Department of Mathematics, IIT Madras

MA2031-Linear Algebra for Engineers

1. In each of the following, a vector space 𝑉 and a subset 𝑆 of 𝑉 are given. Determine
whether 𝑆 is linearly dependent; and if it is, express one of the vectors in 𝑆 as a linear
combination of the remaining vectors.
(a) 𝑉 = R3 , 𝑆 = {(1, 0, −1), (2, 5, 1), (0, −4, 3)}.
(b) 𝑉 = R3 , 𝑆 = {(1, 2, 3), (4, 5, 6), (7, 8, 9)}.
(c) 𝑉 = F3 [𝑡], 𝑆 ={𝑡 2 − 3𝑡 + 5, 3 2 3
 𝑡 + 2𝑡 − 𝑡 + 1, 𝑡  + 3𝑡
2
 − 1}. 
2 0 1 −1 2 1 1 2
(d) 𝑉 = F2×2 , 𝑆 = , , , .
2 3 2 1 0 −1 −1 0
(e) 𝑉 = the set of all functions from R to R, 𝑆 = {2, sin2 𝑡, cos2 𝑡}.
(f) 𝑉 = the set of all functions from R to R, 𝑆 = {1, sin 𝑡, sin 2𝑡}.
2. Show that in R2 , {(𝑎, 𝑏), (𝑐, 𝑑)} is linearly independent iff 𝑎𝑑 − 𝑏𝑐 ≠ 0.
3. Show that in R2 , any three vectors are linearly dependent.
4. Give three linearly dependent vectors in R2 such that none is a scalar multiple of another.
5. Give four vectors in R3 which are linearly dependent so that any three of them are linearly
independent.
6. Construct examples to show that the following statements are false:
(a) Each subset of a linearly dependent set is linearly dependent.
(b) Each superset of a linearly independent set is linearly independent.
7. Show that in the vector space of all functions from R to R, the set of functions {𝑒 𝑡 , 𝑡𝑒 𝑡 , 𝑡 3 𝑒 𝑡 }
is linearly independent.
8. Is {sin 𝑡, sin 2𝑡, sin 3𝑡, . . . , sin 𝑛𝑡} linearly independent in 𝐶 [−𝜋, 𝜋]?
9. Let 𝑝 1 (𝑡), . . . , 𝑝 𝑘 (𝑡) be polynomials with coefficients from F with distinct degrees. Show
that {𝑝 1 (𝑡), . . . , 𝑝 𝑘 (𝑡)} is linearly independent in F[𝑡].
10. Determine which of the following sets are bases of F2 [𝑡]? (a) {1, 1 + 𝑡, 1 + 𝑡 + 𝑡 2 }.
(b) {1 + 2𝑡 + 𝑡 2 , 3 + 𝑡 2 , 𝑡 + 𝑡 2 }.
11. Is {1 + 𝑡 𝑛 , 𝑡 + 𝑡 𝑛 , . . . , 𝑡 𝑛−1 + 𝑡 𝑛 , 𝑡 𝑛 } a basis of F𝑛 [𝑡]?
12. Let {𝑥, 𝑦, 𝑧} be a basis of a vector space 𝑉 . Are the following sets also bases of 𝑉? (a)
{𝑥 + 𝑦, 𝑦 + 𝑧, 𝑧 + 𝑥} (b) {𝑥 − 𝑦, 𝑦 − 𝑧, 𝑧 − 𝑥}
13. Find a basis of 𝑉 = {(𝑎 1 , . . . , 𝑎 5 ) ∈ C5 : 𝑎 1 + 𝑎 3 − 𝑎 5 = 0 = 𝑎 2 − 𝑎 4 = 0}.
14. Let 𝑉 = {𝑝(𝑡) ∈ R2 [𝑡] : 𝑝(0) + 2𝑝0 (0) + 3𝑝00 (0) = 0}. Show that 𝑉 is a vector space and
find a basis for it.
15. Extend the set {1 + 𝑡 2 , 1 − 𝑡 2 } to a basis of F3 [𝑡].
16. Let 𝑢 1 = 1 and let 𝑢 𝑗 = 1 + 𝑡 + 𝑡 2 + · · · + 𝑡 𝑗−1 for 𝑗 = 2, 3, 4, . . . Is {𝑢 1 , . . . , 𝑢 𝑛 } a basis of F𝑛 [𝑡]?
Is {𝑢 1 , 𝑢 2 , . . .} a basis of F[𝑡]?
