Linear Algebra (MA106 & MA110 First Half )

Tutorial Problems

Most of these problems are from reference texts for this course. We will add the new tutorial
problems to this same file each week. For the latest problems, see the last few pages.

Tutorial 1: Wednesday, 10th Jan 2024

1. Sketch the three lines, and decide if the system is solvable. If yes, find the solution set.

x + 2y = 2, x − y = 2, y=1

2. For the equations x + y = 4, 2x − 2y = 4, draw the row picture (two intersecting lines) and
the column picture (combination of two columns equal to the column vector (4, 4) on the right
side).

3. Describe the intersection of the three hyperplanes in a four dimensional space

u + v + w + z = 6, u + w + z = 4, u+w =2

Is it a line or a point or an empty set? What is the intersection if the fourth hyperplane u = −1
is included? Find a different fourth equation that leaves us with no solution.

4. Under what conditions on y1 , y2 , y3 , do the points (0, y1 ), (1, y2 ), (2, y3 ) lie on a line?

5. Starting with x + 4y = 7, find the equation for the parallel line through x = 0, y = 0. Find the
equation of another line that meets the first at x = 3, y = 1.

6. Starting with a first plane u + 2v − w = 6, find the equation for

(a) the parallel plane through the origin.
(b) a second plane through origin that also contains the points (6, 0, 0) and (2, 2, 0).
(c) a third plane that meets the first and second in the point (4, 1, 0).

7. It is impossible for a system of linear equations to have exactly two solutions. Explain why.

(a) If (x, y, z) and (X, Y, Z) are two solutions of system of linear equations in 3 unknowns,
what is another one?
(b) If 25 planes in R3 meet at two points, where else do they meet?
     
−2 3
8. Show that the set c1 + c2 | c1 , c2 ∈ R describes a line. Does it describe a
5 −15/2
line through the origin?

9. Fill in the blanks.

(a) For four linear equations in two unknowns x and y, the row picture shows four .
The column picture is in dimensional space. The equations have no solutions unless
the vector on the right-hand side is a linear combination of .
 (b) If a linear system is consistent, then the solution is unique if and only if the following is
true about the columns containing pivots: .
(c) A 3 × 4 matrix can have at most pivots.
(d) A 4 × 3 matrix can have at most pivots.
10. Choose a coefficient a that makes this system singular. Then choose a right-hand side b that
makes it solvable. Find two solutions in that singular case.
2x + ay = 16, 4x + 8y = b.

11. What test on b1 , and b2 decides whether these two equations allow a solution? How many
solutions will they have? Draw the column picture.
3x − 2y = b1 , 6x − 4y = b2

12. If the following system is consistent for all values of c and d, what can you say about the
coefficients a and b?
2x1 + 4x2 = d, ax1 + bx2 = c

13. Find h and k, if they exist, such that the following system x1 + hx2 = 2, 4x1 + 8x2 = k has
(a) no solution, (b) a unique solution, and (c) many solutions.
14. Which number b leads later to a row exchange? Which b leads to a missing pivot? In that
singular case find a non-zero solution x, y, z.
x + by = 0, x − 2y − z = 0, y+z =0

15. Apply elimination (circle the pivots) and back-substitution to solve

2x − 3y = 3, 4x − 5y + z = 7, 2x − y − 3z = 5

16. (a) Verify that (1, 1) is a solution to 3x + y = 4. Find the solution set of this system.
(b) Find two systems of equations such that the solution set is {(1, 1)}.
17. Use elimination to solve
(a)
u + v + w = 6, u + 2v + 2w = 11, 2u + 3v − 4w = 3
(b)
u + v + w = 7, u + 2v + 2w = 10, 2u + 3v − 4w = 3
18. Find a polynomial p(t) = a0 + a1 t + a2 t2 such that p(1) = 6, p(2)=15, p(3)=28.
19. Consider a 3 × 3 system in variables u, v and w, with three (nonzero) pivots. State true or
false with explanation:
(a) If the third equation starts with a zero coefficient (it begins with 0u) then no multiple of
equation 1 will be subtracted from equation 3.
(b) If the third equation has zero as its second coefficient (it contains 0v then no multiple of
equation 2 will be subtracted from equation 3.
(c) If the third equation contains 0u and 0v then no multiple of equation 1 or no multiple of
equation 2 will be subtracted from equation 3.
20. Suppose a 3×5 coefficient matrix for a system has three pivot columns. Is the system consistent?
Why or why not?

21. Suppose A is a 3 × 3 matrix and b is a 3 × 1 column vector such that Ax = b does not have a
solution. Does there exist a 3 × 1 column vector y such that Ax = y has a unique solution?

22. Suppose A is a 3 × 4 matrix and b is a 3 × 1 column vector such that Ax = b does not have a
solution. Does there exist a 3 × 1 column vector y such that Ax = y has a unique solution?
 
1 −5 4 0  
0 1 0 1 1 7 −3
23. Let A = 0 0 3 0 and B = 0 1 −1 .
  
0 0 0
0 0 0 2
 
0
 0 
 0 .
(a) Find all possible solutions to Ax =  

0
State true or false with explanation: Ax = d is consistent for any 4 × 1 matrix d.
 
0
(b) Find all possible solutions to Bx =  0 .
0
State true or false with explanation: Bx = b is consistent for any 3 × 1 matrix b.

   
a b 1 0
24. Let A = , B be 2 × 2 matrices such that AB = I2 = . Show that BA = I2 .
0 d 0 1

25. Write your CPI as a linear combination (or weighted sum) of your grades.

26. A thin triangular plate of uniform density and thickness, and of mass 3 g, has vertices at
v3
4

v1 v2

v1 = (0, 1), v2 = (8, 1), and v3 = (2, 4), as in the figure. 8

(a) Find the (x, y)-coordinates of the centre of mass of the plate. (Hint: Find the centroid).
(b) The balance point of the plate coincides with the centre of mass of a system consisting
of three 1 gram point masses located at the vertices. Determine how to distribute an
additional mass of 6g at the three vertices of the plate to move the balance point to (2, 2).
Pn
m j vj
 
Center of mass, of point masses mj located at vj , j = 1, . . . , n, is given by Pj=1
n
mj
.
j=1

27. Consider an economy with three sectors: Fuels and Power, Manufacturing, and Services. Fuels
and Power sells 80% of its output to Manufacturing, 10% to services and retains the rest.
Manufacturing sells 10% of its out put to Fuels and Power, 80% to Services, and retains the
rest. Services sells 20% to Fuels and Power, 40% to Manufacturing, and retains the rest.
 Develop a system of equations that leads to prices at which each sector’s income matches its
expenses. Then write the augmented matrix that can be row reduced to find these prices.

