Linear Algebra for

Beginners
Open Doors to Great Careers

Richard Han
Copyright © 2018 Richard Han

All rights reserved.

 CONTENTS

PREFACE ....................................................................................... 7
1 - INTRODUCTION ..................................................................... 8
2 – SOLVING SYSTEMS OF LINEAR EQUATIONS ............... 10
GAUSSIAN ELIMINATION.............................................................................................................................. 10

GAUSSIAN ELIMINATION AND ROW ECHELON FORM .......................................................................... 12

PROBLEM SET: GAUSSIAN ELIMINATION................................................................................................. 15

SOLUTION SET: GAUSSIAN ELIMINATION ............................................................................................... 16

ELEMENTARY ROW OPERATIONS .............................................................................................................. 20

ELEMENTARY ROW OPERATIONS: ADDITIONAL EXAMPLE ............................................................... 22

PROBLEM SET: ELEMENTARY ROW OPERATIONS ................................................................................. 24

SOLUTION SET: ELEMENTARY ROW OPERATIONS ................................................................................ 25

SUMMARY: SOLVING SYSTEMS OF LINEAR EQUATIONS .................................................................... 28

3 – VECTORS ............................................................................... 29
VECTOR OPERATIONS AND LINEAR COMBINATIONS........................................................................... 29

PROBLEM SET: VECTOR OPERATIONS AND LINEAR COMBINATIONS.............................................. 31

SOLUTION SET: VECTOR OPERATIONS AND LINEAR COMBINATIONS ............................................ 33

VECTOR EQUATIONS AND THE MATRIX EQUATION Ax=b................................................................... 34

LINEAR INDEPENDENCE ............................................................................................................................... 35

LINEAR INDEPENDENCE: EXAMPLE 1 ....................................................................................................... 35

LINEAR INDEPENDENCE: EXAMPLE 2 ....................................................................................................... 37

PROBLEM SET: LINEAR INDEPENDENCE .................................................................................................. 39

SOLUTION SET: LINEAR INDEPENDENCE ................................................................................................. 40

SUMMARY: VECTORS .................................................................................................................................... 42

4 – MATRIX OPERATIONS ....................................................... 43

ADDITION AND SCALAR MULTIPLICATION ............................................................................................. 43

MULTIPLICATION ........................................................................................................................................... 44

PROBLEM SET: MATRIX OPERATIONS ...................................................................................................... 46

SOLUTION SET: MATRIX OPERATIONS ..................................................................................................... 47

 RICHARD HAN

SUMMARY: MATRIX OPERATIONS ..............................................................................................................48

5 – PROPERTIES OF MATRIX ADDITION AND SCALAR MULTIPLICATION Error! Bookmark

not defined.
COMMUTATIVITY, ASSOCIATIVITY, AND DISTRIBUTIVITY ................ Error! Bookmark not defined.

IDENTITIES, ADDITIVE INVERSES, MULTIPLICATIVE ASSOCIATIVITY AND DISTRIBUTIVITY

.............................................................................................................................. Error! Bookmark not defined.

PROBLEM SET: PROPERTIES OF MATRIX OPERATIONS ......................... Error! Bookmark not defined.

SOLUTION SET: PROPERTIES OF MATRIX OPERATIONS ........................ Error! Bookmark not defined.

TRANSPOSE OF A MATRIX ............................................................................ Error! Bookmark not defined.

PROBLEM SET: TRANSPOSE OF A MATRIX ............................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.

SOLUTION SET: TRANSPOSE OF A MATRIX .............................................. Error! Bookmark not defined.

SUMMARY: PROPERTIES OF MATRIX ADDITION AND SCALAR MULTIPLICATION ............... Error!

Bookmark not defined.

6 – THE INVERSE OF A MATRIXError! Bookmark not defined.

INVERSE MATRIX ............................................................................................ Error! Bookmark not defined.

GAUSS-JORDAN ELIMINATION .................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.

GAUSS-JORDAN ELIMINATION: ADDITIONAL EXAMPLE ...................... Error! Bookmark not defined.

PROBLEM SET: INVERSE OF A MATRIX ..................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.

SOLUTION SET: INVERSE OF A MATRIX .................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.

SUMMARY: INVERSE OF A MATRIX ............................................................ Error! Bookmark not defined.

7 – DETERMINANTS .................. Error! Bookmark not defined.

DETERMINANT OF A 2 BY 2 MATRIX .......................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.

COFACTOR EXPANSION ................................................................................. Error! Bookmark not defined.

COFACTOR EXPANSION: ADDITIONAL EXAMPLES ................................ Error! Bookmark not defined.

PROBLEM SET: DETERMINANTS .................................................................. Error! Bookmark not defined.

SOLUTION SET: DETERMINANTS ................................................................. Error! Bookmark not defined.

SUMMARY: DETERMINANTS ........................................................................ Error! Bookmark not defined.

8 – PROPERTIES OF DETERMINANTSError! Bookmark not defined.

