Solutions of Homework 4

Question 1. (a) Let M2×2 be the vector space of all 2 × 2 matrices with real entries. Is the
set
W = {A ∈ M2×2 : A2 = 02×2 }
a subspace of M2×2 ? Explain your answer.

(b) Is the set of all triples (x, y, z) of real numbers with the operations

(x, y, z) ⊕ (x0 , y 0 , z 0 ) = (z + z 0 , y + y 0 , x + x0 ) and c  (x, y, z) = (cx, cy, cz)

a vector space? Explain your answer.

Solution: (a): W is not a subspace of M2×2 : Note that W is not closed under addition. For
     
0 0 0 1 0 1
instance, the matrices and are both in the subset W but their sum
1 0 0 0 1 0
 2  
 0 1 1 0 
is not in W because = , which is not the zero matrix .
1 0 0 1
(b): No. Indeed, for instance, there is no zero vector ~0. Otherwise suppose that ~0 = (a, b, c)
for some real numbers a, b, c. We use the axiom

~v ⊕ ~0 = ~v

for ~v = (0, 0, 0) and ~v = (0, 0, 1) to find the real numbers a, b, c.

(0, 0, 0) ⊕ (a, b, c) = (0, 0, 0) =⇒ a = b = c = 0

| {z }
(c,b,a)

(0, 0, 1) ⊕ (a, b, c) = (0, 0, 1) =⇒ a = 1, b = 0, c = −1.

| {z }
(c+1,b,a)

Therefore there is no zero vector ~0.

Question 2. Express the element (1, 1, 13) of the space R3 as a linear combination of the
following vectors
(1, 1, 3), (1, 3, 1), (3, 1, 1), (−1, 3, 3)
in two different ways.

Solution: The element (1, 1, 13) of the space R3 is a linear combination of the following vectors

(1, 1, 3), (1, 3, 1), (3, 1, 1), (−1, 3, 3)

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if and only if there are real numbers c1 , c2 , c3 , c4 such that
c1 (1, 1, 3) + c2 (1, 3, 1) + c3 (3, 1, 1) + c4 (−1, 3, 3) = (1, 1, 13).
Equating the corresponding entries leads to the linear system:
c1 + c2 + 3c3 − c4 = 1
c1 + 3c2 + c3 + 3c4 = 1
3c1 + c2 + c3 + 3c4 = 13
The augmented matrix of the system is
 
1 1 3 −1 1
 1 3 1 3 1 
3 1 1 3 13
We may find the reduced row echelon form of the augmented matrix as follows:
   
1 1 3 −1 1 1 1 3 −1 1
−R1 + R2 
0 2 −2 4 0  R2 + R3  0 2 −2 4 0 
−3R1 + R3
0 −2 −8 6 10 0 0 −10 10 10
   
1 1 1 3 −1 1 1 0 4 −3 1
2 R2  0 1 −1 2 0  − R2 + R1  0 1 −1 2 0 
1
− 10 R3
0 0 1 −1 −1 0 0 1 −1 −1
 
1 0 0 1 5
R3 + R2 
0 1 0 1 −1  .
−4R3 + R1
0 0 1 −1 −1
Therefore, c4 is a free variable and so the solution is given by
c1 = 5 − r, c2 = −1 − r, c3 = −1 + r, c4 = r
where r is an arbitrary real number.
For instance, taking r = 0, we see that
c1 = 5, c2 = −1, c3 = −1, c4 = 0
is a solution. Thus,
5(1, 1, 3) − (1, 3, 1) − (3, 1, 1) = (1, 1, 13).
And taking r = 1, we see that
c1 = 4, c2 = −2, c3 = 0, c4 = 1
is a solution. Therefore,
4(1, 1, 3) − 2(1, 3, 1) + (−1, 3, 3) = (1, 1, 13).
To sum up, (for example), we have the following two different expression of (1, 1, 13) as a
linear combination:
5(1, 1, 3) − (1, 3, 1) − (3, 1, 1) = (1, 1, 13)
4(1, 1, 3) − 2(1, 3, 1) + (−1, 3, 3) = (1, 1, 13).