28. Limestone, CaCO3 , neutralizes the acid H3 O, in acid rain by the following unbalanced equa-
tion.
H3 O + CaCO3 → H2 O + Ca + CO2 .
Balance this equation.

Tutorial 2: Wednesday, 17th Jan 2024

1. Let A and B be n × n matrices. State true or false with explanation:

(a) (AB)T = B T AT .
(b) If AB = 0 then A = 0 or B = 0.
(c) The zero matrix is diagonal.
(d) If A is upper triangular, then so is AT .
(e) The identity matrix I is upper triangular.
(f) Every lower triangular matrix is symmetric.
(g) If A is symmetric and skew-symmetric, then A = 0
(h) If A and B are triangular, then so is A + B.

2. Prove or disprove.

(a) If a 2 × 2 matrix A is such that AB = BA for all 2 × 2 matrices B, then A is a constant

multiple of the identity matrix.
(b) Let A be a matrix. There does not exist a matrix B such that BA = 2A.
(c) Product of triangular matrices is triangular.
(d) Inverse of an invertible triangular matrix is triangular.
(e) Inverse of an invertible symmetric matrix is symmetric.
(f) If u and v are solutions to Ax = b then so is (u + v).
(g) Given a square matrix A, if Ax = b has a solution for all b, then the solutions are all
unique.
(h) If A2 = A, then A = I or A = 0.

3. By trial and error find examples of 2 by 2 matrices such that

(a) A2 = −I, A having only real entries.

(b) B 2 = 0, although B ̸= 0.
(c) CD = −DC, not allowing the case CD = 0.
(d) EF = 0, although no entries of E or F are zero.
   
2 1 6 −4 0
4. Let C = −1 2 and D =  4 −2 0.
2 1 −1 0 3
  
1 3
(a) Find a 2 × 2 matrix X, if it exists such that CX = 3 1 .
1 3
(b) Find all column vectors X such that DX = 3X.
 
1 1 0
5. What three elementary matrices E21 , E31 , E32 put A =  4 6 1 into triangular form U ?
−2 2 0
Multiply the E’s to get one matrix M that does the elimination to give M A = U .

6. Fill in the blanks.

(a) Let A be a 3 × 3 matrix, with no row exchanges are needed in elimination to get U .
Suppose a33 = 7 and the third pivot is 5.
(i) If you change a33 to 11, what is the third pivot?
(ii) What should you change a33 to, so that there is a zero in the third pivot position?
(b) To obtain the entry in row 3, column 4 of AB we need to multiply the row of with
the column of .
(c) If a 5 × 5 matrix has number of pivots, then it is invertible.

7. Find A such that

           
0 1 1 0 2 0
A 1 = 0 , A  0  = 1 , and A 3 = 0 .
4 0 −3 0 8 1
 
0 1 2
How is A related to the matrix B = 1 0 3?
4 −3 8
8. Let A be m × n, and b be an m × 1 vector. If Ax = 0 has a unique solution, what can you say
about the number of solutions for Ax = b for some b?

9. Factor A into LU and write down the upper triangular system U x = c which appears after
elimination, for     
2 3 3 u 2
Ax = 0 5 7  v  = 2
6 9 8 w 5

10. How could you factor A into a product U L, upper triangular times lower triangular? Would
they be the same factors as in A = LU ?

11. Solve as two triangular system, without multiplying LU to find A:

     
1 0 0 2 4 4 u 2
LU x = 1 1 0
   0 1 2   v = 0
 
1 0 1 0 0 1 w 2
 12. For which numbers c, will A have LU decomposition ?
 
1 2 0
A = 3 c 1
0 1 1

13. Find the inverses of

   
0 0 0 1 2 3 0 0  
0 2 −1 0
0 2 0 4 5 0 0

A1 = 
0
, A2 =  , A = −1 2 −1 .
3 0 0 0 0 2 3
0 −1 2
4 0 0 0 0 0 4 5

14. If A, B and C are n × n matrices such that AB = In , and CA = In , then show that B = C.

15. (a) If P1 and P2 are permutation matrices, so is P1 P2 . This still has the rows of I in some
order. Give examples with P1 P2 ̸= P2 P1 and P3 P4 = P4 P3 .
(b) Find the inverses of the permutation matrices
   
0 0 1 0 0 1
P = 0 1 0 and P = 1 0 0
1 0 0 0 1 0

(c) Explain for permutations why P −1 is always the same as P T . Show that the 1’s are in
the right place to give P P T = I.

16. Suppose A is invertible and you exchange its first two rows to reach B. Is the new matrix B
invertible? How would you find B −1 from A−1 ?

17. Let A and B be n × n. Show that I − AB is invertible if I − BA is invertible. Start from

B(I − AB) = (I − BA)B.

18. This matrix has a remarkable inverse. Find A−1 by elimination on [A | I]. Extend it to 5 × 5
“alternating matrix in 1, −1” and guess its inverse.
 
