HNA

Summer 2020
MAT 216
Solutions (Problem Sheet)
1. Find a basis for (a) the row space and (b) the column space of the following matrices:

1 1 4 1 2
 1 2 1 4  3 4 0 7 0 1
2 1 1 
7 2   1 5 2 2   2 1

i  A    ii  A    iii  A   0 0 0 1 2 .
1  4 1 3  1 4 0 3  
 
2  7 1
   1 1 0 0 2
 3  1 1 2 2 2 1 1 
 6 0

Solutions:

 1 2 1 4   1 2 1 4 
2 1 7 2  0 5
 5 10 

i Given that A 
 1  4 1 3 
R2  2 R1  R2

R3  R1  R3
 
0 2 2 7 
  R4   3 R1  R4  
 3 2  7 1  0  4  4 13 

 1 2 1 4  1 2 1 4 
0 1
1
R2    R2 1 2  0 1 1 2 
  5 R3  2 R2  R3
 
0 2 2 7  R4  4 R2  R4 0 0 0 11 
   
 0  4  4 13  0 0 0 5

1 2 1 4  1 2 1 4
01
R3    R3 1 1 2  0 1 1 2 
   11  R4  5 R3  R4
 
0 0 0 1  0 0 0 1
   
0 0 0 5 0 0 0 0

(a) Row operations do not change the row space, so the rows of the matrix at the end

have the same span as those of A. Furthermore, the nonzero rows of a matrix in row

echelon form are linearly independent.

Therefore, the row space has a basis 1, 2, 1, 4 ,  0,1,1, 3 ,  0,0,0,1 .

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(b) From the row echelon matrix, it is clear that 1st, 2nd, and 4th columns of the original

matrix are the pivot columns. Thus, these columns of the original matrix form a basis

for the column space:

 1   2   4  
      
  2   1   2  
  ,   ,    .
 1    4   3  
 3   2   1 

Solutions: By the same way, you can solve the problems (ii) & (iii).

Ans.:

3 4 0 7
 1 5 2 2 
 ii  A  
1 4 0 3
 
 1 1 2 2

(a) Thus a basis for the row space of A is: 1,0,0,1 , 0,1,0,1 , 0,0,1,1 .
(b) Since 1st, 2nd & 3rd columns of the matrix A contain a pivot, so a basis for the

 3   4   0  
      
 1 5 2 
column space of A is:   ,   ,    .
 1  4   0  
 1   1   2  

1 1 4 1 2
0 1 2 1 1 

 iii  A   0 0 0 1 2
 
 1 1 0 0 2
2 1 1 
 6 0

(a) Thus a basis for the row space of A is: 1,1, 4,1, 2 ,  0,1, 2,1,1 , 0,0,0,1, 2 .
(b) Since 1st, 2nd & 4th columns of the matrix A contain a pivot, so a basis for the

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 1   1   1  
      
 0   1   1  
Column space of A is:  0  ,  0  ,  1   .
1   1  0  
      
 2   1   0  

2. Let S  v1 , v2 , v3 where

v1  1,  2,0,3,  4 , v2  3, 2,8,1, 4 , v3   2,3,7, 2,3 , v4   1, 2,0, 4,  3.

Find a basis for the subspace of 5 spanned by S.

Solution: Form the matrix whose rows are the given vectors:

 1 2 0 3  4
3 2 8 1 4 
A
2 3 7 2 3 
 
 1 2 0 4 3

Then a basis for the row space of A gives a basis for the subspace of 5 spanned by S.

1 2 0 3  4 1 2 0 3  4
0 8 8  8 16  0 1
1
R2    R2 1 1 2 
R2   3 R1  R2
     8
R3   2 R1  R3 0 7 7  4 11  0 7 7  4 11 
R4  R1  R4    
0 0 0 7 7 0 0 0 7 7

1 2 0 3  4 1 2 0 3  4
0 1 1 1 2  0 1
1
R3    R3 1 1 2 
R3   7 R2  R3
     3
0 0 0 3 3 0 0 0 1 1 
   
0 0 0 7 7 0 0 0 7 7

1 2 0 3 4
0 1 1 1 2 
R4   7 R3  R4
 
0 0 0 1 1 
 
0 0 0 0 0 

This matrix is in row echelon form and there are three non-zero rows.

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Therefore, 1,  2, 0, 3,  4 ,  0, 1, 1, 1, 2 ,  0, 0, 0, 1, 1 form a

basis for the subspace of 5 spanned by S.

