MATH1850 Midterm 2 November 2017 2

1. (8 marks) Let S be the set p1 , p 2 , p 3  where p1  x 2  x , p2  x  1 and

p3  x 2  x  1 . Write p  x2  x  2 as a linear combination of the polynomials
in S.
NOTE: You must show all your calculations involving matrices, and you MUST show
each step of how the resulting matrix was set up. If you do this question only by
inspection (i.e. trial and error or guessing), or do not show all your work, you will NOT
receive marks.

Final Answer: p = _________________________________________________

MATH1850 Midterm 2 November 2017 4

2. (6 marks) Answer each question in the space provided. You must show all work.

a) (2 marks) Find all the UNIT vectors orthogonal to u = (2, 1)

Answer: ____________________________________________________

b) (4 marks) Consider the vectors u = (1, -2, 1) and a = (2, -1, 3). Find the
following:
u a
(i) the vector component of u along a (given by proja u  2
a)
a
(ii) the vector component of u orthogonal to a (given by
u a
u - proja u  u  2
a)
a

(You can use this space for rough work, but anything below this line will NOT be
marked!)
MATH1850 Midterm 2 November 2017 5

3. (6 marks; 3 marks each) Answer each question in the space provided.

 a b
a) Suppose that the set W consists of all 2  2 matrices of the form  
  a 0
where a, b, c are any real numbers. Determine whether this set is closed under
addition (i.e. if u and v are objects in W, then u  v is in W) and prove your
answer.

b) Consider the set V of all vectors in R2. Suppose that addition for this set is
defined as usual, but that scalar multiplication is defined instead by ku  ( ku1 , u2 )
Prove that the vector space property “ k (u  v )  ku  kv " holds.
MATH1850 Midterm 2 November 2017 6

4. (9 marks total) Answer each question in the space provided. Show ALL your work.

a) (4 marks) Use the Wronskian to determine whether the functions 1  2 x 2 , 3  4 x

and 7  2 x are linearly independent. Other methods will NOT receive marks.
f1 ( x ) f 2 ( x)  f n ( x)
Hint: In general, W ( x )  f1( x ) f 2( x )  f n( x )
  
( n 1) ( n 1) ( n 1)
f 1 ( x) f 2 ( x)  f n ( x)

b) (2 marks) The vector (2, 3, 1) is in the space spanned by the vectors (1, 1, -1)
and (1, 2, 2). Answer TRUE or FALSE, and justify your answer. You will
receive credit ONLY if your answer is correct AND properly justified.

Answer: __________________

Justification:

c) (3 marks) Consider the 3 vectors (2, -1, 3, 6), (0, 4, -2, 1), and (7, -3, 1, 0). Set-
up, in matrix form, the system of equations that you would need to solve to
determine whether these vectors are linearly independent. You must show ALL
your work in setting up the system. Do NOT solve the system.
MATH1850 Midterm 2 November 2017 8

5. (11 marks total) Answer each of the following in the space provided. You do NOT
have to show your work; only the final answer will be marked.

a) (1 mark) Find the parametric equation of the line containing the point (-1, 3, 2)
and perpendicular to the plane x – 5y + 2z = 7.

Answer: ______________________________________________

b) (1 mark) Let S= x  2, 2 x  3 be a basis for P1 (the vector space of

polynomials of degree  1 ). Find the vector in P1 whose coordinate vector with
respect to S is (p) S = (-2, 3).

Answer: p  ________________________________________

c) (1 mark) Consider the vector space V consisting of all 2  2 matrices with trace
equal 0. Find the dimension of V.

Answer: dim (V) = ___________________________________________

d) (2 marks) If u = (5, 0, -1) and v = (1, 3, -2), find uv.

Answer: ____________________________________________________

e) (2 marks) Consider the vectors u = (1, 2, x) and v = (2, 5, -7). For what value of
x are the 2 vectors parallel? For what value of x are the 2 vectors orthogonal? If
no x value exists to make the condition true, write N/A.

Answer: To be parallel: x = _________ To be orthogonal: x = _________

f) (2 marks) Find the equation of the plane that passes through the points
P(1, 1, 0), Q(0, 1, 1) and the origin (0, 0, 0).

Answer: ______________________________________________

g) (2 marks) Consider the vector space V consisting of vectors of the form

(3a, b, 0, 2a  b) . Find a basis for V.

Answer: Basis: ______________________________________________

MATH1850 Midterm 2 November 2017 9

6. (2 marks each; 10 marks total) For each of the following questions, select ALL of
the correct answers by clearly shading in the appropriate boxes. Each question is worth
2 marks, but there may be anywhere from 0 to 4 correct answers. You will lose marks for
each incorrect choice (i.e. selecting something that’s wrong, or missing something that’s
correct, up to a maximum of 2 marks deduction per question (i.e. no negative marks )

a) Which of the following sets are subspaces (of the appropriate vector space)?
Functions f ( x ) defined for all values of x such that f (1)  0
Polynomials of degree 4 or less
4  4 matrices with det(A)=0
3  3 symmetric matrices

a b
b) Consider the set V consisting of all 2  2 matrices of the form  c 1 . Which
 
of the following vector space properties will hold?
If u and v are objects in V, then u  v is in V.
There is an object 0 in V called the zero vector for V, such that
u0  0u u
If k is any scalar and u is any object in V, then ku is in V.
u v  vu

c) By inspection, which of the following sets S form a basis for the indicated vector
space?
S = {(1, 0, 3), (-1, 2, 1), (1, 0, 1),(0, 0, 1)} for V = R3.
S = {(1, 1, 1), (0, 1, 0), (0, 0, 1)} for V = R3.
S =  x 3  x 2  2, 2 x 2  x  1, x 3  2 x 2  1  for V = P3.
  2 0  1 0 1 0   0 0 
S =  ,  ,  ,    for V = M22
  0 4   0 0  0 2    1 0 

d) Which of the following statements are true?

It is impossible for 6 vectors to span R7.
A set of 8 vectors must span R4
5 vectors in R4 must be linearly independent
A basis for R4 must have exactly 4 vectors

e) Which of the following sets of vectors are independent?

(2, 3, 4, 7) and (1, 0, 4, 7)
(1, 0, 1), (3, -1, 2), (6 ,9, -2), and (7, 0, -3)
(1, 2, -1, 0) and (-4, -8, 4, 0)
(1, 0, 2), (1, 1, 1) and (0, 0, 0)