1 −1 1 −1
0 1 −1 1 
A= 
0 0 1 −1
0 0 0 1

19. (a) There are sixteen 2 by 2 matrices whose entries are 1’s and 0’s. How many are invertible?
(b) If you put 1’s and 0’s at random into the entries of a 10 by 10 matrix, is it more likely to
be invertible or singular?

Tutorial 3: Wednesday, 24th Jan 2024

1. If Ax = b has infinitely many solutions, why is it impossible for Ax = c (a new constant vector)
to have exactly one solution? Is it possible for Ax = c to be inconsistent?
2. If Ax = b has two solutions x1 and x2 , find:
(a) two solutions to Ax = 0 and (b) another solution to Ax = b.

3. Solve the following system of equations

2x1 + 2x2 + 4x3 = 0

−4x1 − 4x2 −8x3 = 0
−3x2 + 3x3 = 0

and

2x1 + 2x2 + 4x3 = 8

−4x1 − 4x2 −8x3 = −16
−3x2 + 3x3 = 12

(a) How are these two solution sets related?

(b) Give a geometric description of the solution sets.
(c) Are either of these solutions sets closed under linear combinations?

4. Fill in the blanks.

(a) Suppose column 4 of a 3 × 5 matrix is all 0s. Then x4 is certainly a variable. The
special solution corresponding to x4 is x = .
(b) If A is an invertible 8 × 8 matrix, then its column space is . Why?
(c) If the 9 × 12 system Ax = b is solvable for every b, then C(A) = .
3 3
(d) Let L be a line in R through the origin, P be a plane in R through the origin, and
W ⊆ R3 be a subset which is closed under linear combinations. If W conatins P and L,
then W is either or .
(e) If we add an extra column b to a matrix A, then the column space gets larger unless .
Give an example in which the column space gets larger and an example in which it does
not.

5. Write down all possible 3 × 4 row reduced forms.

 
I F
6. If the r pivot variables come first, the reduced R must look like R = , where I is r × r,
0 0
and F is r × (n − r). What is the null space matrix containing the special solutions?
   
1 2 0 3 b1
7. Let A = and b = . Under what conditions on b does Ax = b have a
2 4 0 7 b2
solution? Find two vectors in N (A) and a complete solution to Ax = b.

8. Find q (if possible) so that the ranks are (a) 1, (b) 2, (c) 3:
 
6 4 2  
3 1 3
A = −3 −2
 −1  B= .
q 2 q
9 6 q
      
7 3 5
9. Let u = 2 , v = 1 and w = 1. Use the fact that 2u − 3v − w = 0 to solve the system.
    
5 3 1
   
7 3   5
2 1 x1 = 1 .
x2
5 3 1

10. Construct a matrix whose column space contains (1, 1, 1) and whose nullspace is the line of
multiples of (1, 1, 1, 1).

11. Reduce A and B to their echelon forms, find their ranks, the free and the dependent variables.
   
1 2 0 1 1 2 3
A = 0 1 1 0 B = 4 5 6  .
1 2 0 1 7 8 9
Find the special solutions to Ax = 0 and Bx = 0, and their nullspaces.

12. Reduce the matrices A and B to their echelon forms U . Find a special solution for each variable
and describe all solutions in the nullspace.
   
1 2 2 4 6 2 4 2
A = 1 2 3 6 9 B = 0 4 4  .
0 0 1 2 3 0 8 8

Reduce the echelon forms U to R, find the rank r and draw a box around the r × r identity
matrix in R.

13. Given a 4 × 4 matrix A with three pivot positions,

(a) does the equation Ax = 0 have a non-trivial solution?

(b) does the equation Ax = b have a least one solution for every possible b?

Repeat the above exercise when A is a 3 × 2 matrix with two pivot positions.
   
4 2 5 −1
14. Let u = −1 and A = 0 1 −1. Does u belong to C(A)? Why or why not?
4 1 2 0
15. Mark all the correct options.
 
1 1 1
(a) The solutions of Ax = 0, where A = form
1 0 2
(i) a plane (ii) a line (iii) a point (iv) a subspace of R2 .
(v) a subspace of R3 (vi) the nullspace of A (vii) the column space of A.
(b) A is m × n with row reduced form R. The rank of A is:
(i) The number of nonzero rows in R. (ii) n − m.
(iii) n − number of free columns. (iv) The number of 1’s in R.
(v) The number of dependent variables. (vi) min{m, n}.

16. Prove or disprove.

 (a) The set of nonsingular 2 × 2 matrices is a vector space.
(b) The set of singular 2 × 2 matrices is not a vector space.
(c) Let B = [A|b]. The system Ax = b is solvable exactly when C(A) = C(B).
(d) A system of equations Ax = 0 where A is a square matrix has no free variables.
(e) A system of equations Ax = 0 where A is an invertible matrix has no free variables.
(f) An m × n matrix has no more than min{m, n} pivot variables.
(g) Any linear combination of vectors can always be written as Ax for appropriate choices of
matrices A and column vector x.
(h) If A is a m × n matrix such that C(A) ⊊ Rm , then the equation Ax = b is not consistent
for every b ∈ Rm .

Tutorial 4: Wednesday, 31st Jan 2024

1. Write down 5 different subsets of R. Draw 5 different subsets in R2 . Identify which of them
are subspaces of the respective spaces, and if not, identify why it is not so.

2. Which of the following are subspaces of R3 ?

(i) The plane of vectors (b1 , b2 , b3 ) with (i) b1 = 0. (ii) b1 = 1.
(ii) The set of vectors (b1 , b2 , b3 ) with b2 b3 = 0.
(iii) All linear combinations of the vectors (1, 1, 0) and (2, 0, 1).
(iv) The plane of vectors (b1 , b2 , b3 ) satisfying b3 − b2 + 3b1 = 0.

