Qn. 1 (20 marks) Choose a correct option for each question. No justification is required.

Each
correct answer is worth 4 marks (no deduction for wrong answers).

(i) Suppose that we have entered the following commands into GNU Octave:
>> a=[1,2;3,4;5,6];b=[1,2,3;4,5,6];
Which of the following commands will give a valid output?

(A) a’*b (B) a*b’ (C) b*a’ (D) b’*a’

Solution: D

(ii) Let A, B be an m × n matrices and let A be row-equivalent to B. Consider the statements:

(I) If Ax = b is consistent, Bx = b is also consistent.

(II) If Ax = 0 has a unique solution, Bx = 0 also has a unique solution.
(III) If the columns of A are linearly independent, the columns of B are also linearly inde-
pendent.

The correct statements are:

(A) I, II only (B) II, III only (C) I, III only (D) I, II, III

Solution: B.
(I) is not necessarily correct because the right hand side b is not changed accordingly. For
example, take:      
1 0 0 0 1
A= , B= , b = e1 = .
0 0 1 0 0
Then A is row-equivalent to B, and Ax = e1 is consistent. However, Bx = e1 is inconsistent.
(II) is correct since Ax = 0 and Bx = 0 will have the same solution set.
(III) is correct as it is just another way of saying (II).

(iii) Let A, B, C, D be n × n matrices such that by EROs we can transform the combined matrix
[ A | B ] to [ C | D ].
If D = In , which of the followings is correct?

(A) C = B −1 (B) A = C −1 (C) A = BC (D) C = AB

Solution: C.
Let P represent the product of elementary matrices corresponding to the EROs, i.e.

[ A | B ] → [ PA | PB ] = [ C | D ]

By assumption, P B = D = In and hence P = B −1 . Then:

PA = C ⇒ A = P −1 C = BC.

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(iv) Let A and B be row-equivalent m × n matrices. Consider the statements:

(I) Row A = Row B.

(II) Nul A = Nul B.
(III) Col A = Col B.

The correct statements are:

(A) I, II only (B) II, III only (C) I, III only (D) I, II, III

Solution: A.
(I) is correct as row space is unchanged under row operations.
(II) is correct as Ax = 0 and Bx = 0 have the same solution set, i.e. same null space.
(III) is not necessarily correct. For example, take:
   
1 0 0 0
A= →B=
0 0 1 0

Col A is the same as x-axis on R2 , but Col B is the y-axis on R2 .

(v) Let B, C be two bases of R2 . If we have two vectors x, y in R2 such that:

       
1 1 1 1
[x]B = , [x]C = , [y]B = , [y]C = ;
1 −1 −1 1

the change of coordinates matrix P is:

C←B
       
1 1 1 0 0 1 1 1
(A) (B) (C) (D)
1 −1 0 −1 1 0 −1 1

Solution: B.
Since the change of coordinates matrix P will do [v]C = P [v]B for every v, we get the
C←B C←B
following matrix equalities:
       
1 1 1 1
= [x]C = P [x]B = P , = [y]C = P [y]B = P
−1 C←B C←B 1 1 C←B C←B −1

        
1 1 1 1 1 1
So we have = P P = P . Thus:
−1 1 C←B 1 C←B −1 C←B 1 −1
  −1  
1 1 1 1 1 0
P = = .
C←B −1 1 1 −1 0 −1

Qn. 2 (20 marks) Find the inverse (if exists) of the following matrix A:
 
1 0 0 0
1 2 0 0
A= 0
.
2 3 0
0 0 3 4

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Solution: We perform EROs to the combined matrix [ A | I4 ]:
   
1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0
 1 2 0 0 0 1 0 0  −r1 +r2  0 2 0 0 −1 1 0 0
 0 2 3 0 0 0 1 0  −−−−− −→ 
  
0 2 3 0 0 0 1 0
0 0 3 4 0 0 0 1 0 0 3 4 0 0 0 1
   
1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0
−r2 +r3  0 2 0 0 −1 1 0 0  −r3 +r4  0 2 0 0 −1 1 0 0
−−−−−−→  0 0 3 0 1 −1 1 0  −−−−−
 −→  
0 0 3 0 1 −1 1 0
0 0 3 4 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 4 −1 1 −1 1
 
1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0
scalings  0 1 0 0 − 1 1 0 0
−−−−−
−→  2 2 
1
0 0 1 0
3 − 3 31 0 
1

0 0 0 1 − 14 41 − 14 41

Hence A−1 is given by:  

1 0 0 0
 −1 1 0 0
A−1 = 1
2 2 .

3 − 3 13 0 
1

− 41 14 − 14 14

Qn. 3 (20 marks) Let

       
1 1 0 3
v1 =  0  , v2 =  1  , v3 =  1  , u = 2.
1 0 1 5

(i) Is {v1 , v2 , v3 } a linearly independent set? Why?

