217 Quiz 6 (c)2015 UM Math Dept

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1. Prove or Disprove: If W1 and W2 are two subspaces of a vector space V , then W1 ∩ W2 is also
a subspace of V .
Solution note: This is true. To prove it, we need to show W1 ∩ W2 is closed under
addition and scalar multiplication. Take f and g in W1 ∩ W2 . We need to show
f + g ∈ W1 ∩ W2 AND λf ∈ W1 ∩ W2 . Since W1 ∩ W2 ⊂ W1 , and W1 is a subspace,
we know that f + g ∈ W1 and also λf ∈ W1 . Similarly, since W1 ∩ W2 ⊂ W2 , and W2
is a subspace, we know that f + g ∈ W2 and also λf ∈ W2 . So f + g ∈ W1 ∩ W2 and
also λf ∈ W1 ∩ W2 . This shows that W1 ∩ W2 is closed under addition and scalar
multiplication, so it is a subspace of V .
2. Prove or Disprove: If W1 and W2 are two subspaces of a vector space V , then W1 ∪ W2 is also
a subspace of V .
Solution note: This is FALSE. For a counterexample, let V = R2 , let W1 be the line
spanned by ~e1 and W2 the line spanned by ~e2 . Then W1 ∪ W2 (which is the union of
the x and y axis) is NOT closed under addition, since ~e1 and ~e2 are in the union but
their sum is not. This set is closed under scalar multiplication, however.