3. Consider M, the set 3 × 3 matrices with standard operations. Which of the following are
subspaces of M?
(i) The symmetric matrices in M (i.e., A = AT ) form a subspace.
(ii) The skew symmetric matrices in M (i.e., A = −AT ) form a subspace.
(iii) The non-symmetric matrices in M (i.e., A ̸= AT ) form a subspace.
(iv) The set of upper triangular matrices in M form a subspace.
(v) The matrices that have (1, 1, 1) in their nullspace form a subspace.

4. Let V = C[0, 1], the vector space of continuous real-valued functions on the closed interval
[0, 1]. Which of the following are subspaces of V ? Justify.
(i) W0 = {f ∈ V | f (0) = 1} (ii) W1 = {f ∈ V | f (1) = 0}
(iii) W2 = set of polynomials of degree 2. R1
(iv) W3 = {f | f is a real valued function on [0, 1] such that 0 f (x)dx is finite.}
(v) C 1 [0, 1] the set of differentiable real-valued functions on [0, 1]
(vi) C ∞ [0, 1] the set of infinitely differentiable real-valued functions on [0, 1].
(vii) P2 = set of polynomials of degree at most 2.

5. Let V be a vector space, v1 , v2 , v3 ∈ V , W1 and W2 be subspaces of V . Prove or disprove:

(i) W1 ∩ W2 is a subspace of V . (ii) W1 ∪ W2 is a subspace of V .
(iii) W1 + W2 = {u + v | u ∈ W1 , v ∈ W2 } is a subspace of V .
(iv) V \ W1 = {u ∈ V | u ̸∈ W1 } is a subspace of V .
(v) W = set of all possible linear combinations of v1 , v2 and v3 .
(vi) W ′ = {a1 v1 + a2 v2 + a3 v3 | a1 ≥ 0}.

6. Describe the subspace of R3 spanned by:

 (a) u1 = (1, 1, −1)T and u2 = (−1, −1, 1)T .
(b) v1 = (0, 1, 1)T , v2 = (1, 1, 0)T and v3 = (0, 0, 0)T .
(c) The columns of a 3 × 5 echelon matrix with 2 pivots.
(d) All vectors with positive components.

7. Is v in Span{v1 , . . . , vn }? If yes, write v as a combination of the vi ’s.

(a) v1 = (1, 1, 0)T , v2 = (2, 2, 1)T , v3 = (0, 0, 2)T ; v = (3, 4, 5)T .

(b) v1 = (1, 2, 0)T , v2 = (2, 5, 0)T , v3 = (0, 0, 2)T , v4 = (0, 0, 0)T ; v = (a, b, c)T .

In each case, find a basis of Span{v1 , . . . , vn }.

8. Construct a 3 × 3 matrix whose column space contains (1, 1, 0) and (1, 0, 1), but not (1, 1, 1).
Construct a 3 × 3 matrix whose column space is only a line.

9. Suppose A is a 5 × 4 matrix with rank(A) = 4. Show that Ax = v has no solution if and only
if the 5 × 5 matrix [A|v] is invertible. Show Ax = v is solvable when [A|v] is singular.
 
2 −2
10. The matrix A = is a vector in M, the space of all 2 × 2 matrices. Write the zero
2 −2
vector in this space, the vectors 21 A and −A. What matrices are in the smallest subspace
containing A?

11. Describe the column space and null space for:

     
1 −1 0 0 3 0 0 0
A= B= C= .
0 0 1 2 3 0 0 0

12. x = v + w and y = v − w are combinations of v and w. Show that v and w can be written as
combinations of x and y. How are Span{v, w} and Span{x, y} related? When is each pair of
vectors a basis for its span?

13. Let P be the set of polynomials with real coefficients. Show that P is a real vector space under
term-wise addition and scalar multiplication. Can you find a linearly independent set of size
2? 3? 50?

14. How many pivots should a 6 × 4 matrix have if its columns are linearly independent? Why?
     
 1 −2 3 
15. Find values of h for which the following set is linearly dependent.  5 , −9 , h 
   
−3 6 −9
 

16. Determine by inspection whether the following

 sets
 of vectors
 are linearlyindependent.
 
         −8 2   0 
5 2 1 −1
(i) , , , . (ii)  12  , −3 . (iii) 0
1 8 3 7
−4 −1 0
   

17. Are the following vectors linearly independent?

(a) (1, 3, 2)T , (2, 1, 3)T , (3, 2, 1)T .

(b) (1, −3, 2)T , (2, 1, −3)T , (−3, 2, 1)T .
18. Let v1 = (1, 0, 0)T , v2 = (1, 1, 0)T , v3 = (1, 1, 1)T and v4 = (2, 3, 4)T .

(a) v1 , v2 , v3 , v4 are linearly dependent because .

(b) Find scalars a1 , a2 , a3 , a4 , not all zero, such that a1 v1 + a2 v2 + a3 v3 + a4 v4 = 0.
(c) Show that v1 , v2 , v3 are linearly independent.
(d) Find all combinations of 3 vectors from v1 , v2 , v3 , v4 , which are linearly independent.
(e) Compute the rank of A = (v1 v2 v3 v4 ), and the dimensions of its four fundamental
subspaces.

19. Find the largest possible number of independent vectors among: v1 = (1, −1, 0, 0)T ,
v2 = (1, 0, −1, 0)T , v3 = (1, 0, 0, −1)T , v4 = (0, 1, −1, 0)T , v5 = (0, 1, 0, −1)T , v6 = (0, 0, 1, −1)T .
How is this number related to Span{v1 , . . . , v6 }?

20. Fill in the blanks.

(a) Let P be the plane in R3 with the equation x + 2y + z = 6. The equation of the parallel
plane P0 through the origin is . Of the two, is a subspace of R3 . A basis is
{ }, and its dimension is .
(b) Two vectors v1 and v2 in R4 will be dependent if and only if .
(c) If v is any vector in R4 , v and 0 are dependent because .
(d) Consider f = 1, g = x, h = x2 ∈ C[0, 1]. Then Span{f, g, h} = . It has a basis and
its dimension is .
(e) Let W = Span{cos(x), sin(x)} ⊆ C[0, 1]. A basis of W is , and dim(W ) = .
(f) A basis for the subspace of symmetric 3 × 3 matrices is , and its dimension is .
Do the same for the subspaces of diagonal, skew-symmetric and lower triangular matrices
respectively.