DETERMINANT OF A PRODUCT OF MATRICES AND OF A SCALAR MULTIPLE OF A MATRIX
.............................................................................................................................. Error! Bookmark not defined.

DETERMINANTS AND INVERTIBILITY ....................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.

iv
 LINEAR ALGEBRA FOR BEGINNERS

DETERMINANT OF THE TRANSPOSE OF A MATRIX ................................ Error! Bookmark not defined.

PROBLEM SET: PROPERTIES OF DETERMINANTS ................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.

SOLUTION SET: PROPERTIES OF DETERMINANTS .................................. Error! Bookmark not defined.

SUMMARY: PROPERTIES OF DETERMINANTS .......................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.

9 – VECTOR SPACES ................. Error! Bookmark not defined.

VECTOR SPACE DEFINITION ......................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.

VECTOR SPACE EXAMPLE ............................................................................. Error! Bookmark not defined.

VECTOR SPACE: ADDITIONAL EXAMPLE .................................................. Error! Bookmark not defined.

PROBLEM SET: VECTOR SPACES ................................................................. Error! Bookmark not defined.

SOLUTION SET: VECTOR SPACES ................................................................ Error! Bookmark not defined.

EXAMPLES OF SETS THAT ARE NOT VECTOR SPACES .......................... Error! Bookmark not defined.

PROBLEM SET: SETS THAT ARE NOT VECTOR SPACES ......................... Error! Bookmark not defined.

SOLUTION SET: SETS THAT ARE NOT VECTOR SPACES ........................ Error! Bookmark not defined.

SUMMARY: VECTOR SPACES ........................................................................ Error! Bookmark not defined.

10 – SUBSPACES ........................ Error! Bookmark not defined.

SUBSPACE DEFINITION AND SUBSPACE PROPERTIES ........................... Error! Bookmark not defined.

DEFINITION OF TRIVIAL AND NONTRIVIAL SUBSPACE ........................ Error! Bookmark not defined.

ADDITIONAL EXAMPLE OF SUBSPACE ...................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.

PROBLEM SET: SUBSPACES ........................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.

SOLUTION SET: SUBSPACES.......................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.

SUBSETS THAT ARE NOT SUBSPACES ........................................................ Error! Bookmark not defined.

SUBSETS THAT ARE NOT SUBSPACES: ADDITIONAL EXAMPLE ......... Error! Bookmark not defined.

PROBLEM SET: SUBSETS THAT ARE NOT SUBSPACES ........................... Error! Bookmark not defined.

SOLUTION SET: SUBSETS THAT ARE NOT SUBSPACES .......................... Error! Bookmark not defined.

SUMMARY: SUBSPACES ................................................................................. Error! Bookmark not defined.

11 – SPAN AND LINEAR INDEPENDENCEError! Bookmark not defined.

SPAN .................................................................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.

SPAN OF A SUBSET OF A VECTOR SPACE .................................................. Error! Bookmark not defined.

LINEAR INDEPENDENCE ................................................................................ Error! Bookmark not defined.

v
 RICHARD HAN

DETERMINING LINEAR INDEPENDENCE OR DEPENDENCE .................. Error! Bookmark not defined.

PROBLEM SET: SPAN AND LINEAR INDEPENDENCE .............................. Error! Bookmark not defined.

SOLUTION SET: SPAN AND LINEAR INDEPENDENCE ............................. Error! Bookmark not defined.

SUMMARY: SPAN AND LINEAR INDEPENDENCE .................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.

12 – BASIS AND DIMENSION ... Error! Bookmark not defined.

BASIS................................................................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.

DIMENSION........................................................................................................ Error! Bookmark not defined.

PROBLEM SET: BASIS AND DIMENSION..................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.

SOLUTION SET: BASIS AND DIMENSION ................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.

COORDINATES .................................................................................................. Error! Bookmark not defined.

CHANGE OF BASIS ........................................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.

EXAMPLES OF FINDING TRANSITION MATRICES ................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.

PROBLEM SET: COORDINATES AND CHANGE OF BASIS ....................... Error! Bookmark not defined.

SOLUTION SET: COORDINATES AND CHANGE OF BASIS ...................... Error! Bookmark not defined.

SUMMARY: BASIS AND DIMENSION ........................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.

CONCLUSION ............................................................................. 49
INDEX ........................................................................................... 50

vi
 PREFACE

Welcome to Linear Algebra for Beginners: Open Doors to Great Careers. This is a first textbook in
linear algebra. Be sure to get the companion online course Linear Algebra for Beginners here:
https://www.onlinemathtraining.com/linear-algebra/. The online course can be very helpful in
conjunction with this book.

The prerequisite for this book and the online course is a basic understanding of algebra.

I want you to succeed and prosper in your career, life, and future endeavors. I am here for you. Visit me
at: https://www.onlinemathtraining.com/

7
 RICHARD HAN

1 - INTRODUCTION

Welcome to Linear Algebra for Beginners: Open Doors to Great Careers! My name is Richard Han.
This is a first textbook in linear algebra.