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Question 3. Let P2 be the vector space of all polynomials of degree ≤ 2 whose coefficients
are real numbers. Find all values of a such that the polynomial X 2 + 3X + 5 of P2 is not in
the subspace of P2 spanned by the following polynomials:

3X 2 + 2X + 5, 2X 2 + 4X + 7, 5X 2 + 6X + a

Solution: The polynomial X 2 + 3X + 5 of P2 is in the subspace of P2 spanned by the

polynomials
3X 2 + 2X + 5, 2X 2 + 4X + 7, 5X 2 + 6X + a
if and only if there are real numbers c1 , c2 , c3 such that

c1 (3X 2 + 2X + 5) + c2 (2X 2 + 4X + 7) + c3 (5X 2 + 6X + a) = X 2 + 3X + 5.

Equating the coefficients of likepowers of X gives the following linear system:

3c1 + 2c2 + 5c3 = 1

2c1 + 4c2 + 6c3 = 3
5c1 + 7c2 + ac3 = 5

Therefore, X 2 + 3X + 5 is not in the subspace of P2 spanned by the polynomials

3X 2 + 2X + 5, 2X 2 + 4X + 7, 5X 2 + 6X + a

if and only if this linear system is inconsistent (i.e., has no solutions). The augmented matrix
of the system is  
3 2 5 1
 2 4 6 3 
5 7 a 5
We may reduce the augmented matrix as follows;
   
3 2 5 1 0 5 (41 − 3a) 4
−3R3 + R1 
−2R2 + R3  2 4 6 3  0 6 (30 − 2a) 5 
−2R3 + R2
1 −1 (a − 12) −1 1 −1 (a − 12) −1
   
0 5 (41 − 3a) 4 0 0 (96 − 8a) −1
−R1 + R2  0 1 (a − 11) 1  − 5R2 + R1  0 1 (a − 11) 1 .
1 −1 (a − 12) −1 1 −1 (a − 12) −1
Therefore, we see from the first row of the last matrix that the system is inconsistent if and
only if (96 − 8a) = 0.
Consequently, X 2 + 3X + 5 is not in the subspace of P2 spanned by the polynomials

3X 2 + 2X + 5, 2X 2 + 4X + 7, 5X 2 + 6X + a

if and only if a = 12.

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Question 4. Determine whether the following three vectors

(0, 1, −2, 1), (0, 3, −5, 2), (0, 1, −4, 3)

of R4 are linearly independent. If not, write one of them as a linear combination of the others

Solution: To determine whether the given vectors are linearly independent, we must solve the
vector equation:

c1 (0, 1, −2, 1) + c2 (0, 3, −5, 2) + c3 (0, 1, −4, 3) = (0, 0, 0, 0) where c1 , c2 , c3 ∈ R.

The given three vectors are linearly independent if and only if the only solution of this vector
equation is the trivial solution c1 = c2 = c3 = 0. Equating the corresponding entries in the
above vector equation leads to the following homogeneous linear system:

c1 + 3c2 + c3 = 0
−2c1 − 5c2 − 4c3 = 0
c1 + 2c2 + 3c3 = 0

The augmented matrix of the system is

 
1 3 1 0
 −2 −5 −4 0  .
1 2 3 0

We now find the reduced row echelon form of the augmented matrix as below:
   
1 3 1 0 1 0 7 0
2R1 + R2  R 2 + R 3
0 1 −2 0   0 1 −2 0  .
−R1 + R3 −3R2 + R1
0 −1 2 0 0 0 0 0

Now it follows from the latest matrix that the variable c3 is free so that the homogenous system
has nontrivial solutions. This means that the given three vectors are not linearly independent.
Thus one of them can be written as a linear combination of the others. To write such a linear
combination we take any nontrivial solution of the system. For this end, we see that the
solutions of the system are given by

c1 = −7r, c2 = 2r, c3 = r

where r is an arbitrary real number. For instance, putting r = 1, we see that

c1 = −7, c2 = 2, c3 = 1

is a nontrivial solution so that we have

−7(1, −2, 1) + 2(3, −5, 2) + (1, −4, 3) = (0, 0, 0), or (1, −4, 3) = 7(1, −2, 1) − 2(3, −5, 2).