21. Are the following true or false? Briefly explain if it is true, give a counter-example if it is false.

(a) If v1 , . . . , v4 are in R4 and {v1 , v3 , v4 } is linearly independent then {v1 , v2 , v3 } is linearly

independent.
(b) If S1 and S2 are subsets of a vector space V , then Span(S1 ∪ S2 ) = Span(S1 )∪ Span(S2 ).
(c) If the columns of a matrix are dependent, so are the rows.
(d) The columns of a matrix are a basis for its column space.
(e) If the vectors v1 , . . . , vn span a subspace V , then dim(V ) = n.
(f) If v1 , . . . , vn are linearly independent in a vector space V , then dim(V ) ≥ n.
(g) If W is a subspace of V , then dim(W ) ≤ dim(V ).
(h) The intersection of two subspaces of a vector space V cannot be empty.
(i) Given any non-zero 3 × 3 matrix A, if Ax = Ay, then x = y.
(j) If a square matrix A has independent columns, then so does A2 .
(k) If AB = 0, then C(B) is contained in N (A).
(l) The union of two linearly independent subsets in a vector space V is linearly independent.
 (m) The intersection of two linearly independent subsets in a vector space V is linearly inde-
pendent.
(n) If dim(V ) = n, then any set S ⊆ V with n elements spans V .
(o) If dim(V ) = n, then any set S ⊆ V with n elements that spans V is linearly independent.

22. A and B are 3 × 3 matrices. Mark all the correct options. Justify.

(a) C(A) = {0} ⇒ A = 0.

(b) C(2A) = C(A).
(c) C(A − I) = C(A).
(d) C(AB) = C(A).
(e) C(A) = C(AT ).
(f) C(A + B) ⊆ C(A).

23. Let P be the plane x − 2y + 3z = 0 in R3 .

(a) Find a basis for P.

(b) Find a basis for the space of all the vectors perpendicular to P.
(c) Find a basis for the intersection of P with the x-y plane.

24. Find a basis for each of the following subspaces of R4 .

(a) All vectors whose components are equal.

(b) All vectors whose components add to zero.
(c) All vectors that are perpendicular to (1, 1, 0, 0)T and (1, 0, 1, 1)T .

25. Let v1 , v2 , v3 , v4 ∈ R3 be vectors such that:

(i) Span{v1 , v2 , v3 , v4 } = R3 and (ii) the vectors {v2 , v3 , v4 } are linearly independent.
For each of the following statements, state if it is true or false. Justify.

(a) The vectors {v1 , v2 , v3 , v4 } are linearly independent.

(b) The vectors {v1 , v2 , v3 } form a spanning set for R3 .
(c) The vectors {v2 , v3 } are linearly independent.
(d) For any other vector v5 in R3 , the vectors {v1 , v2 , v3 , , v4 , v5 } form a spanning set for R3 .
(e) The vectors v2 + v3 , v2 + v4 , v3 + v4 are linearly independent.

26. If A is m × n, the columns of A are n vectors in Rm . If they are linearly independent, what is
rank(A)? If they span Rm , what is rank(A)? What happens if they are a basis of Rm ?

Tutorial 5: Wednesday, 7th Feb 2024

1. Are the following true or false? Briefly explain if it is true, give a counter-example if it is false.

(a) The vectors b not in the column space of a matrix A form a subspace.
(b) For any matrix A, dim(C(A)) = dim(C(AT )).
 (c) For matrices A and B (of the right size), rank(AB) ≤ rank(A). (Hint: How are C(AB)
and C(A) related?)
(d) There is a 3 × 3 matrix A whose column space is the same as its null space.
(e) A and AT have the same number of pivots.
(f) If W is a subspace of V , then dim(W ) ≤ dim(V ).
(g) If a square matrix A has independent columns, then so does A2 .
(h) If AB = 0, then C(B) is contained in N (A) and the row space of A is contained in the
left null space of B) .
(i) If the row space equals the column space, then A = AT .
(j) If AT = −A, then the row space of A equals its column space.
(k) If dim(V ) = n, then any set S ⊆ V with n elements spans V .
(l) If dim(V ) = n, then any set S ⊆ V with n elements that spans V is linearly independent.
 
1 0 1 0 1
2. Find a basis for the null space and column space of U = .
0 1 0 1 0
3. Prove that the following are subspaces of M, the set of 3 × 3 matrices, and find a basis.

(a) All diagonal matrices.

(b) All symmetric matrices (AT = A).
(c) All skew-symmetric matrices (AT = −A).
(d) All lower triangular matrices.

4. Find an echelon form U of A, and bases and the dimensions the row space, column space and
null space
 of A:   
0 1 2 3 4 1 2 0 1  
0 1 4 0
A = 0 1 2 4 6 B = 0 1 1 0 C= .
0 2 8 0
0 0 0 1 2 1 2 0 1
5. Without
 computing
  A, find bases
 of the row space, column space and null space of A:
1 0 0 1 2 3 4
A= 6 1 0   0 1 2 3.
9 8 1 0 0 1 2
6. Let A be m × n with rank r. Suppose there are right hand sides b for which Ax = b is not
solvable.

(a) What inequalities must be true between m, n and r?

(b) Explain why AT y = 0 has non-trivial solutions.

