TBS - Freshman - Linear Algebra BCOR111

Tutorial 1

2025-2026

Exercise 1
Consider the following vectors
     
2 1 2
a =  1 , b = −4 and c = 2 .
−1 −2 6
1. Find vectors a + b − c, a + 3b, b − 4a + 2c, a + 3(b − 2c).
2. For which of the vectors a, b and c do the relations > or ≥ hold?
3. Find the scalar products a> · b, a> · c, b> · c.
4. Compute vectors (a> · b) · c and a · (b> · c).
Exercise 2
1. Consider the following vectors
   
1 1 2 −1
a = and a = .
0 1
a) Find out which of the vectors
     
−2 2 0
, and
1 3 0.5
are linear combinations of a1 and a2 .
b) Is one of the above vectors a convex combination of vectors a1 and a2 ?
2. determine if b is a linear combination of a1 , a2 , and a3 :
       
1 0 5 2
1 2 3
a) a = −2 , a = 1 , a = −6 , b = −1
      
0 2 8 6
       
1 0 2 −5
1 2 3
b) a = −2 , a = 5 , a = 0 , b = 11  .
      
2 5 8 −7
3. Are the vectors   
  
1 1 5
1
a = 0 ,
 a2 = −2 and a3 =  4 
0 1 −2
linearly independent?
4. Do the vectors
Linear Algebra

       
1 0 0 1
0 0 1 0
 ,
0
 ,
1
 
0 and  
1
1 0 1 0
constitute a basis in R4 ?

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 Exercise 3

Let vectors      
1 0 1
1 2
a = 0 ,
 a = 1
 and a3 =  0  .
3 0 −1

1. Prove that these three vectors constitute a basis in R3 .

2. Express vector  
3
a= 3 
−3
as a linear combination of the three vectors a1 , a2 and a3 above.

3. Express vector  
5
1 2 3
b = 2a + 2a + 3a = 2 .

3
with respect to vectors a1 , a2 and a.

Exercise 4

A company manufactures two products. For $1.00 worth of product B, the company spends $0.45
on materials, $0.25 on labor, and $0.15 on overhead. For $1.00 worth of product C, the company
spends $0.40 on materials, $0.30 on labor, and $0.15 on overhead. Let
   
0.45 0.40
b = 0.25 and c = 0.30
0.15 0.15
Then b and c represent the “costs per dollar of income” for the two products.

1. What economic interpretation can be given to the vector 100b?

2. Suppose the company wishes to manufacture x1 dollars worth of product B and x2 dollars
worth of product C. Give a vector that describes the various costs the company will have
(for materials, labor, and overhead).
Linear Algebra

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