Ideal student:

If you're a working professional needing a refresher on linear algebra or a complete beginner who
needs to learn linear algebra for the first time, this book is for you. If your busy schedule doesn’t allow
you to go back to a traditional school, this book allows you to study on your own schedule and further
your career goals without being left behind.
If you plan on taking linear algebra in college, this is a great way to get ahead.
If you’re currently struggling with linear algebra or have struggled with it in the past, now is the time
to master it.

Benefits of studying this book:

After reading this book, you will have refreshed your knowledge of linear algebra for your career so
that you can earn a higher salary.
You will have a required prerequisite for lucrative career fields such as Data Science and Artificial
Intelligence.
You will be in a better position to pursue a masters or PhD degree in machine learning and data
science.

Why Linear Algebra is important:

 Famous uses of linear algebra include:

o Computer graphics. Matrices are used to rotate figures in three-dimensional space.
o Cryptography. Messages can be encrypted and decrypted using matrix operations.
o Machine learning. Eigenvectors can be used to reduce the dimensionality of a data set,
using a technique called Principal Component Analysis (PCA).

8
 LINEAR ALGEBRA FOR BEGINNERS

o Electrical networks. Electrical networks can be solved using systems of linear equations.
o Leontief Input-output model in economics. The necessary outputs of a list of industries
can be found using matrix operations.
o Finance. Regression analysis can be used to estimate relationships between financial
variables. For example, the relationship between the monthly return to a given stock and
the monthly return to the S&P 500 can be estimated using a linear regression model. The
model can, in turn, be used to forecast the future monthly return of the given stock.

What my book offers:

In this book, I cover core topics such as:

 Gaussian Elimination
 Vectors
 Matrix Algebra
 Determinants
 Vector Spaces
 Subspaces
 Span and Linear Independence
 Basis and Dimension

I explain each definition and go through each example step by step so that you understand each topic
clearly. Throughout the book, there are practice problems for you to try. Detailed solutions are
provided after each problem set.
I hope you benefit from the book.

Best regards,
Richard Han

9
 RICHARD HAN

2 – SOLVING SYSTEMS OF LINEAR EQUATIONS

GAUSSIAN ELIMINATION
In this section, we’re going to look at solving systems of linear equations. We’re going to look at the
process of Gaussian elimination, and it has three things that you can do. The first thing you can do is
switch two equations. The second thing is that you can multiply one equation by a nonzero number.
The third thing that you can do is add a multiple of one equation to a second equation. This set of three
things that you can do is called Gaussian elimination. This will make a lot more sense if we look at
some examples. Let’s say we had a system of equations like this:

Here, you have two equations and two variables and . So this is a system of two equations in two
variables. What we want to do here is try to get rid of the variable. So let’s do -4 times the first
equation and add that to the second equation: . If we multiply the first equation by -4 and
leave the second equation as it is, we get this:

Adding these two equations, we get:

is just . So we get . Let’s solve for . Divide both sides by . And you get .

I want to find what is; so I’ll plug the -value back in to the first equation:

( )

Now, simplifying this, we get:

10
 LINEAR ALGEBRA FOR BEGINNERS

Solve for by subtracting from both sides, and I get .

So and . That’s a solution to our original system of equations.

Let’s do another example. Let’s say we had this system of equations:

Let’s multiply the first equation by and add to the second equation: .
We get:

Adding these two equations, we get:

The left-hand side equals to . So we get , which is a contradiction. Since we get a

contradiction, the original system of equations has no solution.

Let’s do one more example. Suppose we have:

Let’s try to get the coefficient of in the first equation to be so that the cancel out when we
add both equations. Let’s do . We get:

Adding the two equations, we get:

And so: . That doesn’t really tell me anything. If you look back at the original system of
equations, notice the second equation is just twice the first equation. So, really, we only have just one
equation, the first equation. The second equation is redundant. So, all we have is . Note
that can be anything. Let be some parameter . Let’s plug that in for and solve for :

11
 RICHARD HAN

Bring the to the other side:

Dividing both sides by :

So, the set of all solutions is going to be the set of all pairs ( ) where is any real number.

