 2 4 .
1 0
0 0 3 3 0 0
1 
2 0 0
Solution. (a) Invertible, the inverse is  0 1 0 . (One can find this quickly by noticing that the
0 0 13
matrix is diagonal, and one just needs to find reciprocals of the diagonal entries.)
 
0 1
(b) Invertible, the inverse is . (One can find this quickly by realizing that the matrix is an
1 0
elementary matrix, so its inverse must be the elementary matrix corresponding to the revered ERO.)

(c) Not invertible. Note that Column 3 is 2 times Column 2, so according to the property of
determinant, this matrix has determinant zero, hence is not invertible. Alternatively, one can use
EROs to show that the RREF of this matrix is not the identity, hence it is not invertible. 

4
Problem 6: Determine whether the following statements are true or false. If true, prove the
statement, otherwise, provide a counterexample and explain your answer.

(a) If A, B are symmetric matrices and are of the same size, then AB is also symmetric.

(b) If A is a lower triangular matrix with all diagonal entries being nonzero, then A is invertible.

(c) If a linear system with m equations and n unknowns satisfies m < n, then it has infinitely many
solutions.

Solution. (a) False. Recall from the class that in this case, AB is symmetric if and only ifAB = BA.
1 1
One just needs to find some matrices such that this is not true. For example, if A = and
1 1
   
1 1 2 1
B= , then AB = , which is not symmetric.
1 0 2 1
(b) True. For triangular matrices, the determinant is equal to the product of all diagonal entries.
If all diagonal entries are nonzero, then their product is nonzero. Hence, det(A) 6= 0, which is
equivalent to saying that A is invertible.

(c) False. This would have been true if the system is known to be homogeneous. However, in
general, there are 
many counterexamples.
 For instance, consider the system whose augmented
1 1 1 2
matrix is given by . 
1 1 1 3