7. Fill in the blanks: Let A be an m × n matrix, with rank r.

(a) If A has linearly independent columns, then r = , the nullspace is , and the row
space is .
(b) If Ax = b always has at least one solution, then the solutions to AT y = 0 is/are .
(Hint: Find r).
 (c) If m = n = 3 and A is invertible, then a basis for (i) N (A) is , (ii) C(A) is ,
(iii)
N (AT ) is and (iv) C(AT ) is . Do the same for the 3 × 6 matrix B = A A .
(d) If m = 7, n = 9 and r = 5, then the dimension of (i) N (A) is , (ii) C(A) is ., (iii)
N (AT ) is and (iv) C(AT ) is .
(e) If m = 3, n = 4 and r = 3, then C(A) = . and N (AT ) = .
(f) Fill in the blanks: A is a 6 × 4 matrix whose columns are independent. The number of
pivots of A are . Why?
(g) If B is obtained by exchanging the first two rows of A, then the fundamental subspaces
which remain unchanged are .
(h) If B is obtained by exchanging the first two columns of A, if (1, 2, 3, 4)T is in the nullspace
of A, a non-zero vector in the nullspace of B is .

8. Define T : R2 −→ R2 as T u = Au.
Describe what T does geometrically to √a point
! in R2 for A =
1 3
       
1 0 −1 0 2
√ 2 1 1 1 0
(i) (ii) (iii) 3 1
(iv) (v) .
0 2 0 1 − 0 1 0 0
2 2

9. Write down as many functions as possible from R to R. Which of them are linear?

10. Show that T : R4 → R3 defined as T (x1 , x2 , x3 , x4 ) = (x1 + x2 , x2 + x3 , x3 + x4 ) is a linear

transformation. Find a matrix A such that for every u in R4 , we have T (u) = Au.
Note: Such a matrix A is called the standard matrix of T .

11. Is det : M2×2 → R a linear transformation? What about the trace of a matrix given by
tr: M2×2 → R defined as the sum of the diagonal entries?

12. State true or false. If true, prove the statement, and if false, explain why and give a counter-
example.

(a) If T : V → V is a linear transformation of vector space V and W ⊆ V a subspace of V .

Then T (W ) is a subspace of V .
(b) There is no one-one linear transformation from R3 → R2 .
(c) There is no onto linear transformation from R3 → R2 .
(d) There is no one-one linear transformation from R2 → R3 .
(e) There is no onto linear transformation from R2 → R3 .

13. Show that the function T : M2×3 → M3×2 defined as T (A) = At is a linear transformation,
which is a bijection.
Note: Such a map is called a linear isomorphism, or just isomorphism.

14. Show that S1 , S2 : Mn×n → Mn×n defined as S1 (A) = A + AT and S2 (A) = A − AT are linear
transformations . Find N (S1 ), N (S2 ), C(S1 ) and C(S2 ).
df
15. Define D : P 3 → P 2 as D(f ) = dx for all polynomials f of degree less than or equal to 3. Show
that this is a linear transformation. Find N (D) and C(D).

16. Let V = R∞ and W be the subspace of all convergent sequences.

Let T : W → R be defined as follows: for x = (x1 , x2 , . . . 0, define T (x) = limn→∞ (xn ).
Show that T is a linear transformation. What is N (T )? C(T )?
 17. Let V = C ∞ (R) be the vector space of all real-valued functions of a real variable which are
differentiable infinitely many times.
Show that D : V → V , defined a D(f ) = f ′ is a linear transformation.
Is D2 = D ◦ D linear? How about D − 2, defined by (D − 2)(f ) = D(f ) − 2f ?
What is N (D)? N (D2 )? N (D − 2)? N (D − 2)2 ? N (D2 − 3D + 2)?
R
18. Is I : P → P defined as I(f ) = f dx a linear transformation? Prove or disprove.

19. Construct a linear map T from P2 (R) → R such that T (1) = 1, T (1 − x) = 2 and T (x2 ) = 3.
What is N (T ) and C(T )? How many such maps can you construct? Is there one with T (x) = 0?

20. Find the standard matrix of T : R2 → R2 defined as T (x1 , x2 ) = (x1 + 2x2 , x2 ). Can you find
a basis B of R2 such that [T ]B
B is diagonal?
21. Let Let dim(V ) = n and B = {v1 , v2 , · · · vn } be a basis of V .

(a) Let T : V → V be the transformation defined by T (vi ) = vi+1 for all i = 1, 2, · · · , n − 1

and T (vn ) = 0. Find the matrix A representing T with respect to the basis B.
(b) Prove that T n = 0 but T n−1 ̸= 0.

22. Let V be a finite dimensional vector space with a basis B = {v1 , v2 , . . . vk }. Let T : V → V be
a linear transformation and A = [T ]B
B . Show that the following statements are equivalent.
(a) The linear transformation T is invertible.
(b) Span{T (v1 ), T (v2 ), . . . , T (vk )} = V .
(c) Dimension of C(T ) = k.
(d) Dimension of N (T ) = 0.
(e) T is one-one.
(f) T (v1 ), T (v2 ), . . . , T (vk ) are linearly independent.
(g) Ax = 0 has a unique solution.
(h) The columns of A form al linearly independent set of Rk .
(i) Ax = b has a solution for all b ∈ Rk .
(j) Rank of A = k.
(k) A is invertible.
(l) At is invertible .
(m) Rows of A form a linearly independent subset of Rk .

Tutorial 6: Wednesday, 14 Feb 2024

1. Find the standard matrix of T : R2 → R2 defined as T (x1 , x2 ) = (x1 + 2x2 , x2 ). Can you find
a basis B of R2 such that [T ]B
B is diagonal?
2. Let Let dim(V ) = n and B = {v1 , v2 , · · · vn } be a basis of V .

(a) Let T : V → V be the transformation defined by T (vi ) = vi+1 for all i = 1, 2, · · · , n − 1

and T (vn ) = 0. Find the matrix A representing T with respect to the basis B.
 (b) Prove that T n = 0 but T n−1 ̸= 0.

