LINEAR ALGEBRA — CHAPTER 1 (§1.1–§1.
6)
Nair & Singh • Test 2 — Linear Span (§1.3) and Linear Independence (§1.4)
ANSWER KEY (Instructor Copy — Do Not Distribute)
PART I — ANSWER KEY (Multiple Choice)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
A B B B B B B B B B A B B B B B B B B B
MCQ Explanations
1. The linear span of a set S in a vector space V is defined as:
Correct: A — span(S) is the smallest subspace containing S (Definition 1.14 / Theorem 1.16).
2. Which of the following is equal to span({v}) for a nonzero vector v in a real vector space?
Correct: B — All scalar multiples of v.
3. Theorem 1.16 states that span(S) is:
Correct: B — Theorem 1.16: span(S) is a subspace and equals the intersection of all subspaces
containing S.
4. According to Theorem 1.17, if S₁ ⊆ S₂ then:
Correct: B — Theorem 1.17(1): S₁⊆S₂ implies span(S₁)⊆span(S₂).
5. The set S = {(1,0,0),(0,1,0),(1,1,0)} in ℝ³. What is span(S)?
Correct: B — All three vectors have third component 0, and their span covers the entire xy-plane.
6. A set {v₁, …, vₙ} is linearly dependent if and only if:
Correct: B — Definition 1.22: linear dependence means a nontrivial combination equals 0.
7. By Theorem 1.26, a set {v₁,…,vₙ} with n≥2 is linearly dependent if and only if:
Correct: B — Theorem 1.26: dependent iff some vₖ is a linear combination of earlier vectors.
8. Which set is linearly independent in ℝ³?
Correct: B — The standard basis of ℝ³ is linearly independent.
9. Theorem 1.28 states: if S is linearly independent and v ∉ span(S), then:
Correct: B — Theorem 1.28: adding a vector outside the span preserves independence.
10. By Theorem 1.29, if v₁,…,vₙ are linearly dependent and vₖ is the first one expressible as a
combination of its predecessors, then removing vₖ:
Correct: B — Theorem 1.29: span{v₁,…,vₙ} = span{v₁,…,vₖ₋₁,vₖ₊₁,…,vₙ}.
11. Theorem 1.30 characterises linear independence using coordinates: v₁,…,vₙ are linearly
independent iff for any scalar tuples (α₁,…,αₙ) and (β₁,…,βₙ):
Correct: A — Theorem 1.30: representation as linear combination is unique iff the set is lin. indep.
12. The Exchange Lemma (Theorem 1.20) says: if S spans V and v ∈ V with v = Σαᵢsᵢ and some α ₖ ≠
0, then:
Correct: B — Exchange Lemma (Theorem 1.20): a nonzero coefficient allows swapping.
13. How many vectors can a linearly independent set in Pₙ(F) contain at most?
Correct: B — dim(Pₙ(F)) = n+1; no linearly independent set can exceed the dimension.
14. Which of the following is TRUE for any set S containing the zero vector?
Correct: B — 1·0 = 0 is a nontrivial relation, so any set containing 0 is linearly dependent.
15. In ℝ⁴, the maximum number of linearly independent vectors is:
Correct: B — dim(ℝ⁴) = 4; max size of a lin. indep. set equals the dimension.
16. The vectors (1,1,0) and (0,1,1) in ℝ³ are linearly independent. Adding which vector keeps the set
independent?
Correct: B — (1,0,–1) is not in span{(1,1,0),(0,1,1)} (check: solving α(1,1,0)+β(0,1,1)=(1,0,–1)
gives no solution).
17. The set {sin t, cos t, sin 2t} in C(ℝ,ℝ) is:
Correct: B — The three functions are linearly independent (no non-trivial scalar combination
vanishes identically).
18. If S spans V and T ⊆ S with span(T) = V, then by Theorem 1.31:
Correct: B — Theorem 1.31: any finite spanning set contains a subset that is a basis.
19. If {v₁, v₂, v₃} are linearly independent in V, then {v₁, v₁+v₂, v₁+v₂+v₃} are:
Correct: B — The transformation matrix from old basis to new is lower triangular with 1s on
diagonal — invertible — so independence is preserved.
20. span({(1,0),(0,1)}) in ℝ² equals span({(1,1),(1,–1)}) because:
Correct: B — Both sets are bases for ℝ², hence both span all of ℝ².
PART II — ANSWER KEY (Constructed Response)
CRQ 1 — Computing Linear Spans (§1.3)
(a) u₃ = u₁ + u₂ ✓. u₄ = 2u₁ + u₂ ✓.
(b) Since u₃, u₄ ∈ span{u₁,u₂}, adding them doesn't enlarge span. Hence
span(S)=span{u₁,u₂}.
(c) {u₁,u₂} is lin. indep. (not scalar multiples), so span{u₁,u₂} is a 2-dimensional subspace
of ℝ⁴.
(d) Solve α(1,0,1,0)+β(0,1,0,1)=(1,2,1,3): α=1,β=2 ⟹ 3rd comp: 1=1 ✓, 4th: 2≠3 ✗.
w ∉ span(S).
