3.

3 The Dimension of a Subspace of Rn

Thm 3.3.1:
Consider vectors v~1 , . . . , v~p and w~1 , . . . , w~q in a subspace V of Rn . If the vectors v~1 , . . . , v~p
are linearly independent, and the vectors w~1 , . . . , w~q span V , then q p.
Thm 3.3.2: Number of vectors in a basis
All bases of a subspace V of Rn consist of the same number of vectors.
Def 3.3.3: Dimension
Let V be a subspace of Rn . The number of vectors in a basis of V is called the dimension
of V , or dim(V ) .
Thm 3.3.4: Independent vectors and spanning vectors in a subspace of Rn
Consider a subspace V of Rn with dim(V ) = m.
1. We can find at most m linearly independent vectors in V . In other words, if
w~1 , . . . , w~m are linearly independent vectors in V , then m dim(V ).
2. We need at least m vectors to span V .
3. If m vectors in V are linearly independent, then they form a basis of V .
4. If m vectors in V span V , then they form a basis of V .
Note: By definition, some vectors v~1 , . . . , v~m in V form a basis of V if they are linearly
independent and span V . However, if we are dealing with the right number of vectors
(namely, m, the dimension of V ), then it suffices to check only one of the two properties;
the other will then follow automatically.
Example 1: Finding Bases of Kernel and Image
Consider the matrix

1
2
2 5
6
1 2 1
1 1

A=
4
8
5 8
9
3
6
1
5 7
a. Find a basis of the kernel of A, and thus determine the dimension of the kernel.
b. Find a basis of the image of A, and thus determine the dimension of the image.
Solution:
a. Solve A~x = ~0.
b. Row-reduce A and remove redundant vector(s).

Thm 3.3.5: Using rref to construct a basis of the image

To construct a basis of the image of A, pick the column vectors of A that correspond
to the columns of rref(A) containing the leading 1s.
Thm 3.3.6: Dimension of the image
For any matrix A, dim(im A) = rank(A).
Thm 3.3.7: Rank-Nullity Theorem
For any n m matrix A,
dim(ker A) + dim(im A) = m
dim(ker A) is called nullity of A.
dim(im A) is also rank(A).
Therefore, we can also write this theorem as:
(nullity of A) + (rank of A) = m