3. Let V be a finite dimensional vector space with a basis B = {v1 , v2 , . . . vk }. Let T : V → V be

a linear transformation and A = [T ]B
B . Show that the following statements are equivalent.
(a) The linear transformation T is invertible.
(b) Span{T (v1 ), T (v2 ), . . . , T (vk )} = V .
(c) Dimension of C(T ) = k.
(d) Dimension of N (T ) = 0.
(e) T is one-one.
(f) T (v1 ), T (v2 ), . . . , T (vk ) are linearly independent.
(g) Ax = 0 has a unique solution.
(h) The columns of A form al linearly independent set of Rk .
(i) Ax = b has a solution for all b ∈ Rk .
(j) Rank of A = k.
(k) A is invertible.
(l) At is invertible .
(m) Rows of A form a linearly independent subset of Rk .
(n) det A ̸= 0.

4. Consider the linear transformation D2 : P 3 → P 3 . Let S = {1, x, x2 , x3 } denote the standard

basis of P 3 . Find [D2 ]S 2 2
S , N (D ) and C(D ). What do they mean in terms of polynomials? If
B = {1, 1 + x, 1 + x + x2 , 1 + x + x2 + x3 }, then find [D2 ]B 2 S
B ? Also, find [D ]B .
5. What 3 × 3 (standard) matrices represent the transformations that

(a) project every vector onto the x − y plane?

(b) reflect every vector through the x − y plane?
(c) rotate the x − y plane through 90◦ , leaving the z-axis alone?
(d) rotate the x − y plane, then x − z, then y − z, through 90◦ .?
(e) carry out the same three rotations, but each one through 180◦ .?

6. (a) What matrix M transforms (1, 0) and (0, 1) to (r, t) and (s, u)?
(b) What matrix N transforms (a, c) and (b, d) to (1, 0) and (0, 1) ?
(c) What conditions on a, b, c and d will make the previous part impossible?

7. Prove or disprove:

(a) If A and B are identical except that b11 = 2a11 , then det(B) = 2 det(A).
(b) If T (v) is known for n different nonzero vectors in Rn , then we know T (v) for every vector
in Rn .
(c) If A is invertible and B is singular, then A + B is invertible.
(d) If A is invertible and B is singular, then AB is singular.
 (e) The eigenvectors of a 3 × 3 matrix A will give a basis for R3 .

8. If every row of A adds to zero, prove that det(A) = 0. If every row adds to 1, prove that
det(A − I) = 0. Show by an example that this does not imply det(A) = 1.

9. Suppose CD = −DC. Find the flaw in the following argument:

Taking determinants gives det(C) det(D) = − det(D) det(C) ⇒ det(C) = 0 or det(D) = 0.
Thus CD = −DC ⇒ C is singular or D is singular.

10. Find these determinants by Gaussian elimination:

   
1 1 1 1 2 0
A = 1 2 2 , B = 0 3 0
1 2 3 0 4 1

1 t t2 t3
   
11 12 13 14
21 22 23 24  t 1 t t2 
C=
31
, D=
t2 t 1 t 

32 33 34
41 42 43 44 t3 t2 t 1
.

11. (a) If a11 = a22 = a33 = 0, how many of the six terms in det(A3×3 ) will be zero?
(b) If a11 = a22 = a33 = a44 = 0, how many of the 24 terms in det(A4×4 ) will be zero?

12. Choose the third row of the following matrix

 
0 1 0
A = 0 0 1

so that its characteristic polynomial is −λ3 + 4λ2 + 5λ + 6.

13. Find the rank and all four eigenvalues for the matrix of ones and the chess board matrix:
   
1 1 1 1 0 1 0 1
1 1 1 1 1 0 1 0
A=
1
 and B =  
1 1 1 0 1 0 1
1 1 1 1 1 0 1 0

14. Suppose A is a 3 × 3 matrix whose eigenvalues are 0, 3, 5 with independent eigenvectors u, v, w.

(a) Give a basis for the nullspace and a basis for the column space of A.
(b) Find a particular solution to Ax = v + w. Find all solutions.
(c) Show that Ax = u has no solution. (Hint: If it had a solution, then C(A) = )

15. Let A be a 2 × 2 matrix with eigenvalues λ1 = 4 and λ2 = 5. Explain why Trace(A) = 9, and
det(A) = 20. (Hint: Characteristic polynomial of A is .) Find at least three such matrices
A.

16. Suppose u, v ∈ Rn , and A = uv T i.e., a column times a row.

 (a) By multiplying A times u, show that u is an eigenvector. What is λ ?
(b) What are the other eigenvalues of A (and why)? (Hint: rank(A) = .)
(c) Compute trace(A) from the sum on the diagonal and the sum of λ’s.

17. When P exchanges rows 1 and 2 and columns 1 and 2, the eigenvalues do not change. Find
eigenvectors of A and P AP for λ = 11:
   
1 2 1 6 3 3
A = 3 6 3 and P AP = 2
   1 1
4 8 4 8 4 4

Tutorial 7: Wednesday, 21st Feb 2024

1. Let A be a 2 × 2 matrix satisfying A2 = I.

(a) What are the possible eigenvalues of A?

(b) If A ̸= ±I, find its trace and determinant.
(c) If the first row of A is (3, −1), what is the second row?
 
4 3
2. If A = . Find A100 by diagonalising A.
1 2
3. Find all the eigenvectors and eigenvalues of
 
1 1 1
A = 1 1 1
1 1 1

and write two different diagonalising matrices S.

4. Suppose A has eigenvalues 1, 2, 4. What is the trace of A2 ? What is the determinant of (A−1 )T ?

5. Which of the following cannot be diagonalised?

     
2 −2 2 0 2 0
A= B= C=
2 −2 2 −2 2 2

6. Mark all the choices which are correct and explain why.

(a) If the eigenvalues of A are 1, 1, 2 then,

i. A is invertible.
ii. A is diagonalizable.
iii. A is not diagonalizable.
(b) If the n columns of P (eigenvectors of A) are independent, then
i. A is invertible.
ii. A is diagonalizable.
iii. P is invertible.
iv. P is diagonalizable.
 
