Math 215 Spring 2003HW #7 Solutions

4.3, # 5: Is the following set a basis for R

3
? linearly independent?
Does it span R
3
?
_
_
1
3
0
_
_
,
_
_
2
9
0
_
_
,
_
_
0
0
0
_
_
,
_
_
0
3
5
_
_
.
We form a matrix whose columns are these vectors:
_
_
1 2 0 0
3 9 0 3
0 0 0 5
_
_
and row reduce, replacing row 2 by row 2 plus 3 times row 1:
_
_
1 2 0 0
0 3 0 3
0 0 0 5
_
_
This is in echelon form, so we can see that it has a pivot in every row but
not in every column. Thus, the set of vectors does span R
3
but is not linearly
independent, and hence is not a basis for R
3
.
4.3, # 9: Find a basis for the null space of
A =
_
_
1 0 3 2
0 1 5 4
3 2 1 2
_
_
We need to solve Ax =

0, so we form the augmented matrix:

_
_
1 0 3 2 0
0 1 5 4 0
3 2 1 2 0
_
_
and row reduce (rst replacing row 3 by row 3 plus 3 times row 1):
_
_
1 0 3 2 0
0 1 5 4 0
0 2 10 8 0
_
_
Now replace row 3 by row 3 plus 2 times row 1:
_
_
1 0 3 2 0
0 1 5 4 0
0 0 0 0 0
_
_
This is in echelon form. There are two free variables, x
3
and x
4
. The second row
says x
2
5x
3
+4x
4
= 0 or x
2
= 5x
3
4x
4
. The rst row says x
1
3x
3
+2x
4
= 0
or x
1
= 3x
3
2x
4
. So, the solution of Ax =

0 is
_

_
x
1
x
2
x
3
x
4
_

_
=
_

_
3x
3
2x
4
5x
3
4x
4
x
3
x
4
_

_
= x
3
_

_
3
5
1
0
_

_
+ x
4
_

_
2
4
0
1
_

_
for any real numbers x
3
, x
4
. So, the null space of A is spanned by
_

_
_

_
3
5
1
0
_

_
,
_

_
2
4
0
1
_

_
_

_
.
In addition, this pair of vectors is linearly independent (they are not multiples
of each other), so they form a basis for the nullspace.
4.3, # 11: Find a basis for the set of vectors in R
3
in the plane
x + 2y + z = 0.
Considered as a linear system, we have two free variables y and z, and then
x = 2y z. So, the set under consideration is:
_
_
x
y
z
_
_
=
_
_
2y z
y
z
_
_
= y
_
_
2
1
0
_
_
+ z
_
_
1
0
1
_
_
.
So, the set is spanned by
_
_
_
_
_
2
1
0
_
_
,
_
_
1
0
1
_
_
_
_
_
.
Further, this set is linearly independent (the two vectors are not multiples of
each other), so it forms a basis for the plane in question.
4.3, # 15: Find a basis for the space spanned by
_

_
1
0
3
2
_

_
,
_

_
0
1
2
3
_

_
,
_

_
3
4
1
6
_

_
,
_

_
1
3
8
7
_

_
,
_

_
2
1
6
9
_

_
.
We form a matrix with these vectors as columns
_

_
1 0 3 1 2
0 1 4 3 1
3 2 1 8 6
2 3 6 7 9
_

_
and row reduce, beginning by replacing row 3 by row 3 plus 3 times row 1:
_

_
1 0 3 1 2
0 1 4 3 1
0 2 8 5 0
2 3 6 7 9
_

_
Next, replace row 4 by row 4 plus 2 times row 1:
_

_
1 0 3 1 2
0 1 4 3 1
0 2 8 5 0
0 3 12 5 5
_

_
Next, replace row 3 by row 3 plus 2 times row 2:
_

_
1 0 3 1 2
0 1 4 3 1
0 0 0 1 2
0 3 12 5 5
_

_
Next, replace row 4 by row 4 plus 3 times row 2:
_

_
1 0 3 1 2
0 1 4 3 1
0 0 0 1 2
0 0 0 4 8
_

_
Finally, replace row 4 by row 4 plus 4 times row 3:
_

_
1 0 3 1 2
0 1 4 3 1
0 0 0 1 2
0 0 0 0 0
_

_
This is in echelon form, with pivots in columns 1, 2, and 4. This means that
this collection of columns in the original matrix was linearly independent, but
each of the other columns was dependent on this collection. So, one basis for
the space spanned by the ve original columns is {v
1
, v
2
, v
4
}, i.e.,
_