GAUSSIAN ELIMINATION AND ROW ECHELON FORM

For a system of 3 equations and 3 variables, we want to solve in a similar fashion by getting rid of the
variables one by one until we have a triangular shape. Let’s look at an example.
Suppose we have the following system of equations:

We have three equations and three variables , and . Notice that, in the second equation, we have
a – ; and, if we were to add that to the first equation, the terms would cancel out. So let’s take the
first equation and add that to the second equation . Replace the second equation with like
this:

Now, let’s try to get rid the term in the third equation by multiplying the first equation by and
adding the result to the third equation like this: . Replace the third equation with
to get:

Let’s try to get rid of the term in the third equation by doing and replacing the third
equation by the result:

Look at the in the third equation. We want the coefficient of to be . So divide the third

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 LINEAR ALGEBRA FOR BEGINNERS

equation by 6: . Replace the third equation by the result to get:

Look at the coefficient of in the second equation. We want that to be . So let’s divide the second

equation by : . Replace the second equation by the result to get:

Now, notice that all the coefficients of the leading variables in each equation are . When you have a
triangular shape like the above and all the leading coefficients are , then we say that the system of
equations is in row echelon form.
Let’s do another example. Suppose we have the following system of equations:

Let’s try to get rid of the term in the second equation by performing: . Replace the
second equation by the result to get:

Looking at the second equation, notice that can be anything. So let , where is a free
variable. Plug in for in the second equation and solve for :

So we have in terms of . We have and in terms of . Now, we want to solve for . Let’s use
the first equation . Plug in what we got for and and solve for :

( )

13
 RICHARD HAN

So, we have . Any point ( ), where , is a solution to the

original system of equations.

Let’s do one more example. Suppose we have the following system of equations:

If we take the first equation and subtract the second equation, we can get rid of the -term. So let’s
do . Replace the second equation with the result:

Now, look at the first equation and the third equation; we want to get rid of the -term. So, let’s do
.

Let’s look at the second and third equations; let’s get rid of the -term. Perform .

We arrive at a contradiction. Therefore, the original set of equations has no solution.

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 LINEAR ALGEBRA FOR BEGINNERS

PROBLEM SET: GAUSSIAN ELIMINATION

Solve the system of linear equations using Gaussian elimination.

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

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 RICHARD HAN

SOLUTION SET: GAUSSIAN ELIMINATION

1.
Add Equation 1 to Equation 2 to get our new Equation 2.

Solve the second equation for y to get . Then plug this y value back into equation 1 to

get ( ) Solving for x gives .

2.
Take 4 times Equation 1 and add to 3 times Equation 2 to get our new Equation 2.

Solve for y in the second equation to get y= . Plug this value into Equation 1 to solve for x.

=3.

3.
Take 2 times Equation 1 and add to Equation 2 to get the new second equation.

Now, y is a free variable. So let y=t, where t is a parameter. The first equation gives us
. Solve for x to get

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 LINEAR ALGEBRA FOR BEGINNERS

4.
Add 2 times Equation 1 to Equation 2 to get our new Equation 2.

Since the second equation is a contradiction, there is no solution.

5.

Take -2 times the first equation and add to the second equation to get our new second equation.

Now, take -3 times the first equation and add to the third equation to get our new third equation.

Now, take -2Eq.2+3Eq.3 to get our new Eq.3.

Solve the third equation for z. z=-4. Plug this into the second equation and solve for y.

Plug the z and y values into the first equation and solve for x.
( )

6.

Add the first equation to 2 times the second equation to get our new second equation.

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 RICHARD HAN

Take -2Eq.3+Eq.1 to get our new Eq.3.

Take Eq.2+Eq.3 to get our new Eq.3.

Now, solve for z in the third equation. .

Plug the z value into the second equation and solve for x.

Plug the x and z values into the first equation and solve for y.

7.
Let’s do Eq.1-Eq.2 to get our new Eq. 2.

Now, z is a free variable, so let z=t. Then plug that value into z in the second equation.

Solve for y.

Plug the values we got for y and z into the first equation and solve for x.

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LINEAR ALGEBRA FOR BEGINNERS

( )

19
ELEMENTARY ROW OPERATIONS
We can rewrite a system of equations using a matrix. For example, look at this system of equations:

We can write a matrix that encapsulates this system of equations. We look at the coefficients of the
variables in this system of equations. For the first equation, the coefficients of the variables are 1, 1, and
1. On the right hand side, we have the constant 0. So, for the first row of the matrix, we have:

[ ]

Now, move on to the second equation. The coefficients are , , and . The constant on the right
hand side is . So fill in the second row for the matrix like so:

[ ]

Let’s move on to the third equation. The coefficients are , and . The constant is . So fill in
the third row of the matrix like so:

[ ]

This matrix that we just formed is called the augmented matrix.

Now, we can solve the system of equations using the same three operations we used earlier. Instead of
performing operations on equations, we can perform operations on rows. The operations are called
elementary row operations. The first thing you can do is switch two rows. The second thing you can
do is multiply one row by a nonzero number. The third thing you can do is add a multiple of one row to
a second row. Here is the list of the three elementary row operations:

1. Switch two rows.

2. Multiply one row by a nonzero number.
3. Add a multiple of one row to a second row.

These are exactly the same three steps that you saw earlier in Gaussian elimination.

Let’s look at the augmented matrix we had earlier.

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 LINEAR ALGEBRA FOR BEGINNERS

[ ]

Let’s look at the first two rows. If we were to add those two rows, the and the would cancel out.
So let’s add rows 1 and 2 to get a new row 2:

[ ]

Look at the third row; we want to get rid of the 3. So do

[ ]

Let’s focus on the second and third rows; we want to get rid of the in the third row. So let’s do
.

