More Examples of Linear Transformations

1. True or false: If A is an n m matrix, then T : Rm Rn defined by T (~x) = A~x is a linear

transformation.

2. Consider the vectors ~e1 and ~e2 in R2 .

2
1

-2

-1

-1
-2

In each part below, you are given a matrix A. Draw what happens to the vectors ~e1 and ~e2 after
applying the linear transformation T (~x) = A~x. Describe the effect of the linear transformation in
words.




1 1
1 0
(a) A =
(b) A =
0 1
0
1

-2

-1

-2

-1

-1

-1

-2

-2


0
(c) A =
1

-2


1
0


0
(d) A =
1


1
0

-1

-2

-1

-1

-1

-2

-2

3. Let T be counterclockwise rotation by the angle in R2 . Find the matrix of T .

Definition. Let L be a line in Rn going through the origin, and let ~x be any vector in Rn . Then, we can
write
~x = ~xk + ~x
where ~xk is parallel to L and ~x is perpendicular to L.

L
~
x

~
x

~
xk
O

(Intuitively, we get ~x by dropping a perpendicular from ~x to L.) The orthogonal projection of ~x onto
L, denoted projL (~x), is defined to be ~xk .

4. Let L be the line y = 3x in R2 . Find the matrix of projL .

5. As in #4, let L be the line y = 3x in R2 . Now, lets look at ref L , reflection over the line L. You already
know one way to find the matrix of ref L (see Problem Set 4, #3), but heres another that uses what
you figured out in #4.
(a) Given a vector ~x, express ref L (~x) in terms of projL (~x) and ~x.

(b) Use your answers to (a) and #4 to find the matrix of ref L .

(c) How can you check that the matrix you found in (b) is really the matrix of reflection over the line
y = 3x in R2 ?

6. Suppose ~v1 , ~v2 , ~v3 are 3 (not necessarily distinct) vectors in R3 .

(a) What shapes could span(~v1 , ~v2 , ~v3 ) be? List all possibilities.

(b) Geometrically, how can you tell whether (~v1 , ~v2 , ~v3 ) is a basis of R3 ?