_
_

_
1
0
3
2
_

_
,
_

_
0
1
2
3
_

_
,
_

_
1
3
8
7
_

_
_

_
.
4.3, # 23: Suppose R
4
= Span{v
1
, v
2
, v
3
, v
4
}. Explain why {v
1
, v
2
, v
3
, v
4
}
is a basis for R
4
.
Consider the matrix A =
_
v
1
v
2
v
3
v
4

. Since {v
1
, v
2
, v
3
, v
4
} spans R
4
, A has
a pivot in every row. So, since A is a 4 4 matrix, A has four pivots. But,
since A has four columns, this means that A has a pivot in every column as
well, which means that {v
1
, v
2
, v
3
, v
4
} is linearly independent. Thus, since this
collection spans R
4
and is linearly independent, it is a basis for R
4
.
4.3, # 29: Let S = {v
1
, . . . , v
k
} be a set of k vectors in R
n
with k < n.
Explain why S cannot be a basis for R
n
.
Consider the matrix A =
_
v
1
v
k

. This is a nk matrix, and since k < n,

it can not have a pivot in every row (the most pivots it could have would be k,
one per column). Thus, {v
1
, . . . , v
k
} does not span R
n
, and hence cannot be a
basis for R
n
.
4.3, # 30: Let S = {v
1
, . . . , v
k
} be a set of k vectors in R
n
with k > n.
Explain why S cannot be a basis for R
n
.
Consider the matrix A =
_
v
1
v
k

. This is a nk matrix, and since k > n,

it can not have a pivot in every column (the most pivots it could have would
be n, one per row). Thus, {v
1
, . . . , v
k
} is not linearly independent, and hence
cannot be a basis for R
n
.
4.3, # 34: Consider the polynomials p
1
(t) = 1 + t, p
2
(t) = 1 t and
p
3
(t) = 2 (for all t). Write a linear dependence relation among p
1
, p
2
, p
3
.
Find a basis for Span{p
1
, p
2
, p
3
}.
We can see immediately that p
1
+ p
2
p
3
= 0 for all t. Thus, p
3
is linearly
dependent on p
1
, p
2
, so we can remove it from {p
1
, p
2
, p
3
} without aecting the
span. Further, since p
1
and p
2
are not multiples of each other as polynomials,
{p
1
, p
2
} is linearly independent. Thus, {p
1
, p
2
} is a basis for Span{p
1
, p
2
, p
3
}.
4.3, # 35: Let V be a vector space that contains a linearly inde-
pendent set {u
1
, u
2
, u
3
, u
4
}. Describe how to construct a set of vectors
{v
1
, v
2
, v
3
, v
4
} in V such that {v
1
, v
3
} is a basis for Span{v
1
, v
2
, v
3
, v
4
}.
Let
v
1
= u
1
v
2
= u
1
v
3
= u
2
v
1
= u
1
Then, consider Span{v
1
, v
2
, v
3
, v
4
} = Span{u
1
, u
1
, u
2
, u
1
}. Clearly, the extra
copies of u
1
are dependent on the other vectors, so they can be removed without
aecting the span, i.e., Span{v
1
, v
2
, v
3
, v
4
} = Span{u
1
, u
2
}. In addition, since
u
1
and u
2
are given to be independent, we have that {u
1
, u
2
} = {v
1
, v
3
} is a
basis for Span{v
1
, v
2
, v
3
, v
4
}.
4.3, # 37: Show that {t, sin t, cos 2t, sin t cos t} is a linearly independent
set of functions.
In order to prove this collection is linearly independent, we need to show that
if we have
c
1
t + c
2
sin t + c
3
cos 2t + c
4
sin t cos t = 0
for all t, then we must have c
1
= c
2
= c
3
= c
4
= 0.
First, we plug in t = 0, and nd that
0 + 0 + c
3
+ 0 = 0,
so that c
3
= 0. Plugging this into our original equation, we now have:
c
1
t + c
2
sin t + c
4
sin t cos t = 0
for all t.
Now, plug in t = , and nd that:
c
1
+ 0 + 0 = 0,
so that c
1
= 0. Plugging this into our original equation, we now have:
c
2
sin t + c
4
sin t cos t = 0
for all t.
Now, plug in t = /2, and nd that:
c
2
+ 0 = 0,
so that c
2
= 0. Plugging this into our original equation, we now have:
c
4
sin t cos t = 0
for all t.
Finally, plug in t = /4, to nd c
4
(

2/2)(

2/2) = 0, or c
4
/2 = 0, or c
4
= 0.
So, overall, we have proven that c
1
= c
2
= c
3
= c
4
= 0, and thus that the given
collection of functions is linearly independent.