110

Chapter Two. Vector Spaces

Restated, subset preserves independence and superset preserves dependence.

Those are two of the four possible cases. The third case, whether subset
preserves linear dependence, is covered by Example 1.17, which gives a linearly
dependent set S with one subset that is linearly dependent and another that is
independent. The fourth case, whether superset preserves linear independence,
is covered by Example 1.15, which gives cases where a linearly independent set
has both an independent and a dependent superset. This table summarizes.

S independent
S dependent

S
S

S
S

must be independent
S
may be either
S

may be either
S
must be dependent
S

Example 1.15 has something else to say about the interaction between linear
independence and superset. It names a linearly independent set that is maximal
in that it has no supersets that are linearly independent. By Lemma 1.14 a
linearly independent set is maximal if and only if it spans the entire space,
because that is when all the vectors in the space are already in the span. This
nicely complements Lemma 1.13, that a spanning set is minimal if and only if it
is linearly independent.
Exercises
X 1.20 Decide whether each subset of R3 is linearly dependent or linearly independent.
1
2
4
(a) { 3 , 2 , 4 }
5
4
14

1
2
3
(b) { 7 , 7 , 7 }
7
7
7

0
1
(c) { 0 , 0 }
1
4

9
2
3
12
(d) { 9 , 0 , 5 , 12 }
0
1
4
1
X 1.21 Which of these subsets of P3 are linearly dependent and which are independent?
(a) { 3 x + 9x2 , 5 6x + 3x2 , 1 + 1x 5x2 }
(b) { x2 , 1 + 4x2 }
(c) { 2 + x + 7x2 , 3 x + 2x2 , 4 3x2 }
(d) { 8 + 3x + 3x2 , x + 2x2 , 2 + 2x + 2x2 , 8 2x + 5x2 }
X 1.22 Prove that each set { f, g } is linearly independent in the vector space of all
functions from R+ to R.
(a) f(x) = x and g(x) = 1/x

Section II. Linear Independence

111

(b) f(x) = cos(x) and g(x) = sin(x)

(c) f(x) = ex and g(x) = ln(x)
X 1.23 Which of these subsets of the space of real-valued functions of one real variable
is linearly dependent and which is linearly independent? (We have abbreviated
some constant functions; e.g., in the first item, the 2 stands for the constant
function f(x) = 2.)
(a) { 2, 4 sin2 (x), cos2 (x) }
(b) { 1, sin(x), sin(2x) }
(c) { x, cos(x) }
(d) { (1 + x)2 , x2 + 2x, 3 }
(e) { cos(2x), sin2 (x), cos2 (x) }
(f) { 0, x, x2 }
2
2
2
1.24 Does the equation sin (x)/ cos (x) = tan (x) show that this set of functions
{ sin2 (x), cos2 (x), tan2 (x) } is a linearly dependent subset of the set of all real-valued
functions with domain the interval (/2../2) of real numbers between /2 and
/2)?
1.25 Is the xy-plane subset of the vector space R3 linearly independent?
X 1.26 Show that the nonzero rows of an echelon form matrix form a linearly independent set.
X 1.27 (a) Show that if the set {~u,~v, w
~ } is linearly independent then so is the set
{~u, ~u + ~v, ~u + ~v + w
~ }.
(b) What is the relationship between the linear independence or dependence of
{~u,~v, w
~ } and the independence or dependence of {~u ~v,~v w
~ ,w
~ ~u }?
1.28 Example 1.10 shows that the empty set is linearly independent.
(a) When is a one-element set linearly independent?
(b) How about a set with two elements?
1.29 In any vector space V, the empty set is linearly independent. What about all
of V?
1.30 Show that if {~x, ~y, ~z } is linearly independent then so are all of its proper
subsets: {~x, ~y }, {~x, ~z }, {~y, ~z }, {~x },{~y }, {~z }, and { }. Is that only if also?
1.31 (a) Show that this

1
1
S = { 1 , 2 }
0
0
is a linearly independent subset of R3 .
(b) Show that

3
2
0
is in the span of S by finding c1 and c2 giving a linear relationship.


1
1
3
c1 1 + c2 2 = 2
0
0
0
Show that the pair c1 , c2 is unique.
(c) Assume that S is a subset of a vector space and that ~v is in [S], so that ~v is a
linear combination of vectors from S. Prove that if S is linearly independent then
a linear combination of vectors from S adding to ~v is unique (that is, unique up
to reordering and adding or taking away terms of the form 0 ~s). Thus S as a