Math 54.

Selected Solutions for Week 4

Section 3.3 (Page 172)

9. For the linear system

sx1 − 2sx2 = −1
3x1 + 6sx2 = 4 ,

determine the values of the parameter s for which the system has a unique solution,
and describe the solution.
For the first part, we need to find the set of all s for which the coefficient matrix
is nonsingular. The determinant of this matrix is
 
 s −2s  2
 3 6s  = 6s + 6s = 6s(s + 1) ,
 

and this is nonzero for all s 6= 0, −1 .

For such values of s , the solution is
   
 −1 −2s   s −1 
   
 4 6s  −6s + 8s 1 3 4  4s + 3
x1 =   = = ; x2 =  = ,
 s −2s  6s(s + 1) 3(s + 1)  s −2s  6s(s + 1)
 
 3 6s   3 6s 

So the solution is  1 
3(s+1)
~x = 4s+3 , s 6= 0, −1 .
6s(s+1)

20. Find the area of the parallelogram with vertices

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

By Theorem 9, the area of this parallelogram is

  

det −1 4 
 = |5 − 12| = 7 .
 3 −5 

21. Find the area of the parallelogram with vertices

(−1, 0) , (0, 5) , (1, −4) , (2, 1) .

1
 2

Translating by (1, 0) gives the parallelogram with vertices (0, 0) , (1, 5) , (2, −4) ,
(3, 1) . By Theorem 9, the area of this parallelogram is
  
det 1 2 

= | − 4 − 10| = 14 .
 5 −4 

30. Let R be the triangle with vertices (x1 , y1 ) , (x2 , y2 ) , and (x3 , y3 ) . Show that
 
x1 y1 1
1
{area of triangle} = det  x2 y2 1 .
2
x3 y3 1

[Hint: Translate R to the origin by subtracting one of the vertices, and use Exercise
29.]
Following the hint, if we translate to the origin by subtracting (x1 , y1 ) , we get a
triangle with vertices ~0 , (x2 − x1 , y2 − y1 ) , and (x3 − x1 , y3 − y1 ) . By Theorem 5
on page 160 and Problem 29 (see the answer in the back of the book), the area of this
triangle is
     
1  x2 − x1 x3 − x1  1  x2 − x1 y2 − y1 
det = det
2 y2 − y1 y3 − y1  2  x3 − x1 y3 − y1 
  
 x1 y1 1 
1 
= det x2 − x1
 y2 − y1 0 
2
x3 − x1 y3 − y1 0 
  
 x1 y1 1 
1 
= det x2 y2
 1  .
2
x3 y3 1 

(The last step involved row operations.)

Section 4.1 (Page 183)

2. Let W be the union of the first and third quadrants in the xy-plane. That is, let
x
W = : xy ≥ 0 .
y
(a). If ~u is in W and c is any scalar, is c~u in W ? Why?
(b). Find specific vectors ~u and ~v in W such that ~u + ~v is not in W . This is
enough to show that W is not a vector space.

a. Yes, because c~u = (cx, cy) satisfies the condition (cx)(cy) = c2 xy ≥ 0 because
c2 ≥ 0 and xy ≥ 0 .
b. Take (1, 0) and (0, −1) . They are both in W but their sum (1, −1) is not.
 3

8. Determine if the following set is a subspace of Pn for an appropriate value of n . Justify

your answer.

All polynomials in Pn such that p~(0) = 0 .

Yes: The zero polynomial satisfies the condition p~(0) = 0 , if p~ and ~q are two poly-
nomials that satisfy the condition then so does their sum, as does any scalar (constant)
multiple of p~ .

16. Let W be the set of all vectors of the form

 
1
 3a − 5b  ,
3b + 2a

where a and b represent arbitrary real numbers. Either find a set S of vectors that
spans W or give an example to show that W is not a vector space.
 
1
Setting a = b = 0 gives the vector  0  in W . Call this vector ~v . The scalar
  0
2
multiple 2~v =  0  does not lie in W , so W is not a vector space (it is not closed
0
under scalar multiplication).
Other answers are possible.

30. Suppose c~u = ~0 for some nonzero scalar c . Show that ~u = ~0 . Mention the axioms or
properties you use.
We are given that c~u = ~0 and c 6= 0 . Then

~u = 1~u = (c−1 c)~u = c−1 (c~u) = c−1~0 = ~0 ,

where the first step is by Axiom 10; the second is true because c 6= 0 implies that c−1
exists and c−1 c = 1 ; the third is by Axiom 9; the fourth is true because we are given
that c~u = ~0 ; and the last step is by equation (2) on page 179.

Section 4.2 (Page 194)

6. For the matrix  

1 3 −4 −3 1
A = 0 1 −3 1 0 ,
0 0 0 0 0
find an explicit description of Nul A , by listing vectors that span the null space.
 4

First put the matrix into reduced echelon form (this takes only one elementary row
operation):  
1 0 5 −6 1
 0 1 −3 1 0  .
0 0 0 0 0
Solutions are given by x1 = −5x3 + 6x4 − x5 and x2 = 3x3 − x4 , with free variables
x3 , x4 , and x5 . Therefore solutions are given by

−5x3 + 6x4 − x5 −5 6 −1
       
 3x3 − x4   3   −1   0 
~x =  x3  = x3  1  + x4  0  + x5  0  ,
       
x4 0 1 0
       
x5 0 0 1

and a basis for the null space is (−5, 3, 1, 0, 0) , (6, −1, 0, 1, 0) , (−1, 0, 0, 0, 1) .

12. Let
3p − 5q
  
 
 4q 
 
W =   : p and q are real .

 p 

q+1
Either use an appropriate theorem to show that W is a vector space, or find a specific
example to the contrary.
0
 
0
Letting p = q = 0 gives the vector   in W . Call this vector ~v . If W is a
0
1
0
 
0
subspace, then 2~v =   must also lie in W , so
0
2

0 3p − 5q
   
 0   4q 
 =
0 p

2 q+1

for some p, q ∈ R . Looking at the second coordinates, we find that q must be 0 , but
then the fourth coordinates are unequal. So 2~v ∈ / W , and therefore W is not a vector
space (it is not closed under scalar multiplication).