[ ]

Look at the third row; we want the leading coefficient 6 to be . So divide the third row by 6 to get a
new third row:

[ ]

Look at the second row; we want the coefficient 3 to be 1. So perform .

[ ]

Notice the triangular shape of the matrix; all the leading coefficients in each row are . Furthermore, the
leading coefficient of any row is to the right of the leading coefficient in the previous row. Also, any
row of all zeroes is at the bottom of the matrix (in our example, there is no row of all zeroes). Since
these three conditions of row-echelon form are satisfied, our matrix is in row-echelon form.

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 RICHARD HAN

ELEMENTARY ROW OPERATIONS: ADDITIONAL EXAMPLE

Let’s do an additional example. Suppose we had the following system of equations:

Let’s write the corresponding augmented matrix. Note that, in the first equation, there is no term; so
the coefficient for is . So the coefficients for the first equation are and . The augmented
matrix so far looks like this:

[ ]

Filling in the second and third rows, we get:

[ ]

The first coefficient in the first row is 0, and we want a there instead. So let’s switch the first row with
the second row:

[ ]

Let’s look at the third row. We want to get rid of the first and make it a 0. So let’s do
.

[ ]

Let’s get rid of the in the third row by doing .

[ ]

Let’s make the in the third row a by doing .

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 LINEAR ALGEBRA FOR BEGINNERS

[ ]

Notice the triangular shape and that all the leading coefficients are . So this matrix is in row echelon
form.

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 RICHARD HAN

PROBLEM SET: ELEMENTARY ROW OPERATIONS

Solve the system of linear equations using an augmented matrix and elementary row operations.

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

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 LINEAR ALGEBRA FOR BEGINNERS

SOLUTION SET: ELEMENTARY ROW OPERATIONS

1.

[ ] -7R2+R1 R2

[ ] -7R3+R1 R3

[ ] R2 R2

[ ] -20R2+R3 R3

[ ]

The last row gives that 0=28, which is a contradiction. So there is no solution.

2.

[ ] 7R1-3R2 R2

[ ] R3 R3

[ ] 7R1-3R3 R3

[ ] R2-R3 R3

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 RICHARD HAN

[ ]

From the second row, we have Since z is a free variable, let z=t. Then
. Solve for y.

Now, the first row tells us

Plug in the values we got for y and z. Then solve for x.

( )

So .

3.

[ ] -8R1+R2 R2

[ ] 7R1+R3 R3

[ ] R2+R3 R3

[ ]

The last row tells us that 0=-18, which is a contradiction. Therefore, there is no solution.

4.

[ ] R1-R2 R2

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 LINEAR ALGEBRA FOR BEGINNERS

[ ] R1-R3 R3

[ ] R2+R3 R3

[ ]

The third row tells us -3z=7. So z= .

The second row tells us –y-2z=5.
( ) .
.
The first row tells us x-z=2. So ( ) .

5.
[ ]
The second row tells us y+z=-10. Z is a free variable, so let z=t. Then y+t=-10. Y=-t-10.
The first row tells us x+z=8. So x+t=8. X=-t+8.

6.
[ ]

The second row tells us 9y-9z=3. Let z=t. Then .

The first row tells us

( )

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 RICHARD HAN

SUMMARY: SOLVING SYSTEMS OF LINEAR EQUATIONS

 Gaussian elimination consists of the following three actions:

1. Switch two equations.
2. Multiply one equation by a nonzero number.
3. Add a multiple of one equation to a second equation.

 Elementary row operations consist of the following three actions:

1. Switch two rows.
2. Multiply one row by a nonzero number.
3. Add a multiple of one row to a second row.

 A matrix is in row echelon form if the following three conditions hold:

1. Any row of all zeroes is at the bottom of the matrix.
2. The leading coefficient of any row is to the right of the leading coefficient in the previous
row.
3. All leading coefficients are .

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 LINEAR ALGEBRA FOR BEGINNERS

3 – VECTORS

VECTOR OPERATIONS AND LINEAR COMBINATIONS

We will now learn about vector operations and linear combinations. What is a vector? A vector is a
list of real numbers. Let’s look at an example:

[ ]

This is a vector in . symbolizes all pairs of real numbers. Consider another example:

[ ]

Notice this vector has three entries; so this is a vector in .

Now, we want to be able to add two vectors. We can add two vectors and by adding their

corresponding entries. For example, suppose [ ] and [ ]. To add and , form the

vector that you get when you add the corresponding entries in each vector.

[ ]

So, if we want to add two vectors, we just add their corresponding entries. The two vectors need to
have the same number of entries.
We can also multiply a vector by a scalar . A scalar is just a real number. Let’s do an example.

Suppose and [ ]. We want to find . To multiply a vector by a scalar, we just

multiply each entry of the vector by the scalar.

