Math 211 Midterm Exam due on or before: October 25, 2020 at 5pm

Directions: Work independently, justify all answers and show all solutions. To get full credit,
proofs and explanations should be clear, coherent, complete and concise; and examples should be
verified to satisfy prescribed properties.
If typing or taking a scan of your handwritten work, please use white paper/background. Submit
as a single pdf file to the UVLe Math 211-THY Course Page with the filename format:
211 Mdtrm LastNameFirstName.pdf
Unless specified otherwise, F denotes an arbitrary field. (Total: 20 pts.)

1. (2 pts.) Determine whether or not U = {(a, b, c, d) ∈ F4 | ab = cd} is a subspace of F4 over F.

2. (2 pts.) If {v1 , v2 , v3 , v4 } is a linearly independent subset of a vector space V over F, determine
whether or not {v1 + v2 , v2 + v3 , v3 + v4 , v4 + v1 } is linearly independent over F.
3. (2 pts.) Let Kn := {A ∈ Mn (F) | AT = −A}, which is a vector space over F. Find and verify a
basis for K3 over F.
4. (3 pts.) Give an example of a positive integer n, a field F and a linear operator f on Fn such
that the sum ker(f ) + Im(f ) is not direct.
5. (3 pts.) Let B = {(−2, 1, 1), (9, −2, 2), v} and B 0 = {(1, 0, 2), u, (3, −1, 1)} be ordered bases for
1 −1 2
" #
R3 over R. If m(idR3 )B,B 0 = 0 1 3 , determine v and u.
−1 3 1

6. (2 pts.) Let q(x) = ki=0 ri xi ∈ F[x]. If C ∈ Mn (F), define q(C) := ki=0 ri C i , where C 0 = In .
P P
If A, B ∈ Mn (F) are similar, show that q(A) and q(B) are similar.
7. (3 pts.) Let n > 2 and A ∈ Mn (F).
(a) Suppose A is nonsingular. What is det(adj A)? Express adj(adj A) in terms of A.
(b) If A is singular, what is adj(adj A) and why?
8. (3 pts.) Let n be an even positive integer and r ∈ F \ {0}. Define An = [aij ] ∈ Mn (F), where

1, if j = i + 1
(
aij = r, if i = j + 1 .
0, otherwise

Find and prove a formula for det(An ).

At the end of your work, write and sign the following statement:

I pledge upon my honor that I worked independently on the above midterm exam using
only the course modules.