To sum up, the vectors

(1, −2, 1), (3, −5, 2), (1, −4, 3)

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are not linearly independent, and (1, −4, 3) may be written as the following linear combination:

(1, −4, 3) = 7(1, −2, 1) − 2(3, −5, 2).

Question 5. Let M2×2 be the vector space of all 2 × 2 matrices with real entries. Consider
the following matrices of the space M2×2 :
       
1 0 1 0 0 1 0 1
, , , .
0 1 0 2 1 0 2 0

Show that these four matrices form a basis for M2×2 . Since the determinants of these four
matrices are nonzero, it follows then that M2×2 has a basis consisting entirely of invertible
matrices. Is there a basis of the space M2×2 consisting entirely of symmetric matrices?

Solution: Since dim(M2×2 ) = 4, given any 4 vectors of M2×2 , they form a basis for M2×2
⇐⇒ they are linearly independent ⇐⇒ they span M2×2 .
To show that the given 4 matrices form a basis for M2×2 , we may justify that they are
linearly independent.
The matrices        
1 0 1 0 0 1 0 1
, , ,
0 1 0 2 1 0 2 0
are linearly independent if and only if the homogeneous linear system with the augmented
matrix  
1 1 0 0 0
 0 0 1 1 0 
 
 0 0 1 2 0 
1 2 0 0 0
has no nontrivial solutions. We may reduce the augmented matrix as follows:
     
1 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0
−R1 + R4   0 0 1 1 0   SWAP(R3 , R4 )  0 0 1 1 0  SWAP(R2 , R3 ) 
   0 1 0 0 0 
.
−R2 + R3  0 0 0 1 0   0 1 0 0 0   0 0 1 1 0 
0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0

We see from the last matrix that there is no free variables so that the homogeneous system
has no nontrivial solutions.
Consequently, the matrices
       
1 0 1 0 0 1 0 1
, , ,
0 1 0 2 1 0 2 0

form a basis for M2×2 .

To answer the next part of the problem, we suppose that M2×2 has a basis B consisting
entirely of symmetric matrices. Since dim(M2×2 ) = 4, the number of elements of B must be

5
4. Assume that B = {A, B, C, D} where A, B, C, D are some 2 × 2 symmetric matrices. Thus,
AT = A, B T = B, C T = C, and DT = D. Since B is a basis for M2×2 , any 2 × 2 matrix is
a linear combination of the matrices A, B, C, D. Therefore, for any 2 × 2 matrix E there are
real numbers c1 , c2 , c3 , c4 such that

E = c1 A + c2 B + c3 C + c4 D.

Taking the transposes of both sides we get

E T = (c1 A + c2 B + c3 C + c4 D)T = c1 AT + c2 B T + c3 C T + c4 DT = c1 A + c2 B + c3 C + c4 D

where for the last equality we use AT = A, B T = B, C T = C, and DT = D. Therefore we

get E T = E for any 2 × 2 matrix E. In other words, if we assume that M2×2 has a basis B
consisting entirely of symmetric matrices then it follows that any 2 × 2 matrix is symmetric.
 
0 1
This is certainly not true because there are nonsymmetric 2×2 matrices, for instance, .
2 0
Consequently, there is no basis of the space M2×2 consisting entirely of symmetric matrices.

Question 6. If possible, find a basis for the subspace W = {(a, b, c, d) : a + 2b = c + 2d} of

R4 that contains ~u = (1, 0, 1, 0) and ~v = (0, 1, 0, 1).

