AE - 211, Mathematical Methods for Aerospace Engineers, Spring 2023.

Assignment-1, Linear Algebra (30/01/2023)

Due: on or before Feb 10, 2023

1.
󰀳 󰀴
a 0 b 2
Let: A = 󰁃 a 2 a b 󰁄
b 2 a a

be the augmented matrix of a linear system. For which values of a and b does the
system have:
a) a unique solution?
b) infinitely many solutions?
c) no solutions?

2. Let A ∈ Rn×n , be a non-singular matrix. Using the properties of the determinant

function (det) discussed in class, show the following:

(a) det(cA) = cn det(A),

(b) det(A) = u11 ×u22 ×...×unn , where A = LU and {u11 , u22 , ..., unn } are the diagonal
entries of U .

3. Determine whether or not the following set of matrices is a linearly independent set:

󰀝󰀕 󰀖 󰀕 󰀖 󰀕 󰀖 󰀕 󰀖󰀞
1 0 1 1 1 1 1 1
, , , .
0 0 0 0 1 0 1 1

Can the above set form a basis for R2×2 matrices?

4. For each of the following matrices:

󰀳 󰀴 󰀳 󰀴
󰀃 󰀄 1 5 1 1 2 1
1 2 3 , 󰁃−2 3󰁄 , 󰁃1 0 −1 3󰁄 .
2 7 2 3 7 0

a) Determine the rank and the dimensions of the four fundamental subspaces.
b) Find the bases for the four fundamental subspaces.

5. Let T : Rm → Rn be a linear transformation. Assume both m, n are finite. Show that:

a) If m > n, then T cannot be one − to − one (injective).
b) If m < n, then T cannot be onto (surjective).

1
6. Let T : R2 → R2 be a linear transformation such that Nullspace (T ) = {0}. Show that
T takes:
a) parallel lines to parallel lines.
b) triangles to triangles.
c) circles to ellipses.

7. Find the linear transformation T : R2 → R2 that maps (1, 1) to (−1, 4) and (−1, 3) to
(−7, 0). 󰀃 󰀄 󰀃 󰀄
a) Find the matrix representation of T in the standard basis: 󰀃 10󰀄 and 󰀃 01 󰀄.
b) Find the matrix representation of T in the following basis 11 and −1 1 .

8. The last problem concerns an application of eigenvalues and eigenvectors.

Given a solid body spinning around its center of mass, the eigenvectors of the in-
ertia tensor prescribe three mutually perpendicular principal directions of rotation,
while the corresponding eigenvalues are the principle moments of inertia. Given the
inertia tensor:
󰀳 󰀴
2 1 0
T = 󰁃1 3 1 󰁄 ,
0 1 2

find the principal directions and principal moments of inertia.