MATH1010/MATH6904 S1 2023, SGTA Week 02

1 SGTA problems
This section contains problems that you should attempt at home in preparation for your SGTA.
Your instructor will work through with you those questions labelled with an ∗ during the SGTA.

1. Start to work through the Matlab manual (available on iLearn). This is a weekly task
and students should aim to complete the relevant topics in-line with the lecture material.
By now you should have registered a licence and installed the software on a laptop; or
learnt how to use Matlab online. Consult the section on iLearn and follow the link there
for installation instructions. Work through the manual to at least §1.3.3 (i.e., up to page
11) and §1.3.11.

2. Describe the following sets using a single interval (for example (0, 1] or [1, 2]), giving
a brief justification concerning the numbers at the ends of each interval or where joins
occur.

(a) {sin x : x ∈ R},

(b) (0, 1] ∪ [1, 2],
(c) (0, 2) ∩ [1, 2].

3. Let P = (1, −2, 0) and Q = (4, −5, 6) be points in R3 .

−→ −→ −→
(a) Let R be the point (3, −4, 4). Find t such that OR = (1 − t) OP + t OQ.
(b) If S = (−2, 0, 4), calculate the distance from S to Q.
−→
(c) If S = (−2, 1, −6), calculate the midpoint of the line segment SP .

4. Consider the diagram below.

A B 3

1
D C
−7 −6 −5 −4 −3 −2 −1 0

−−→ −→ −−→ −→ −−→

(a) Write down the vectors CD, CA, CB, BA and DB.
−−→ −−→
(b) Determine the dot product of CD and CB. Use the Matlab command dot to
confirm your answer.
−−→ −−→
(c) Determine the length of CD and CB.
−−→ −−→
(d) Find the acute angle between the vectors CD and CB.
∗ 5. Let u = (1, 0, 0, 1), v = (1, 1, 1, 1), and w = (2, 4, 4, 0).

(a) Calculate u · v + v · w − u · w. Confirm your answer in Matlab.

(b) Find the distance between v and w.
(c) Find the angle between u and v.

6. Determine the dot product of the following pairs of vectors.

(a) (−2, −5, 1) and (4, −1, 3),

(b) (− 21 , −6, 2) and (−4, 2, −1),
(c) 1, − 23 , 81 and 0, 14 , 3 ,



√
√

(d) −2, 23 , 13 5 and 1, −1, 5 .

∗ 7. Write down explicit expressions (for example, {1, 2, 3}) for the following sets; also give a
short ‘plain text’ description:

(a) {x ∈ Z : −2 ≤ x ≤ 2},
(b) {x2 : x ∈ Z and −2 ≤ x ≤ 2},
(c) Z ∩ (0, 3] .

∗ 8. Find the angle ∠BAC if A = (2, 2, 2), B = (4, 2, 1), C = (2, 3, 1).

∗ 9. Let a = (1, 2, 3) and b = (2, 1, 3).

(a) Find the unit vector in the direction opposite to a + 2 b.

(b) Find the set of non-zero vectors orthogonal to both a and b.

∗ 10. Consider the vectors u = (t, −1, 1) and v = (t, t, −2).

(a) Determine all values of t for which u and v are perpendicular.

(b) For what values of t, if any, are u and v parallel.
2 Additional Problems
These are problems that students who would like something a little more challenging can try
at home after the SGTA. Your instructor may discuss some of these problems in the SGTA if
time permits.

1. Describe the following sets using interval notation.

(a) {x ∈ R : x2 − x − 6 < 0},

(b) (1, 2) ∪ (0, 1).

2. If u and v are vectors in Rn and c is a real number, show that u + v = v + u ,

and that c (u + v) = c u + c v .
1 √
3. Let u1 = (0, 1, 0) and u2 = √ (−1, 0, 2) = 15 5 (−1, 0, 2).
5
Find a vector u3 that is perpendicular to both u1 and u2 .

4. Show that if u, v ∈ R3 are perpendicular, then |u + v|2 = |u|2 + |v|2 .

5. (Use Matlab)
In this question, dot and norm commands may be useful (refer to pg. 14 of the manual).
In the command window

• Enter column vectors u = (−1, −2)t and v = (−2, 3)t .

• Compute the orthogonal projection of u onto v (name it proj).
• Create a matrix M , with u, v, and proj as its columns.
• Plot u, v, and proj using the command plotv(M); you may need to install1 the
‘Deep Learning Toolbox’ to use this command. Next
– Enter the hold command before completing the following:
– Make the axis lines with equal lengths using the command axis square .
– Change the axis limits so that −2 ≤ x ≤ 2 and −2 ≤ y ≤ 2 — consult help
axis.
– Using the command plot([proj(1) u(1)],[proj(2) u(2)]), plot the vector
component of u orthogonal to v.

1
requires a complete restart of Matlab, so first save any work that you wish to keep. Then redo the
commands above.