Quiz 1; Wednesday, August 30

MATH 110 with Professor Stankova

Section 110; 2-3 pm
GSI: Saad Qadeer

Solutions

You have 10 minutes to complete the quiz. Calculators are not permitted. Please include
all relevant calculations and explanations (unless stated otherwise).

1. (12 points) Let S = {(a1 , a2 ) : a1 , a2 , ∈ R}. For (a1 , a2 ), (b1 , b2 ) ∈ S and c ∈ R, define

(a1 , a2 ) + (b1 , b2 ) = (a1 + b1 , a2 b2 ) and c(a1 , a2 ) = (ca1 , a2 ).

List at least three of the vector space properties (VS 1-8) and determine whether S
satisfies each of those conditions.

Let (a1 , a2 ), (b1 , b2 ), (c1 , c2 ) ∈ S and let k, l ∈ R.

VS 1: We require that x + y = y + x for all x, y ∈ S. For the given set, we have

(a1 , a2 ) + (b1 , b2 ) = (a1 + b1 , a2 b2 ) (∵ defn. of addition)

= (b1 + a1 , b2 a2 ) (∵ comm. of add. and mult. in R)
= (b1 , b2 ) + (a1 , a2 ) (∵ defn. of addition)

Thus, S satisfies (VS 1).

VS 2: We require that (x + y) + z = x + (y + z) for all x, y, z ∈ S. We have

((a1 , a2 ) + (b1 , b2 )) + (c1 , c2 ) = (a1 + b1 , a2 b2 ) + (c1 , c2 ) (∵ defn. of addition)

= ((a1 + b1 ) + c1 , (a2 b2 )c2 ) (∵ defn. of addition)
= (a1 + (b1 + c1 ), a2 (b2 c2 )) (∵ assoc. of add. & mult. in R)
= (a1 , a2 ) + (b1 + c1 , b2 c2 ) (∵ defn. of addition)
= (a1 , a2 ) + ((b1 , b2 ) + (c1 , c2 )) (∵ defn. of addition)

Thus, S satisfies (VS 2).

VS 3: We want a vector 0 ∈ S such that 0 + x = x for all x ∈ S. For this problem,
that role is performed by (0, 1) as

(0, 1) + (a1 , a2 ) = (0 + a1 , 1a2 ) = (a1 , a2 ).

Thus, S satisfies (VS 3).

VS 4: Given any x ∈ S, we require a vector (−x) ∈ S such that (−x) + x = 0. This
property does not hold for all the vectors in S: for example, suppose the inverse for
(1, 0) is (a1 , a2 ); we then have

(1, 0) + (a1 , a2 ) = (1 + a1 , 0a2 ) = (1 + a1 , 0)

1
 whereas this is supposed to be equal to the zero vector found in (VS 3), namely (0, 1),
which is impossible.
VS 5: For any x ∈ S, we require 1x = x, where 1 ∈ R. We have

1(a1 , a2 ) = (1a1 , a2 ) = (a1 , a2 )

so S satisfies (VS 5).

VS 6: For any k, l ∈ R and x ∈ S, we require that (kl)x = k(lx). We have

(kl)(a1 , a2 ) = ((kl)a1 , a2 ) (∵ scalar mult.)

= (k(la1 ), a2 ) (∵ assoc. of mult. in R)
= k(la1 , a2 ) (∵ scalar mult.)
= k(l(a1 , a2 )) (∵ scalar mult.)

so S satisfies (VS 6).

VS 7: For any x, y ∈ S and k ∈ R, we require k(x + y) = kx + ky. We have

k((a1 , a2 ) + (b1 , b2 )) = k(a1 + b1 , a2 b2 ) (∵ addition)

= (k(a1 + b1 ), a2 b2 ) (∵ scalar mult.)
= (ka1 + kb1 , a2 b2 ) (∵ dist. in R)
= (ka1 , a2 ) + (kb1 , b2 ) (∵ addition)
= k(a1 , a2 ) + k(b1 , b2 ) (∵ scalar mult.).

Hence, (VS 7) holds for S.

VS 8: For any x ∈ S and k, l ∈ R, we require (k + l)x = kx + lx. However, this
property does not hold for S: take k = l = 1 and x = (0, 2) to get

(1 + 1)(0, 2) = 2(0, 2) = (0, 2) 6= (0, 4) = 1(0, 2) + 1(0, 2).

2. (1 + 1 + 1 points) Mark each statement as True or False. You do not need to show
your work but a blank answer is worth 0 points and an incorrect answer is worth −1
point.

(a) Every element in a field has a multiplicative inverse.

False: Every element other than the additive identity (i.e., the zero scalar) has
a multiplicative inverse.
(b) A vector space always contains infinitely many elements.
False: V = {0} is a vector space containing exactly one element.
(c) For any element x of a vector space V over the field R, we have (0+2)x+2(−x) = 0.
True: We have

(0 + 2)x + 2(−x) = 0x + 2x + (−2x) = 0 + 0 = 0.