17. Construct three bases for R3 so that no two of them have a common vector.
18. Construct a basis for the real vector space of all 𝑛 × 𝑛 hermitian matrices.
19. Construct a basis for the vector space of all 𝑛 × 𝑛 matrices of trace 0.
20. Show that 𝑊 := {𝐴 ∈ C2×2 : 𝐴∗ + 𝐴 = 0} is a real vector space. Find a basis for 𝑊 .
21. Find bases and dimensions of the following subspaces of R5 :
22. {(𝑎 1 , 𝑎 2 , 𝑎 3 , 𝑎 4 , 𝑎 5 ) ∈ R5 : 𝑎 1 − 𝑎 3 − 𝑎 4 = 0}.
23. {(𝑎 1 , 𝑎 2 , 𝑎 3 , 𝑎 4 , 𝑎 5 ) ∈ R5 : 𝑎 2 = 𝑎 3 = 𝑎 4 , 𝑎 1 + 𝑎 5 = 0}.
24. Span of the set of vectors (1, −1, 0, 2, 1), (2, 1, −2, 0, 0), (0, −3, 2, 4, 2), (2, 4, 1, 0, 1), (3, 3, −4, −2, −1)
and (5, 7, −3, −2, 0).
25. Determine the dimension of the vector space of all matrices, over R or C or both (as
appropriate):
(a) 𝑛 × 𝑛 matrices.
(b) symmetric 𝑛 × 𝑛 matrices.
(c) skew-symmetric 𝑛 × 𝑛 matrices.
(d) hermitian 𝑛 × 𝑛 matrices.
(e) upper triangular 𝑛 × 𝑛 matrices.
(f) diagonal 𝑛 × 𝑛 matrices.
(g) scalar 𝑛 × 𝑛 matrices.
26. Let 𝑈 and 𝑊 be subspaces of a finite dimensional vector space. Prove that if dim (𝑈 ∩𝑊) =
dim (𝑈), then 𝑈 ⊆ 𝑊 .
27. Show that if 𝑈 and 𝑊 are subspaces of R9 with dim (𝑈) = 5 = dim (𝑊), then 𝑈 ∩𝑊 ≠ {0}.
28. Let 𝑈 = span {(1, 2, 3), (2, 1, 1)} and 𝑊 = span {(1, 0, 1), (3, 0, −1)}. Find a basis for 𝑈 ∩𝑊 .
Also, find dim (𝑈 + 𝑊).
29. Let 𝑆 be a set consisting of 𝑛 elements. Let 𝑉 be the set of all functions from 𝑆 to R. Show
that 𝑉 is a vector space of dimension 𝑛.
30. Let 𝑉 be the set of all functions 𝑓 (𝑡) having a power series expansion for |𝑡| < 1. Show
that 𝑉 is an infinite dimensional vector space.
31. In R3 , what is dim (span {𝑒 1 + 𝑒 2 , 𝑒 2 + 𝑒 3 , 𝑒 3 + 𝑒 1 })?
32. In each of the following subspaces 𝑈 and 𝑊 of a vector space 𝑉, determine the bases and
dimensions of 𝑈, 𝑊, 𝑈 + 𝑊 and of 𝑈 ∩ 𝑊 .
(a) 𝑉 = R3 , 𝑈 = span {(1, 2, 3), (2, 1, 1)}, 𝑊 = span {(1, 0, 1), (3, 0, −1)}.
(b) 𝑉 = R4 , 𝑈 = span {(1, 0, 2, 0), (1, 0, 3, 0), },
𝑊 = span {(1, 0, 0, 0), (0, 1, 0, 0), (0, 0, 1, 1)}.
(c) 𝑉 = C4 , 𝑈 = span {(1, 0, 0, 2), (3, 1, 0, 2), (7, 0, 5, 2)},
𝑊 = span {(1, 0, 3, 2), (10, 4, 14, 8), (1, 1, −1, −1)}.
33. Let 𝑉 be a vector space. Let 𝑣 1 , . . . , 𝑣 𝑛 ∈ 𝑉 . Show the following:
(a) If 𝑣 1 , . . . , 𝑣 𝑛 span 𝑉, then 𝑣 1 , 𝑣 2 − 𝑣 1 , . . . , 𝑣 𝑛 − 𝑣 1 span 𝑉 .
(b) If 𝑣 1 , . . . , 𝑣 𝑛 are linearly independent, then 𝑣 1 , 𝑣 2 − 𝑣 1 , . . . , 𝑣 𝑛 − 𝑣 1 are linearly inde-
pendent.
34. Determine conditions on the scalars 𝑎 and 𝑏 so that the vectors (1, 𝑎, 4), (1, 3, 1) and
(0, 2, 𝑏) are linearly dependent.