Solution: It is possible to find a basis for W that contains ~u and ~v , because one sees easily
that they are linearly independent and they both belong to W.
(a, b, c, d) ∈ W ⇐⇒ a + 2b = c + 2d ⇐⇒ a = −2b + c + 2d. Therefore,

(a, b, c, d) ∈ W ⇐⇒ (a, b, c, d) = (−2b + c + 2d, b, c, d) = (−2b, b, 0, 0) + (c, 0, c, 0) + (2d, 0, 0, d)

⇐⇒ (a, b, c, d) = b(−2, 1, 0, 0) + c(1, 0, 1, 0) + d(2, 0, 0, 1)

This means that

W = span{(−2, 1, 0, 0), (1, 0, 1, 0), (2, 0, 0, 1)},
proving that W is a subspace of R4 .
We see easily that the vectors ~u and ~v are in W because they satisfy the condition a+2b = c+2d.
Since the vectors
(−2, 1, 0, 0), (1, 0, 1, 0) = ~u, (2, 0, 0, 1)
span W, it follows that the following four vectors (from W )

~u = (1, 0, 1, 0), ~v = (0, 1, 0, 1), (−2, 1, 0, 0), (2, 0, 0, 1)

also span W. So we need to find a basis for W consisting entirely of vectors from the above
four vectors.
For this end, we first form the following matrix A whose columns are the above four vectors:
 
1 0 −2 2
 0 1 1 0 
A=  1 0
.
0 0 
0 1 0 1

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We now reduce A :
   
1 0 −2 2 1 0 −2 2
−R1 + R3  0
 1 1  1 R3 + R4 
0   0 1 1 0 
 = R.
−R2 + R4  0 0 2 −2 2
  0 0 2 −2 
0 0 −1 1 0 0 0 0

Since the first three columns of R contains leading entries, it follows that the first three vectors
of the following vectors

~u = (1, 0, 1, 0), ~v = (0, 1, 0, 1), (−2, 1, 0, 0), (2, 0, 0, 1)

form a basis for W.

Consequently, the set

{~u = (1, 0, 1, 0), ~v = (0, 1, 0, 1), (−2, 1, 0, 0)}

is a basis for W that contains ~u and ~v .

Question 7. Let S = {~v1 , ~v2 , ~v3 , ~v4 , ~v5 } be a subset of R3 . Let A = [~v1 |~v2 |~v3 |~v4 |~v5 ] be the 3 × 5
matrix obtained by writing the vectors in the set S as its columns. Suppose  that by applying 
1 0 2 3 4
elementary row operations one may reduce the matrix A to the matrix R =  0 3 3 1 5  .
0 0 0 0 6
Let W be the subspace of R3 spanned by the set S.
(i) Find a basis for W consisting entirely of vectors from the set S.

(ii) Is there a vector in R3 that is not in W ? Explain your answer.

(iii) Are the vectors ~v1 , ~v2 , and ~v3 linearly independent? If not, express one of them as a linear
combination of the others.

Solution:
(i): As the columns of R containing leading entries are its 1st , 2nd , and 5th columns, the set
{~v1 , ~v2 , ~v5 } is a required basis.

(ii): No: Because, W = R3 . Indeed, for instance we observed in the first part of this part of
the question that the dimension of W is 3 so that, as W is a subspace of R3 and as
dim(R3 ) = 3, we must have that W = R3 .

(iii): The vectors 

~v1 , ~v2 , and ~v3 are not linearly
 independent. Indeed, we see easily from the
1 0 2 3 4
 0 3 3 1 5 
matrix R =  0
 that its first three columns satisfies:
0
|{z} |{z} |{z} 0 0 6 
C1 C2 C3
2C1 + C2 = C3 . We know that elementary row operations do not change the linear
relations satisfied by the columns of a matrix. Hence, the same relation must be hold
for the first three columns of the matrix A. Consequently, 2~v1 + ~v2 = ~v3 .

7
Question 8. Let U be the subspace of R3 spanned by the following vectors

(1, 1, 2), (2, a + 2, a + 4), (a, a + b, 2b), (−1, −1, a − 2).

Find the conditions on a and b such that the dimension of U will be 2.