1 1 4 1 2
0 1 2 1 1 

3. Let A   0 0 0 1 2  , find a basis for the null space of A .
 
 1 1 0 0 2
2 1 1 
 6 0

1 1 4 1 2
0 1 2 1 1 

Solution: Given that A   0 0 0 1 2
 
 1 1 0 0 2
2 1 1 
 6 0

We need to solve the system A x  0

So the augmented matrix is:

1 1 4 1 2 0 1 1 4 1 2 0
   
0 1 2 1 1 0 0 1 2 1 1 0
0 0 0 1 2 0

R4   R1  R4
  0 0 0 1 2 0
R5   2 R1  R5
   
 1 1 0 0 2 0  0  2  4 1 0 0
2 1 0   0 1  2  2  3 0 
 6 0 1 

1 1 4 1 2 0 1 1 4 1 2 0
   
0 1 2 1 1 0 0 1 2 1 1 0
R4  2 R2  R4

R5  R2  R5
 0 0 0 1 2 0 R4   R3  R4

R5  R3  R5
 0 0 0 1 2 0
   
0 0 0 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 1  2 0  0 0 
 0  0 0 0 0

The corresponding system of linear equations is:

x1  x2  4 x3  x4  2 x5  0
x2  2 x3  x4  x5  0
x4  2 x5  0

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Here x1, x2 , & x4 are pivot/ leading variables and x3 , & x5 are free variables.

Let x3  s and x5  t .

So that x4   2x5   2t , x2   2x3  x4  x5   2s  t ,

x1   x2  4x3  x4  2x5   2s  t

 x1   2   1
     
 x2   2   1 
Thus, x   x3   s  1   t  0 
     
 x4   0   2 
x   0   1 
 5    

Therefore, the basis for the null space of A is given by

  2   1 
   1 
  2    
  1 ,  0  .
 0   
   2 
  0   1 
 

1 3 2 0 2 0
2 6 5  2 4  3 
4. Let B   , find a basis for the null space of B .
0 0 5 10 0 15 
 
2 6 0 8 4 18 

Solution: Similarly you can solve problem No. 4….

… … …… …

The null space of the given matrix B is given by

  3   4   2  
 1 0 0 
       
 0  2   0  
N  B    x 6 x  a    b    c   ,for all a, b, c 
6

 0    
1 0 
 0 0 1 
       
 0 0 0 

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  3   4   2  
 1 0  0 
      
 0  2   0  
= Span   ,  ,  
 0 1  0 
 0 0  1 
       
 0 0  0  

  3   4   2  
 1 0  0 
      
 0  2   0  
Thus the set   ,  ,    is a spanning set for the null space of N  B  .
 0 1  0 
 0 0  1 
       
 0 0  0  

It is straight forward to see that this set is linearly independent and hence it is a basis

for N  B  .

 2 4 6 8
 
5. Let A   1 3 0 5 
 1 1 6 3
 

(a) Find a basis for the null space of A.

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

(c) Find a basis for the range of A that consists of column vectors of A.

(d) For each column vector which is not a basis vector that you obtained in part (c),

express it is a linear combination of the basis vectors for the range of A.

 2 4 6 8 1 2 3 4 
1
R1    R1
 
Solution: Given that A   1 3 0 5   1 3 0 5 
 2

 1 1 6 3 1 1 6 3 
   

1 2 3 4  1 2 3 4
  0 1  3 1 
R2   R1  R2

R3   R1  R3
  0 1  3 1 
R3  R2  R3

 0 1 3 1 0 0 0 0
   

The last matrix is in row echelon form.

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(a)Find a basis for the null space of A:

Now the last matrix gives the following homogeneous system:

x1  2 x2  3x3  4 x4  0
x2  3x3  x4  0

Here x1 & x2 are pivot/ leading variables and x3 & x4 are free variables.

Let x3  s & x4  t ,  x1   9s  2t, x2  3s  t .

Thus, the vector forms solution is:

 x1    9   2 
     
x2 3 1
Thus x     s    t  
 x3   1   0 
     
 x4   0   1 

It follows that the null space of the matrix A is given by

  9   2  
  3   1  
 
N  A   x  x  s    t   ,for all s, t 4
4

 1 0 
     
 0 1 

  9   2  
 3  1  
  ,   
= Span  
 1 0 
     
0 1

  9   2  
 3  1  
  ,   
Thus the set 
1 0  is a spanning set for the null space of N  A .
     
 0 1 

It is straight forward to see that this set is linearly independent and hence it is a basis

for N  A .

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(b)Find a basis for the row space of A:

Recall that the nonzero rows of the matrix A form a basis for the row space of A.

Thus, 1, 2, 3, 4 ,  0, 1, 3, 1 is a basis for the row space of A.

(c) Find a basis for the range of A that consists of column vectors of A:

From the row echelon matrix, it is clear that 1st, and 2nd columns of the original matrix are

the pivot columns. Thus, these columns of the original matrix form a basis for the range of

A that consists of column vectors of A:

  2  4 
    
  1  ,  3   is a basis for the range R(A) of A.
 1 1 
    

(d) For each column vector which is not a basis vector that you obtained in part (c),

express it is a linear combination of the basis vectors for the range of A:

Reducing the last matrix to reduced row echelon form

1 0 9 2
  0 1  3 1 
R1   2 R2  R1

R3  R2  R3
0 0 0 0
 

Now denoting the column vectors of the resulting matrix by A1 , A2 , A3 , & A4 .