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 RICHARD HAN

[ ] [ ]

If we have a set of vectors and scalars , then is

called a linear combination of and are called weights. Let’s look at an example.

Suppose [ ] [ ] [ ] and . Then is

a linear combination of with weights . We can simplify the linear combination:

[ ] [ ] ( )[ ]

[ ] [ ] [ ]

[ ]

We can also multiply a vector by a matrix . For example, suppose [ ] and

[ ]. We can multiply the matrix to the vector as follows:

[ ][ ]

To multiply this out, look at the first row of . We multiply the first entry in the first row with the
first entry of , multiply the second entry in the first row with the second entry of , multiply the third
entry of the first row with the third entry of , and add the results to get the first entry.:

[ ][ ] [ ] [ ]

For the second entry, we do the same thing but with the second row of :

[ ][ ] [ ( ) ] [ ]

For the third entry, we do the same thing but with the third row of :

[ ][ ] [ ( ) ] [ ]

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 LINEAR ALGEBRA FOR BEGINNERS

PROBLEM SET: VECTOR OPERATIONS AND LINEAR COMBINATIONS

1. Add the two vectors.
a. =[ ] v=[ ]

b. =[ ] v=[ ]

c. =[ ] v=[ ]

2. Multiply the vector by the given scalar.

a. =[ ] c=8

b. =[ ] c=-3

c. =[ ] c=-1

3. Simplify the linear combination of vectors c1v1+c2v2+c3v3.

a. v1=[ ] v2=[ ] v3=[ ]
c1=-1 c2=3 c3=4.

b. v1=[ ] v2=[ ] v3=[ ]

c1=3 c2=-3 c3=0.

c. v1=[ ] v2=[ ] v3=[ ]

c1=1 c2=6 c3=-1.

d. v1=[ ] v2=[ ] v3=[ ]

c1=0 c2=1 c3=8.

4. Find Av.
a. v=[ ] [ ]

b. v=[ ] [ ]

31
 RICHARD HAN

c. v=[ ] [ ]

d. v=[ ] [ ]

32
 LINEAR ALGEBRA FOR BEGINNERS

SOLUTION SET: VECTOR OPERATIONS AND LINEAR COMBINATIONS

1. a. =[ ]

b. =[ ]

c. =[ ]

2. a. =[ ]

b. =[ ]

c. =[ ]

3. a. c1v1+ c2v2+ c3v3=[ ]

b. c1v1+ c2v2+ c3v3=[ ]

c. c1v1+ c2v2+ c3v3=[ ]

d. c1v1+ c2v2+ c3v3=[ ]

4. a. [ ]

b. [ ]

c. [ ]

d. [ ]

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 RICHARD HAN

VECTOR EQUATIONS AND THE MATRIX EQUATION Ax=b

We’re now ready to look at vector equations and the matrix equation of the form Recall the
system of equations

Look at the x variables in the system of equations and think of the x terms as one column. Similarly,
think of the y terms as one column, think of the z terms as one column, and think of the constant terms
on the right hand sides as one column. We can rewrite the system of equations as:

[ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]

Now, factor out the x from the first column, the y from the second column, and the z from the third
column like this:

[ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]

So to ask if there is a solution to the system of equations is the same as asking if we can write [ ] as a

linear combination of the column vectors [ ] [ ] [ ] In this case, are the weights of the

linear combination.

Now, let’s define the span. The span of a set of vectors is the set of all linear combinations of those

vectors. Thus, we want to know if the vector [ ] lies in the {[ ] [ ] [ ]}. Note that the

vector equation

[ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]

can be written as a matrix equation

[ ][ ] [ ]

To see this, multiply out the left hand side to get:

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[ ]

We can rewrite this as the sum of the column vectors consisting of the variables:

[ ] [ ] [ ]

Factoring out the variables, we get:

[ ] [ ] [ ]

So, we get the linear combination of the coefficient vectors we had earlier. So our original system of
equations can be rewritten as a matrix equation where is the coefficient matrix, is the

column vector of weights [ ], and is our column vector of constants [ ].

LINEAR INDEPENDENCE
We will now introduce the notion of linear independence. Let . Then the set
is linearly independent just in case the vector equation has only the trivial
solution . Otherwise, the set is said to be linearly dependent. Note the vector

equation can be rewritten as , where and [ ]. In ,

the vector forms the first column, forms the second column, etc.

LINEAR INDEPENDENCE: EXAMPLE 1

Let’s do an example.

Determine if the set is linearly independent.

[ ] [ ] [ ]

Form the matrix with as columns:

[ ]

Now, set an arbitrary linear combination of the vectors equal to in matrix form:

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[ ][ ] [ ]

We want to know if this system of equations has only the trivial solution (in other words,
). Let’s form the augmented matrix:

[ ]

Let’s try to do a bunch of row operations on this augmented matrix to solve for the solution. If we get
the trivial solution, then we know that the trivial solution would be the only solution, and the original set
of vectors would be linearly independent. If we find that this system of equations has nontrivial
solutions, then we know that the original set of vectors is linearly dependent.