 
1 2 a −1
Solution: The dimension of U is equal to the rank of the matrix A =  1 (a + 2) (a + b) −1 
2 (a + 4) 2b (a − 2)
whose columns are the given vectors.
We may reduce the matrix A to a matrix which looks like an echelon matrix as follows:
   
1 2 a −1 1 2 a −1
−R1 + R2 
0 a b 0  − R2 + R3  0 a b 0  = R.
−2R1 + R3
0 a (2b − 2a) a 0 0 (b − 2a) a

We see from the matrix R that if a 6= 0 then the rows of R are all nonzero so that in this
case the rank of A is 3. Hence we next analyze the case in which a = 0.
When a = 0, the matrix R becomes
   
1 2 0 −1 1 2 0 −1
 0 0 b 0  − R2 + R3  0 0 b 0 .
0 0 b 0 0 0 0 0

Thus, assuming a = 0 we have, rank(A) = 2 ⇐⇒ b 6= 0, and rank(A) = 1 ⇐⇒ b = 0.

Consequently,
dim(U ) = 2 ⇐⇒ a = 0 and b 6= 0.

 
1 1 3 2 3
Question 9. Given the matrix A =  2 3 7 3 4  ,
1 2 4 2 1

(i) Find the reduced row echelon form R of A.

(ii) Find a basis for the nullspace of A.

(iii) Find a basis for the row space of A.

(iv) Find a basis for the column space of A.

(v) Find rank(A), nullity(A), and nullity(AT ).

 
(vi) Is the row vector 0 1 2 0 0 in the row space of A?

8
Solution: (i): We reduce A as below:
   
1 1 3 2 3 1 0 2 3 5
−2R1 + R2  −R2 + R3 
0 1 1 −1 −2  0 1 1 −1 −2 
−R1 + R3 −R2 + R1
0 1 1 0 −2 0 0 0 1 0
 
1 0 2 0 5
R3 + R2  0 1 1 0 −2  = R.
−3R3 + R1
0 0 0 1 0

(ii): We must find a basis for the solution space of A~x = ~0. We see from the matrix R that
the unknowns x3 and x5 are free so that the solution set is given by

x1 = −2r − 5s, x2 = −r + 2s, x3 = r, x4 = 0, x5 = s

where r and s are arbitrary real numbers. By putting r = 1, s = 0 and putting s = 1, r = 0 we

may find the two basis vectors for the solution space.
Hence, the set    
−2 −5
 −1   2 
   
{
 1  ,  0 }
  
 0   0 
0 1
is a basis for the nullspace of A. Thus nullity(A) = 2.

(iii): The nonzero rows of R form a basis for the row space of A.
Hence, the set
     
{ 1 0 2 0 5 , 0 1 1 0 −2 , 0 0 0 1 0 }

is a basis for the row space of A. So rank(A) = 3.

(iv): Since the columns of R containing leading entries are its 1st , 2nd , and 4th columns,
it follows that the 1st , 2nd , and 4th columns of A form a basis for the column space of A.
Hence, the set      
1 1 2
{ 2 ,
   3 ,
  3 }
1 2 2
is a basis for the column space of A. Note that this basis contains 3 elements as we expected
because the dimensions of the row and column space are equal, and this common number is
said to be the rank of the matrix.

(v): We have already observed that rank(A) = 3 and nullity(A) = 2.

To find nullity(AT ) we recall that rank(AT ) = rank(A), and then use the formula:

nullity(AT ) = the number of columns of AT − rank(AT ).

9
So nullity(AT ) = 3 − 3 = 0. To sum up,

rank(A) = 3, nullity(A) = 2, nullity(AT ) = 0.

(vi): No. Recall that elementary row operations do not change the row space of a matrix
so
 that the givenvector is in the row space of A if and only if it is in the row space of R. If
0 1 2 0 0 is in the row space of A then it must be a linear combination of the rows of
R, implying that
       
c1 1 0 2 0 5 + c2 0 1 1 0 −2 + c3 0 0 0 1 0 = 0 1 2 0 0
| h
{z i
}
c1 c2 (2c1 + c2 ) c3 (5c1 − 2c2 )

Thus c1 = 0,
 c2 = 1, 2c1 + c2 = 2 which is not true.
Hence, 0 1 2 0 0 is not in the row space of A.

