Practice exercises for Quiz  Linear Algebra I (-nyc-/) Winter 

Questions
The first question will be about lines and points on lines in Rn .
   
 1   3  a. Find the midpoint of the line segment joining p and q.
   
Question . — You are given the points p = −2 and q = −1. b. Find the point which is 58 of the way from p towards q.
   
3 1 c. Give a parametric form of the line containing p and q.

The second question will be about planes and parts of planes in Rn .

     
 3  2 5
     
Question . — You are given the points p = −1, q = 1 and r = 3.
     
4 7 2
Draw these points and two vectors joining them as in the figure below.
r

p u q

Leave space around your drawing, because you will be adding vectors to it as you work this exercise.
a. Compute the vectors u and v in the figure and write them as columns.
b. Compute the linear combination p − u + 2v and draw it as an arrow in your drawing.
c. Write the linear combination − 16 p + 21 q + 23 r in the form p + au + bv (that is, find a and b) and indicate its position in your
drawing.
d. Give a parametric form of the plane containing p, q and r.

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Instructions
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Practice exercises for Quiz  Linear Algebra I (-nyc-/) Winter 
(solutions)

The first question will be about lines and points on lines in Rn .

Solution to Question . — a. The midpoint of the line segment joining p and q is

 
      2
1 3 4  
    1    3 
1 1 1−2 + −1 = −3 = −  .
p + q =
2 2 2     2    2 
3 1 4  
2
5
b. The point which is 8 of the way from p towards q is
 
        9 
  1   3   18   4 
        11 
p + 85 (q − p) = 38 p + 85 q = 81 3 −2 + 5 −1 = 1
8−11 = − 8  .
      
3 1 14  7 
4

c. A parametric form of the line containing p and q is

         
 1   3   1   1   2 
         
p + t(q − p) = −2 + t −1 − −2 = −2 + t  1  ,
         
3 1 3 3 −2

where t can be any real number.

The second question will be about planes and parts of planes in Rn .

Solution to Question . — a. The vector u and v in the figure are

           
2  3  −1 5  3   2 
           
u = q − p = 1 − −1 =  2  and v = r − p = 3 − −1 =  4  .
           
7 4 3 2 4 −2

b. The given linear combination is

       
 3  −1  2   8 
       
p − u + 2v = −1 −  2  + 2  4  =  5  .
       
4 3 −2 −3
This linear combination is shown in the figure below as a blue dot, with blue dashed lines indicating how it is obtained.
p+2v
p − u + 2v

p−u p u q

c. Notice that q = p + u and r = p + v, so that the given linear combination is

− 61 p + 12 q + 23 r = − 16 p + 12 (p + u) + 23 (p + v) = − 16 p + 21 p + 23 p + 12 u + 23 v = p + 12 u + 32 v.

This linear combination is shown in the figure below as a red dot, with red dashed lines indicating how it is obtained.
Practice exercises for Quiz  Linear Algebra I (-nyc-/) Winter 
(solutions)

p+2v
p − u + 2v

r
p + 12 u + 32 v
2
p+ 3 v

v
u
p−u p p+ 12 u q

Note. — It was not required to compute this linear combination. Nevertheless, here is a computation of it in case you did so
and wanted to check your work:
 
          23 
  3  2 5 23  6 
1 1 2 1 1        1    8 
− 6 p + 2 q + 3 r = 6 (−p + 3q + 4r) = 6 − −1 + 3 1 + 4 3 = 6 16 =  3  .
          
4 7 2 25  25 
6

d. A parametric form of the plane is

     
 3  −1  2 
     
p + s(q − p) + t(r − p) = p + su + tv = −1 + s  2  + t  4  ,
     
4 3 −2
where s and t can be any real numbers.