Section 6.

Orthogonal Sets

A set of vectors u 1 , u 2 , , u p in R n is called an orthogonal set

if u i u j = 0 whenever i j.

1
EXAMPLE: Is

1
0

1
,

1
0

0
,

an orthogonal set?

Solution: Label the vectors u 1 , u 2 , and u 3 respectively. Then

u1 u2 =
u1 u3 =
u2 u3 =

Therefore, u 1 , u 2 , u 3 is an orthogonal set.

THEOREM 4
Suppose S = u 1 , u 2 , , u p is an orthogonal set of nonzero
vectors in R n and W =spanu 1 , u 2 , , u p . Then S is a linearly
independent set and is therefore a basis for W.
Partial Proof: Suppose
c1u1 + c2u2 + + cpup = 0
c 1 u 1 + c 2 u 2 + + c p u p

= 0

c 1 u 1 u 1 + c 2 u 2 u 1 + + c p u p u 1 = 0
c 1 u 1 u 1 + c 2 u 2 u 1 + + c p u p u 1 = 0
c 1 u 1 u 1 = 0
Since u 1 0, u 1 u 1 > 0 which means c 1 = ____.
In a similar manner, c 2 , ,c p can be shown to by all 0. So S is a
linearly independent set.
An orthogonal basis for a subspace W of R n is a basis for W that
is also an orthogonal set.

EXAMPLE: Suppose S = u 1 , u 2 , , u p is an orthogonal basis

for a subspace W of R n and suppose y is in W. Find c 1 , ,c p so
that
y =c 1 u 1 + c 2 u 2 + + c p u p .
Solution:
y

=c 1 u 1 + c 2 u 2 + + c p u p

y u 1 =c 1 u 1 + c 2 u 2 + + c p u p u 1
y u 1 =c 1 u 1 u 1 + c 2 u 2 u 1 + + c p u p u 1
y u 1 =c 1 u 1 u 1
c1 =
Similarly, c 2 =

, c3 =

yu 1
u 1 u 1

,,

cp =

THEOREM 5
Let u 1 , u 2 , , u p be an orthogonal basis for a subspace W of
R n . Then each y in W has a unique representation as a linear
combination of u 1 , u 2 , , u p . In fact, if
y =c 1 u 1 + c 2 u 2 + + c p u p
then
cj =

yu j
u j u j

j = 1, , p
3

3
EXAMPLE: Express y =

as a linear combination of the

4
orthogonal basis
1
1
0

1
,

0
,

1
0

Solution:
yu 1
u 1 u 1

yu 2
u 2 u 2

yu 3
u 3 u 3

Hence
y =_____u 1 + ______u 2 + ______u 3

Orthogonal Projections
For a nonzero vector u in R n , suppose we want to write y in R n as
the the following
y = multiple of u + multiple a vector to u

y u u =0
y u u u =0
yu
y= uu u

(orthogonal projection of y onto u)

and
yu
u
z = y uu

(component of y orthogonal to u)

EXAMPLE: Let y =

and u =

4
1
distance from y to the line through 0 and u.

Solution:

. Compute the

yu
y= uu u =

Distance from y to the line through 0 and u = distance from y to

y

= y y =

Orthonormal Sets
A set of vectors u 1 , u 2 , , u p in R n is called an orthonormal set
if it is an orthogonal set of unit vectors.
If W =spanu 1 , u 2 , , u p , then u 1 , u 2 , , u p is an orthonormal
basis for W.

Recall that v is a unit vector if v =

vv =

v T v = 1.

Suppose U = u 1 u 2 u 3 where u 1 , u 2 , u 3 is an orthonormal

set.

u T1
Then U T U =

u T2

u1 u2 u3

u T3

It can be shown that UU T = I also. So U 1 = U T (such a matrix is

called an orthogonal matrix).

THEOREM 6
An m n matrix U has orthonormal columns if
and only if U T U = I.
THEOREM 7
Let U be an m n matrix with orthonormal
columns, and let x and y be in R n . Then
a. Ux = x
b. Ux Uy = x y
c. Ux Uy = 0 if and only if x y = 0.
Proof of part b: Ux Uy =

10