Assignment 1 Math 130 Linear Algebra

D Joyce, Fall 2012 Do all your homework assignments on paper, either hand written or with the help of a word processor or TEX. Make sure theyre all very readable, with plenty of space between problems. When theres a computation, put in all the steps. When theres a proof, be sure to write it using complete sentences. Collect all your homework, quizzes, tests, handouts, and notes in a folder. Nowadays, thats called a portfolio. A student portfolio contains work that shows the students progression through the course of the school year. Youll actually nd it useful to look back at the end of the semester and see how much youve learned. 1. On graphical interpretation of plane vectors. a. Draw the vector (2, 1) in standard position. Draw it also with its tail at two other points, namely (1, 1) and (2, 1). b. Draw the displacement vector that goes from the point (2, 1) to (1, 1). Draw it in standard position. What are the coordinates of the head of this vector in standard position? c. Illustrate the addition of the vectors v = (1, 2) and w = (2, 1) with a parallelogram. Be sure to label the arrow for the sum v + w. Where in that parallelgram can you draw the dierence v w? 2. On proofs of properties of the vector operations. Much of this course is formal mathematicsdenitions, theorems, and proofs. The proofs can come in dierent levels of formality. All proofs must be convincing; thats what it means to be a proof. Some depend on our common understanding of more basic things. Those are informal proofs, but often are the best kind to show whats going on. Others depend only on explicit axioms and previously proved theorems. Theyre air-tight logical demonstrations with lots of details, but theyre generally harder to understand. Well use both kinds, the shorter, more understandable informal proofs, and the longer, detailed formal proofs. Youll do both for this problem. Youll show that addition of vectors is associative. Let u, v, and w be three vectors. (In a proof, you dont get to specify which vectors they are. Proofs need to apply universally, so your proof should work for all vectors.) Youll show that (u + v) + w = u + (v + w). a. First, an intuitive geometric proof. Draw a parallelepiped. Label one vertex the origin 0. Label the three edges coming out of 0 by u, v, and w. The parallelepiped has 12 edges in all, each one is u, v, or w, so label the other 9 correctly. Next, draw the vector u + v and label it. Then draw the vector v + w and label it.

Using your diagram, explain in a sentence or two why (u + v) + w is the same vector as u + (v + w). b. Next, an algebraic proof. Assume your vectors are in the plane R2 . Let the vectors have coordinates u = (u1 , u2 ), v = (v1 , v2 ), and w = (w1 , w2 ). This is a more formal proof, but you may use any properties of real numbers that you want. (We have to start somewhere, and we dont want to go back and prove the properties of real numbers.) Determine the coordinates of u + v, and explain why those are the coordinates. Determine the coordinates of v + w. You dont have to explain why since its the same reason, just say likewise. Determine the coordinates of (u + v) + w, but when you do it, be careful to leave in the parentheses. The rst coordinate will be (u1 + v1 ) + w1 . Next, determine the coordinates of u + (v + w). Explain why the rst coordinate of (u+v)+w is equal to the rst coordinate of u+(v+w). After that, you can say likewise, the second coordinates are equal because its obvious it works the same for all coordinates. Conclude by saying since each coordinate of the vector (u + v) + w is equal to the corresponding coordinate of the vector u + (v + w), therefore they are equal. Finish o with qed so everyone knows youre done with the proof. Math 130 Home Page at http://math.clarku.edu/~djoyce/ma130/