Chapter 5 –
The vector
space Rn
Our goal
o Subspaces of Rn
o Spanning sets
o Independence
o Bases of vector spaces
o Dimensions
What are vectors?
o Vectors in plane - examples
Vector addition – example
Scalar multiplication
o Multiply a vector v =
(v1, v2) by a
number/scalar c:
cv = (cv1, cv2)
n-Vectors
o (x1, x2) // vector in R2
o (x1, x2, x3) // vector in R3
o (x1, x2, x3, x4) // vector in R4
o (x1, x2, …, xn) // vector in Rn
o A vector (x1, x2, …, xn) in Rn is also
called a point in Rn.
o (0, 0, …, 0): the zero vector in Rn
Vectors in R3
Vector addition and scalar
multiplication in Rn
u = u1, u2, …, un)
v = (v1, v2, …, vn)
o Vector addition:
u + v = (u1 + v1, u2 + v2, …, un + vn)
o Scalar multiplication:
cv = (cv1, cv2, …, cvn)
examples
Given two vectors u = (2, -1, 1, 2), v = (3, 1,
2, -1)
o Find u + v
u + v = (5, 0, 3, 1)
o Find ½u
½u = (1, - ½, ½,1)
o Find -3v
-3v = (-9, -3, -6, 3)
o And find 3u - 2v
3u + 2v = (0, -5, -1, 8)
Write a vector as a linear
combination of other vectors
o Given u = (1, -1, 2), v = (2, 1, 3), w =
(1, -3, 1).
o Write w as a linear combination of u and
v, that is find numbers a, b such that:
w = au + bv w = 2u - v
(1, -3, 1) = a(1, -1, 2) + b(2, 1, 3) a + b =1
-a + b = -3
w u v 2a + 3b = 1
= (a + b, -a + b, 2a + 3b) a = 2, b = -1
Definition - Subspaces of Rn
o A nonempty subset V is called a subspace of Rn
if:
o for all
o for any and any number c
o Example. V = {(a, a, 0) | a R}
o (0, 0, 0) is in V
o If (a, a, 0) and (b, b, 0) are in V then (a + b, a + b,
0) is in V
o If v=(a, a, 0) is in V then cv = (ca, ca, 0) is in V
o V is a subspace of R3.
Some examples of sets that
are NOT subspaces of Rn:
U=
V=
W=
Some examples of sets that
are NOT subspaces of Rn:
⃗ =( 0 , 1 ,1 ) , ⃗𝑣 =(1 , 0 , 0)
𝑢
// in V
V = {(a, b, c) | a = 0 or b = 0}
+ = (1, 1, 1) // not in V
V = {(a, b, c) | a = b or a = -b}
// in V
but u + v is not in V
Key = a
Subspace or not?
Key = a
Subspace or not?
Spanning sets
o V = span{} = {a | a, b in R}
u
v
V
o V = span{} = {a + c| a, b, c in R}.
o We also say {u, v, w} spans V
o a + c is called a linear combination of
Spanning sets - Examples
Given V = span{(-1, 2, 1), (3, -5, -1)}
a. (-1, 1, 1) V?
b. Find m such that (-2, 1, m)V.
Solution.
-a + 3b = -1
a. (-1, 1, 1) = a(-1, 2, 1) + b(3, -5, -1)
2a – 5b = 1
(-1, 1, 1) = (-a + 3b, 2a – 5b, a –b) a – b = 1
-a + 3b = -2
b. (-2, 1, m) = a(-1, 2, 1) + b(3, -5, 2a
-1)– 5b = 1
a– b=m
Spanning set - Example
o Find m such that (-1, -2, m) lies in the subspace
spanned by the vectors
(1, 2, -3), (-1, -1, 5) and (2, 5, -4).
o Solution.
We want the system below has solution a, b, c:
(-1, -2, m) = a(1, 2, -3) + b(-1, -1, 5) + c(2, 5, -4)
(-1, -2, m) = (a -2b + 2c, 2a –b +5c, -3a + 5b -4c)
( | )( | )
a – b + 2c = -1 1 −1 2 −1 1 −1 2 −1
2a – b + 5c = -2 2 −1 5 −2 0 1 1 0
-3a + 5b – 4c = m −3 5 −4 𝑚 0 2 2 𝑚−3
( | )
1 −1 2 −1
0 1 1 0 m=3
0 0 0 𝑚 −3
linear combination
o Given u = (1, -1, 2), v = (-2, 0, 3) and w
= (-3, 2, 1)
o Write x = (1, 0, 2) as a linear
combination of u, v, and w.
o We find numbers a, b, c such that:
x = au + bv + cw
(1, 0, 2) = a(1, -1, 2) + b(-2, 0, 3) + c(3,
2, 1)
(1, 0, 2) = (a -2b + 3c, -a + 2c, 2a + 3b +
c) 1a -2b + 3c =
1 a = 2, b = -1, c = 1
-1a + 0b + 2c = x = 2u –v + w
0
2a + 3b + 1c =
2
Spanning sets – Do yourself
1. Find the values of t for which (2, -1, t) lies
in the subspace spanned by the vectors (-
1, 1, 0) and (2, -3, -1).
2. For what values of x does the vector (1, 1,
x) is a linear combination of the vectors
(1, 0, -3) and (-2, 1, 5)?
3. Find the values of m such that (4, -2, -1,
m) lies in the subspace spanned by the
vectors (1, 0, -1, 1), (1, 0, 0, 1), and (2, -1,
1, 0).
Key = d, e, b
Spanning sets. Linear
combinations.
Let X = (-1, -3, 3) and U = span{Y = (1, 0, 3), Z = (1, 1, 1)}.
If X is in U, write X =aY + bZ, then find the sum a+b.
a) X is not in U b) a+b = -1
c) a+b = 4 d) a+b = 0 e) None of these
Key = e, c, a
Spanning sets. Linear
combinations.
Suppose V = span{(1, -1, 0), (2, -1, 1), (-1, 0, 1)}. Find all values of t
such that (1, 2, t) V.
a) t is arbitrary b) t = 3/2 c) t = 3 d) t = -1
Key = b
Spanning sets. Linear
combinations.
Next
o Linear independence
o Basis of a vector space
o Dimension of a vector space
o Length of a vector
o Column space and row space of a matrix