3 1
7. The matrix A = is not diagonalisable because the rank of A − 3I is . Explain.
0 3
If you are allowed to change one entry to make A diagonalizable, which entries could you
change?
 
0.6 0.4
8. Find Λ and P to diagonalize A = .
0.4 0.6

(a) What is the limit of Λk as k → ∞?

(b) What is the limit of P Λk P −1 ?
(c) Ak = P Λk P −1 approaches the zero matrix as k → ∞ if and only if every λ has absolute
value less than ?
   
−2 3
9. Let A be a 2 × 2 matrix. Let N (A − I) = Span and N (A − 4I) = Span .
1 −1

(a) Find A. Is A diagonalizable? Explain why.

 
2 1 0
(b) Find a diagonal matrix B such that B = .
0 4
(c) Use previous parts to find a matrix X such that X 2 = A.

10. Project b = (0, 3, 0) onto each of the orthonormal vectors a1 = ( 32 , 23 , − 13 ) and a2 = (− 13 , 23 , 23 )

and then find its projection p onto the plane of a1 and a2 .

11. Project the vector b = (1, 2) onto two vectors that are not orthogonal, a1 = (1, 0) and a2 =
(1, 1). Show that, unlike the orthogonal case, the sum of the two one- dimensional projections
does not equal b.

12. Find a third column so that the matrix

 √ √ 
1/√3 1/√14
Q = 1/√3 2/ √14 
1/ 3 −3/ 14

is orthogonal. It must be a unit vector that is orthogonal to the other columns; how much
freedom does this leave? Verify that the rows automatically become orthonormal at the same
time.

13. If the vectors q1 , q2 , q3 are orthonormal, what combination of q1 and q2 is closest to q3 ?

14. Find an orthonormal set q1 , q2 , q3 for which q1 , q2 , span the column space of
 
1 1
A =  2 −1 .
−2 4

Which fundamental subspace contains q3 ? What is the least-squares solution of Ax = b if

b = [1 2 7]T ?
15. Apply Gram-Schmidt to (1, −1, 0), (0, 1, −1), and (1, 0, −1), to find an orthonormal basis on
the plane x1 + x2 + x3 = 0. What is the dimension of this subspace, and how many nonzero
vectors come out of Gram-Schmidt?

16. Find orthogonal vectors A, B, C by Gram-Schmidt from a = (1, −1, 0, 0), b = (0, 1, −1, 0),
c = (0, 0, 1, −1). A, B, C and a, b, c are bases for the vectors perpendicular to d = (1, 1, 1, 1).

17. Construct the projection matrix P onto the space spanned by (1, 1, 1) and (0, 1, 3).

18. If Q is orthogonal, is the same true of Q3 ?

19. The system Ax = b has a solution if and only if b is orthogonal to which of the four fundamental
spaces?

20. Find an orthonormal basis for the plane x − y + z = 0, and find the matrix P that projects
onto the plane. What is the nullspace of P .

21. Find the best straight-line fit (least squares) to the measurements: b = 4 at t = −2, b = 3 at
t = −1, b = 1 at t = 0 and b = 0 at t = 2.
Find the projection of b = (4, 3, 1, 0)t onto Span{(1, 1, 1, 1)t , (−2, −1, 0, 2)t }.

22. A certain experiment produces the data (1, 7.9), (2, 5.4)and (3, −0.9). Describe the model that
produces a least squares fit of these points by a function of the form y = a cos( πx πx
6 ) + b sin( 6 ).

23. CT scanners examine the patient from different directions and produce a matrix giving the
densities of bone and tissue at each point. Mathematically, the problem is to recover a matrix
from its projections. in the 2 by 2 case, can you recover the matrix A if you know the sum
along each row and down each column?

24. Find an orthonormal basis for R3 starting with the vector (1, 1, 1).

25. Let W be a subspace of Rn . Define W ⊥ = {v ∈ Rn | v T w = 0 for alll w ∈ W }. Show that W ⊥

is a subspace of Rn .

26. Let W be a subspace of Rn , B 1 = {w1 , . . . , wr } and B 2 be ordered bases of W and W ⊥

respectively, and π : Rn → Rn be defined by π(v) = projW (v).

(a) Show that B = B 1 ∪ B 2 is a basis of Rn .

(b) Show that π is linear.
(c) Find N (π), and C(π).
(d) Find P = [π]B B.
(e) If B 1 is an orthogonal basis of W , show that for v ∈ Rn , π(v) = projw1 (v)+· · · + projwr (v).

27. State true or false. If true, explain your answer and if false give a counter-example.

(a) Any matrix with determinant 1 is a orthogonal matrix.

(b) An orthogonal matrix cannot have eigenvalue 3.
(c) Let A be a 2 × 2 diagonalizable matrix. Applying Gram-Schmidt process to a basis of R2
consisting of eigenvectors of A will give a orthogonal basis of R2 consisting of eigenvectors
of A.
 (d) Product of orthogonal matrices is orthogonal.
(e) Any projection matrix P (that satisfies P 2 = P ) is invertible.
 
1 1 1
28. Let A = 1 1 1. Find a orthogonal matrix Q and a diagonal matrix Λ such that A =
1 1 1
QΛQ .T

29. Hooke’s Law states that displacement x of the spring is directly proportional to the load (mass)
applied, i.e., m = kx. A student performs experiments to calculate spring constant k. The
data collected says for loads 4, 7, 11 kg applied, the displacement is 3, 5, 8 inches respectively.
Hence we have:
   
3 4
 5 k =  7  (ak = b).
8 11

Show this is an inconsistent system. Estimate k using the method of least squares.

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