Looking at the first two rows, let’s do :

[ ]

Look at the second and third rows. Let’s do :

[ ]

Looking at the leading coefficient in the second row, let’s make that a by doing :

[ ]

Looking at the second row, notice that the value for the variable is free; it can be anything. Let
, a free parameter. From the second row, we know that . Plugging in , solve
for :

From the first row, we know that . Plugging in and , we get

( )

Solving for , we get:

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Now we have [ ] [ ] [ ]. Our set of solutions consists of all vectors of the form

[ ]. So there are many solutions besides the trivial solution. Since the system has a nontrivial

solution, the set is linearly dependent. For example, let . Then,

. Remember that the matrix equation

[ ][ ] [ ]

is equivalent to the vector equation . Plugging in the values for , we

get . Therefore, we have a linear dependence relation between the vectors
.

LINEAR INDEPENDENCE: EXAMPLE 2

Let’s look at a second example.

Determine if the set is linearly independent.

[ ] [ ] [ ]

Form the augmented matrix with as columns:

[ ]

Let’s try to solve this augmented matrix using row operations. Looking at the first and third rows, we
can cancel out the leading terms, so let’s do :

[ ]

Looking at the second row, notice the leading coefficient is 2. Let’s make that a by doing :

[ ]

Let’s get rid of the leading coefficient in the third row by doing :

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 RICHARD HAN

[ ]

From the third row, we know . So . From the second row, we know . But
. So ( ) . Therefore, . From the first row, we know . But
we know . So . Since , the set of vectors is linearly
independent.

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PROBLEM SET: LINEAR INDEPENDENCE

1. Determine if the set {v1,v2,v3} is linearly independent.

a. v1=[ ] v2=[ ] v3=[ ]

b. v1=[ ] v2=[ ] v3=[ ]

c. v1=[ ] v2=[ ] v3=[ ]

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 RICHARD HAN

SOLUTION SET: LINEAR INDEPENDENCE

1. Determine if the set {v1,v2,v3} is linearly independent.

a. v1=[ ] v2=[ ] v3=[ ]

Form the matrix with the given vectors as columns and the zero column on the right.

[ ] R1-R2 R2

[ ] 7R1-6R3 R3

[ ] -55R2+R3 R3

[ ]

The third row tells us 26z=0. So z=0. The second row tells us –y=0. So y=0. The first row tells us

6x-y+2z=0. So x=0. The system of equations has only the trivial solution. Therefore, the given
vectors are linearly independent.

b. v1=[ ] v2=[ ] v3=[ ]

Form the matrix with the given vectors as columns and the zero column on the right.

[ ] R1-R2 R2

[ ] R1-R3 R3

[ ] R2 R3

[ ]

The second row tells us –y+z=0. Let z=t. Then y=t. The first row tells us x+z=0. So x=-t.

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 LINEAR ALGEBRA FOR BEGINNERS

All solutions will of the form [ ] [ ], where t is any real number. Since the system has non-trivial

solutions, the given vectors are linearly dependent.

c. v1=[ ] v2=[ ] v3=[ ]

Form the matrix with the given vectors as columns and the zero column on the right.

[ ] R1+R2 R2

[ ]

The second and third rows tell us that z=0. The first row tells us x+2y+7z=0. So x+2y=0. Letting y=t, we find x=-

2t. So all solutions will be of the form [ ] [ ]. There are non-trivial solutions; so the given set of

vectors are linearly dependent.

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 RICHARD HAN

SUMMARY: VECTORS

 We add two vectors by adding their corresponding entries. We multiply a vector by a scalar by
multiplying each entry in the vector by the scalar. We multiply matrix to a vector by taking the
first row of the matrix and multiplying each entry in the first row by the corresponding entry in
the vector, taking the second row of the matrix and multiplying each entry in the second row by
the corresponding entry in the vector, etc.

 If we have a set of vectors and scalars , then

is called a linear combination of and are called weights.

 Let . Then the set is linearly independent just in case the vector
equation has only the trivial solution . Otherwise,
the set is said to be linearly dependent..

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4 – MATRIX OPERATIONS

ADDITION AND SCALAR MULTIPLICATION

In this section, we’re going to learn about matrix operations. But first, we want to know what a matrix

is. An matrix is an array [ ] with rows and columns.

We can add two matrices if they have the same size. For example, suppose we want to add the
following two matrices:

[ ] [ ]

To add these two matrices, we just add their corresponding entries like this:

[ ] [ ] [ ]

We can also multiply a matrix by a scalar. For example, let’s say the scalar is and the matrix is
[ ]. To find , we multiply each entry of by the scalar :

[ ] [ ]

Let’s do another example. Suppose and [ ].