In part (c),  A1 , A2  is a basis for the range R(A).

Thus, we need to express the vectors A3 , & A4 as a linear combination of A1 , & A2

respectively.

Therefore, A3  9 A1  3A2 and A4  2 A1  A2 .

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6. Find the rank and nullity of the following matrices:

1 4 5 6 9
1 1 3   1 4 5 2  3  2 1 4 1
 i  A  5  4  4  ii  A   2 1 3 0  iii  A   .
1 0 1 2 1
7  6 2   1 3 2 2  
2 3 5 7 8

1 4 5 6 9 1 4 5 6 9 
 3  2 1 4 1 0 14 14 14  28
Solution:  iii  A    R2   3 R1  R2
  
1 0 1 2 1 R3  R1  R3 0 4 4 4 8 
  R4   2 R1  R4  
2 3 5 7 8 0 5 5 5 10 

1 4 5 6 9 
0 1 1 1
 1 
R2    R2 2 
   14 
0 4 4 4 8 
 
0 5 5 5 10

The reduced row echelon form of A is:

1 0 1 2 1
0 1 1 1 2
R1   4 R2  R1
  
R3   4 R2  R3 0 0 0 0 0

R4  5 R2  R4  
0 0 0 0 0

There are two nonzero rows (or equivalently, two leading 1’s), the row space and column

space are both two dimensional. So rank (A) = 2.

To find the nullity of A, we must find the dimension of the solution space of the linear system

Ax  0 . Now the last matrix gives the following homogeneous system:

x1  x3  2 x4  x5  0
x2  x3  x4  2 x5  0

Since x3 , x4 , & x5 are free variables, we set x3  a, x4  b, & x5  c , where a, b, c  .

Then x1  a  2b  c, x2  a  b  2c, x3  a, x4  b, x5  c

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 x1   1  2   1 
x   1  1   2 
 2      
So, x   x3   a  1   b  0   c  0 
       
 x4  0 1 0
x  0 0 1
 5      

Therefore, the three vectors on the right side form a basis for the solution space, so that

nullity (A) = 3.

Solutions: Similarly you can solve (i) & (ii)

Ans.: (i) Rank (A) = 2, Nullity (A) = 1

(ii) Rank (A) = 2, Nullity (A) = 2

 2 4 3 6
 7 14  6  3 
7. A   
  2  4 1  2
 
 2 4  2  2

Find

(a) a basis for the row space of A

(b) a basis for the column space of A that is a subset of the column vectors of A

(c) a basis for the null space of A

(d) the rank of A and

(e) the nullity of A.

Solution: Similarly, you can solve Problem 7.

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8. Find a basis for, and the dimension of the solution space of the following homogeneous

systems of linear equations:

i  x1  x2  x3  0  iii  x1  3x2  x3  0
 ii  x1  4 x2  3x3  x4  0
 2 x1  x2  2 x3  0 2 x1  6 x2  2 x3  0
2 x1  8 x2  6 x3  2 x4  0
 x1  x3  0  3x1  9 x2  3x3  0

 iv  2 x1  2 x2  x3  x5  0
 x1  x2  2 x3  3x4  x5  0
x1  x2  2 x3  x5  0
x3  x4  x5  0

Solution:

 iv  2 x1  2 x2  x3  x5  0
 x1  x2  2 x3  3x4  x5  0
x1  x2  2 x3  x5  0
x3  x4  x5  0

The augmented matrix for the system is:

 2 2 1 0 1 0
 
 1 1 2 3 1 0
 1 1 2 0 1 0
 
0 0 1 1 1 0 

Reducing this matrix to reduced row echelon form, we obtain

1 1 0 0 1 0
 
0 0 1 0 1 0
0 0 0 1 0 0
 
0 0 0 0 0 0 

The corresponding system of equation is

x1  x2  x5  0
x3  x5  0
x4  0

The general solution of the given system is

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x1  s  t , x2  s, x3   t , x4  0, x5  t

Therefore, the solution vector can be written as

 x1   1  1
x     
 2  1   0 
 x3   s  0   t  1
     
 x4   0   0 
x   0   1 
 5    

 1  1
1 0
   
v1   0  & v2   1
   
0 0
0 1
   

Span the solution space. Since they are also linearly independent, so v1 , v2  is a basis and

the solution space is two dimensional.

Solutions: Similarly, you can solve (i), (ii), (iii).

Ans.:

i  x1  x2  x3  0
 2 x1  x2  2 x3  0
 x1  x3  0

Basis: 1,0,1 ; dimension = 1

 ii  x1  4 x2  3x3  x4  0
2 x1  8 x2  6 x3  2 x4  0

Basis:  4,1,0,0 ,  3,0,1,0 , 1,0,0,1 ; dimension = 3

 iii  x1  3x2  x3  0
2 x1  6 x2  2 x3  0
 3x1  9 x2  3x3  0

Basis:  3,1,0 ,  1,0,1 ; dimension = 2.

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