CRQ 2 — Testing Linear Independence (§1.4)
(a) Set α(1,–1,2)+β(2,1,1)+γ(1,4,–3)=0. Matrix [1,2,1;–1,1,4;2,1,–3] has det=1(1·(–3)–4·1)–
2((–1)(–3)–4·2)+1(–1·1–1·2) = –7–2(–5)+1(–3) = –7+10–3=0.
System is dependent. Solving: α+2β+γ=0, –α+β+4γ=0, 2α+β–3γ=0. Solution: γ=t, β=–3t,
α=7t. So (1,4,–3)=–3(2,1,1)+(1,–1,2) (using t=–1 etc.; check by substitution).
(b) α(1+t²)+β(t+t²)+γ(1+t+t²)=0 ⟹ (α+γ)+(β+γ)t+(α+β+γ)t²=0 ⟹ system: α+γ=0, β+γ=0,
α+β+γ=0. From first two: α=β=–γ. Third: –γ–γ+γ=–γ=0⟹γ=0. Linearly independent.
(c) Note u₁+u₂+u₃ = (1,1,1,3) ≠ u₄=(1,1,1,1). However matrix rank: row reduce the 4×4
matrix — rank 3 < 4, so dependent. u₄ = u₁+u₂+u₃–(0,0,0,2)... actually
u₁+u₂+u₃=(1,1,1,3), and u₄=(1,1,1,1). Dependent: row reduce confirms rank 3.
(d) Independent. Wronskian W(eˣ,e²ˣ,e³ˣ) = e⁶ˣ det([1,1,1;1,2,3;1,4,9]) = 2e⁶ˣ ≠ 0.
CRQ 3 — Span and Independence in Polynomial Spaces (§1.3–§1.4)
(a) B = {1, t, t², t³}, dim(P₃(ℝ)) = 4.
(b) Set up the 4×4 coefficient matrix with columns [1,1,0,0],[0,1,1,0],[0,0,1,1],[1,0,0,1]. Det =
2 ≠ 0 (compute by expansion). Linearly independent and 4 vectors ⟹ basis.
(c) Solve α(1+t)+β(t+t²)+γ(t²+t³)+δ(1+t³) = 2+3t+t²+4t³:
α+δ=2, α+β=3, β+γ=1, γ+δ=4. From rows: α=2–δ, β=1+δ, γ=–δ, –δ+δ=4? No — γ+δ=4
⟹ 0=4. But det≠0, so unique solution must exist; recheck: γ+δ=4, γ=–δ ⟹ 0=4:
contradiction. Re-check matrix... system has unique solution (det≠0), so recompute: α=2–δ,
β=3–α=1+δ, γ=1–β=–δ, then γ+δ=0≠4. System inconsistent? Then det must be 0.
Recalculate: det actually = 0 (try R1+R3–R2–R4). So not a basis. p(t) may not be
expressible.
(d) Remove 1+t³ (dependent). {1+t, t+t², t²+t³, 1} are independent (check) and span P₃( ℝ).
CRQ 4 — The Exchange Lemma in Practice (§1.4)
(a) det([1,0,1;1,1,0;0,1,1]) = 1(1–0)–0+1(1–0) = 1+1 = 2 ≠ 0. S spans ℝ³.
(b) α(1,1,0)+β(0,1,1)+γ(1,0,1)=(1,2,1): α+γ=1, α+β=2, β+γ=1. Solving: α=1,β=1,γ=0.
v = 1·s₁+1·s₂+0·s₃. α₁=1≠0, so we can replace s₁.
(c) Replace s₁ by v: new set S' = {v,(0,1,1),(1,0,1)} = {(1,2,1),(0,1,1),(1,0,1)}.
(d) det([1,0,1;2,1,0;1,1,1]) = 1(1–0)–0+1(2–1) = 1+1 = 2 ≠ 0. S' spans ℝ³ ✓.
CRQ 5 — Characterising Linear Dependence (§1.3–§1.4)
(a) TRUE. Suppose αu+βv+γw=0. If γ≠0 then w=(–α/γ)u+(–β/γ)v ∈ span{u,v}, contradicting
w∉span{u,v}. So γ=0, then αu+βv=0 ⟹ α=β=0 (by independence of {u,v}).
(b) FALSE. Example: (1,0),(0,1),(1,1) in ℝ². All nonzero, but (1,1)=(1,0)+(0,1), so the set is
linearly dependent.
(c) TRUE. Each of v₁+v₂, v₂+v₃, v₃+v₁ ∈ span{v₁,v₂,v₃}. Conversely:
v₁+v₂+v₂+v₃+v₃+v₁ = 2(v₁+v₂+v₃), so v₁+v₂+v₃ ∈ LHS span; then v₃ = (v₁+v₂+v₃)–
(v₁+v₂), and similarly for v₁,v₂.
(d) TRUE. This is Theorem 1.31 (finite case). Any lin. indep. set has at most as many
elements as any spanning set.