[ ] [ ]

We can define subtraction of two matrices as ( ) . For example, suppose [ ]

and [ ]. Then we can find as follows:

( ) [ ] ( )[ ]

[ ] [ ]

[ ]

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 RICHARD HAN

MULTIPLICATION
We can also multiply two matrices and as long as the number of columns of is equal to the
number of rows of . Let’s do an example. Suppose is a matrix and is a matrix as
follows:

[ ] and [ ]

The product will be a matrix.

[ ][ ] [ ]

Notice that the number of columns of is 3 and it matches up with the number of rows of . We need
this because we’re going to multiply each entry in the rows of with the corresponding entry in the
columns of . For instance, consider the first row of and the first column of .

[ ][ ]

The first entry in the first row of is and it corresponds to the first entry in the first column of ,
which is . The second entry in the first row of is 3 and it corresponds to the second entry in the first
column of , which is . The third entry in the first row of is and it corresponds to the third entry
in the first column of , which is .

To find the entry of in the first row and first column of , multiply out the corresponding entries
and add: ( ) ( ) . So the product looks like this so far:

[ ]

To find the entry of in the first row and second column, use the first row of and the second column
of , and perform the same procedure: ( ) . So we get:

[ ]

Now, move on to the second row of and the first column of to get:

[ ]

Finally, move on to the second row of and the second column of :

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[ ]

What if we had a matrix [ ], which is a matrix. Then we can’t multiply :

[ ][ ]

The number of columns of is 3 and the number of rows of is 2, and they don’t match up. So we
can’t multiply them.

Now, for a general matrix, if the number of rows is the same as the number of columns, then the matrix
is called a square matrix. We can multiply two square matrices, of the same dimension, in any order.
For example, suppose we had the following square matrices:

[ ] and [ ]

We can find :

[ ][ ] [ ]

We can also multiply them in reverse order:

[ ][ ] [ ]

Note that, in this case, . In general, matrix multiplication is not commutative.

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 RICHARD HAN

PROBLEM SET: MATRIX OPERATIONS

Calculate A+B and A-B.

1. [ ] [ ]

2. [ ] [ ]

Find cA.

1. c=2 A=[ ]

2. c=8 A=[ ]

Find AB if A and B can be multiplied. Otherwise, indicate why they cannot be multiplied.

1. =[ ] [ ]

2. =[ ] =[ ]

3. =[ ] =[ ]

4. =[ ] =[ ]

5. =[ ] =[ ]

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 LINEAR ALGEBRA FOR BEGINNERS

SOLUTION SET: MATRIX OPERATIONS

Calculate A+B and A-B.

3. [ ] [ ]

4. [ ] [ ]

Find cA.

3. [ ]

4. =[ ]

Find AB if A and B can be multiplied. Otherwise, indicate why they cannot be multiplied.

6. =[ ]

7. =[ ]

8. is 2 by 2 and is 3 by 3.

9. =[ ]

10. =[ ]

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 RICHARD HAN

SUMMARY: MATRIX OPERATIONS

 When adding two matrices, we simply add the corresponding entries. When multiplying a
matrix by a scalar, we multiply each entry of the matrix by the scalar.

 To multiply two matrices and , the number of columns of has to be the same as the number
of rows of . To find the -th entry of we take the entries of the -th row of and multiply
by the corresponding entries of the -th column of , then add the results.

 A square matrix is a matrix with the same number of rows and columns.

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CONCLUSION

Congratulations on completing the Linear Algebra book! Here is a review of what we have
covered in this course:

 Gaussian Elimination

 Vectors

 Matrix Algebra

 Determinants

 Vector Spaces

 Subspaces

 Span and Linear Independence

 Basis and Dimension

I hope this book has been useful to you, and I wish you the best in your career and future
endeavors. If you feel that you’ve benefitted from this course, I’d really appreciate it if you wrote
a short review for the book.

Be sure to get the companion online course Linear Algebra for Beginners here:
https://www.onlinemathtraining.com/linear-algebra/. For more online courses, visit:
http://www.onlinemathtraining.com/.

Thank you, again!

Richard Han

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INDEX

additive identity, 51, 60 minor, 72, 78

additive inverse, 51, 60 multiplicative identity, 52, 60
augmented matrix, 20 nontrivial subspace, 102, 108
basis, 121, 136 row echelon form, 13
cofactor, 72, 78 span of , 111, 120
cofactor expansion, 71, 78 spans, 109, 120
coordinate matrix, 129, 136 square matrix, 45
coordinates, 129, 136 standard basis, 121
dimension, 123, 136 subspace, 101, 108
elementary row operations, 20 transition matrix, 130, 136
Gaussian elimination, 10 transpose, 57, 60
Gauss-Jordan elimination, 62, 70 trivial subspaces, 102, 108
inverse, 61, 70 vector space, 86, 100
linear combination, 30, 42 weights, 30, 42
linearly dependent, 35, 42, 112, 120 zero matrix, 51
linearly independent, 35, 42, 112, 120 zero subspace, 102, 108

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