(ii) Is u ∈ Span {v1 , v2 , v3 }? Why?

Solution: (i) Yes. Consider the coefficient matrix of the vector equation x1 v1 + x2 v2 + x3 v3 = 0:
     
1 1 0 −r +r 1 1 0 r2 +r3
1 1 0
1 3
0 1 1  −−−−− −→  0 1 1  −−−−− −→  0 1 1 
1 0 1 0 −1 1 0 0 2

Hence x1 , x2 , x3 are all basic variables, and the vector equation should have unique zero solution.
So {v1 , v2 , v3 } is a linearly independent set.
(ii) Yes. We consider the augmented matrix of the vector equation x1 v1 + x2 v2 + x3 v3 = u:
     
1 1 0 3 −r +r 1 1 0 3 r2 +r3
1 1 0 3
1 3
0 1 1 2  −−−−−−→  0 1 1 2  −−−−− −→  0 1 1 2 
1 0 1 5 0 −1 1 2 0 0 2 4

which represents a consistent linear system. So u ∈ Span {v1 , v2 , v3 }.

Alternative solution: Since S = {v1 , v2 , v3 } is a linearly independent set of 3 vectors in R3 and
dim R3 = 3, so S is actually a basis of R3 . In particular, Span S = R3 . So u ∈ Span {v1 , v2 , v3 }.

Qn. 4 (20 marks) Find a basis for Nul A, where A is given by:
 
1 3 1 2 1 1
A =  2 1 2 −1 3 0  .
3 4 3 6 5 2

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Solution: We perform EROs on A:
     
1 3 1 2 1 1 −2r1 +r2
1 3 1 2 1 1 −r2 +r3
1 3 1 2 1 1
 2 1 2 −1 3 0  −−−−− −→  0 −5 0 −5 1 −2  −−−−− −→  0 −5 0 −5 1 −2 
−3r1 +r3
3 4 3 6 5 2 0 −5 0 0 2 −1 0 0 0 5 1 1
3 3
1 0 1 0 95
   
r3 +r2
1 3 1 0 5 5 3
r +r1 0
5 2
−−−−− −→  0 −5 0 0 2 −1  −−−−− −→  0 −5 0 0 2 −1 
− 52 r3 +r1 0 0 0 5 1 1 0 0 0 5 1 1
9
 
scalings 1 0 1 0 5 0
−−−−− −→  0 1 0 0 − 25 15 
0 0 0 1 51 15
So x3 , x5 , x6 are free variables. Set x3 = s, x5 = t, x6 = u. Then:
1 1 2 1 9
x4 = − t − u, x2 = t − u, x1 = −s − t.
5 5 5 5 5
The parametric vector form of the solution to Ax = 0 is:
 9   9 
−1 −5 −1 −5
       
x1 0 0
 x2   0   2   −1   0   2   −1 
     5   5    5   5
 x3   1   0   0   1   0   0 
x=  x4  = s  0  + t  − 1  + u  − 1  , s, t, u ∈ R.; B = { 0  ,  − 1  ,  − 1 }.
            
     5  5    5  5
 x5   0   1   0   0   1   0 
x6 0 0 1 0 0 1
Thus a basis for Nul A can be chosen as B.

Qn. 5 (20 marks) Consider the polynomial space P2 . Let B = {1, 1 + t, 1 + t + t2 } and C =
{1, 1 − t, 1 − t − t2 } be two bases of P2 . Let f (t) = t + t2 .
(i) Find the coordinate vectors [f ]B and [f ]C .
(ii) Find the change of coordinates matrix P , and verify that [f ]C = P [f ]B .
C←B C←B
Solution: (i) By definition, we need to solve:
t + t2 = x1 (1) + x2 (1 + t) + x3 (1 + t + t2 ) and t + t2 = y1 (1) + y2 (1 − t) + y3 (1 − t − t2 ).
We get solutions (x1 , x2 , x3 ) = (−1, 0, 1) and (y1 , y2 , y3 ) = (1, 0, −1). So:
   
−1 1
[f ]B =  0  , [f ]C =  0  .
1 −1
(ii) By definition, we first obtain solutions for the linear combinations:
1 = 1(1) + 0(1 − t) + 0(1 − t − t2 )
1 + t = 2(1) + (−1)(1 − t) + 0(1 − t − t2 )
1 + t + t2 = 2(1) + 0(1 − t) + (−1)(1 − t − t2 )
Putting the coefficients of the linear combinations in column forms, we get:
 
1 2 2
P =  0 −1 0  .
C←B
0 0 −1
And it is straightforward to verify that:
    
1 2 2 −1 1
P [f ]B =  0 −1 0   0  =  0  = [f ]C .
C←B
0 0 −1 1 −1
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