F1.

2MH1 Linear Algebra

EXAMPLES 2: VECTOR SPACES AND SUBSPACES

1. Show that:
(a) The set of vectors of the form (a, 0, 0) is a subspace of R3 ;
(b) The set of vectors of the form (a, 1, 0) is not a subspace of R3 ;
(c) The set of vectors of the form (a, 3a, 2a) is a subspace of R3 ;
(d) The set of vectors {(x, y, z) ∈ R3 : 2x − 3y + z = 0} is a subspace of R3 ;
(e) {(x, y, z) | x2 + y2 + z2 ≤ 1} is not a subspace of R3 .
2. Determine which of the following are subspaces of M22 :
 
a b
(a) The set of matrices of the form where a, b, c and d are inte-
c d
gers;
(b) The set of 2 x 2 matrices such that A = At where t denotes matrix
transpose;
(c) The set of 2 x 2 matrices such that det(A) = 0.
3. Determine which of the following are subspaces of P3 , the space of all poly-
nomials of degree 3 or less:
(a) The set of polynomials a0 + a1 x + a2 x2 + a3 x3 for which a0 = 0;
(b) The set of polynomials a0 + a1 x + a2 x2 + a3 x3 for which a0 + a1 + a2 +
a3 = 0.
4. Determine which of the following are subspaces of V , the vector space of all
real valued functions defined on R:
(a) The family of all f ’s such that f (0) = 0;
(b) The family of all f ’s such that f (0) = 1;
(c) The family of all continuous functions f ;
(d) The family of all differentiable functions f .
5. Let (V, +, .) be a vector space. Let 0 denote the zero vector and let −u denote
the additive inverse of u. Prove that
(a) 0.u = 0 for all u ∈ V .
(b) α.(−u) = −(α.u) for all u ∈ V and α ∈ R.
(c) (−α).u = −(α.u) for all u ∈ V and α ∈ R.