Question 10. (a) Let v1 , v2 , ..., vn be linearly dependent n vectors of a vector space V. If
the vectors v1 , v2 , ..., vn span V, show that every vector in V can be written as a linear
combination of the vectors v1 , v2 , ..., vn in two different ways.
(b) Let V be a vector space containing some 5 linearly independent vectors whose span is
not equal to V. If V can be spanned by some 7 linearly dependent vectors, what are the
possibilities for the dimension of V ? Do not explain your answer.
(c) Let A be a 6 × 4 matrix such that the homogenous linear system A~x = ~0 has no nontrivial
solutions. What is the nullity of AT ? Explain your answer.
(d) Let A be a 2 × 5 matrix such that the linear system A~x = ~b is consistent for all 2 × 1
column vectors ~b. What is the nullity of A?
(e) Let A be an m × n matrix and let B be an n × r matrix. Show that the nullspace of B is
a subspace of the nullspace of AB.
(f ) By the previous part we have the formula “nullity(B) ≤ nullity(AB)” which is true for
any m × n matrix A and n × r matrix B. Using this formula answer the question: Are
there a 5 × 3 matrix A and a 3 × 5 matrix B such that AB = I5 ?

Solution: (a): Let v be a vector in V. As v1 , v2 , ..., vn span V, the vector v can be written as
a linear combination of v1 , v2 , ..., vn so that there are real numbers c1 , c2 , ..., cn such that

c1 v1 + c2 v2 + ... + cn vn = v (∗)

On the other hand, as v1 , v2 , ..., vn are linearly dependent, there are real numbers d1 , d2 , ..., dn ,
not all of them are 0, such that

d1 v1 + d2 v2 + ... + dn vn = 0 (∗∗)

Adding the vector equations (∗) and (∗∗) we get

(c1 + d1 )v1 + (c2 + d2 )v2 + ... + (cn + dn )vn = v (∗ ∗ ∗)

10
Now the vector equations (∗) and (∗ ∗ ∗) are two different expressions of v as a linear combi-
nation of the vectors v1 , v2 , ..., vn .

(b): We first recall the general facts: Let V be a vector space whose dimension is r, and let S
be a subset of V. If S is linearly independent then the number of elements of S is ≤ r. And if S spans
V then the number of elements of S is ≥ r. Moreover,
 assuming that the number of elements in S is r,
then S is linearly independent ⇐⇒ S spans V Having recalled the above general facts, we now
solve the question. Let dim(V ) = r. As V contains 5 linearly independent vectors whose span
is not equal to V, it follows that 5 < r. On the other hand, as V can be spanned by 7 linearly
dependent vectors, it follows that r < 7. Thus, the only possibility for the dimension of V is 6.

(c): As the homogenous linear system A~x = ~0 has no nontrivial solutions, the nullspace
of A must be the zero space so that nullity(A) = 0 (or if you wish, the columns of A must be
linearly independent so that the dimension of the columns space of A is equal to the number
of columns of A.) So rank(A) = 4 − nullity(A) = 4. Then, since rank(AT ) = rank(A), we have

nullity(AT ) = the number of columns of AT − rank(AT ) = 6 − 4 = 2.

(d): Since the linear system A~x = ~b is consistent for all 2 × 1 column vector ~b, every 2 × 1
column vectors belong to the column space of A so that the dimension of the column space of
A is 2. This means that rank(A) = 2. Then,

nullity(A) = the number of columns of A − rank(A) = 5 − 2 = 3.

(e): Let ~x be a vector in the nullspace of B. This means that B~x = ~0. We must show that ~x
is also in the nullspace of AB :

(AB)~x = A(B~x) = A~0 = ~0.

Thus, (AB)~x = ~0, meaning that ~x is in the nullspace.

(f ): Suppose there are 5 × 3 matrix A and a 3 × 5 matrix B such that AB = I5 . The formula in
the first part shows that nullity(B) ≤ nullity(I5 ) = 0 so that nullity(B) = 0. This implies that
rank(B) = 5−0 = 5. But this is impossible, because the rank of the 3×5 matrix B is at most 3.

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