Midterm 1

MATH 211 (A01), Spring 2015 (Siefken)

Date:
Name:
ID Number:

This is a 50 minute test. It has 6 pages including this cover page.

Q1 /10
Q2 /10
Q3 /10
Q4 /10
Q5 /10
Total /50

1
1 (10pts) Complete each of the following sentences with a mathematically precise definition.
(a) (2pts) A non-empty subset V Rn is a subspace if
V we have v + w
for all v , w V and kv V for all scalars k.

(b) (2pts) The set of vectors B = {v1 , v2 , v3 , v4 } is linearly independent if

the only solution to
1v1 + 2v2 + 3v3 + 4v4 = 0
is 1 = 2 = 3 = 4 = 0.

(c) (2pts) The set of vectors B = {v1 , v2 , v3 , v4 } is a basis for the subspace V if
B is linearly independent and span B = V .

(d) (2pts) The vector a is a unit vector if

a = 1.

(e) (2pts) The vector a is orthogonal to the vector b if

a b = 0.

2
2 (10pts) Let
1 1 3
a = 2 b = 1 c = 0 .
3 1 1

(a) (3pts) Compute a (b c).

1 1 3 1 2
2 1 0 = 2 1 = 10.
3 1 1 3 2

(b) (2pts) Compute a + 2b.

1 1 3
2 + 2 1 = 0 .
3 1 1

(c) (5pts) Is the set of vectors X = {a, b, c} linearly independent or linearly dependent? Explain your
answer.
X is linearly dependent because a + 2b c = 0 is a non-trivial linear combination of vectors
in X that equals 0.

3
3 (10pts)
(a) (7pts) Use an augmented matrix to solve the following system of equations

y + z = 1
x + 2y + z = 1 .
2x + 4y + 3z = 4

0 1 1 1 1 2 1 1 1 2 1 1
R1 R2 R3 R3 2R1
1 2 1 1 0 1 1 1 0 1 1 1
2 4 3 4 2 4 3 4 0 0 1 2

1 0 1 1 1 0 1 1 1 0 0 1
R R 2R2 R R 2R3 R1 R1 +R3
11 0 1 1 1 22 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1
0 0 1 2 0 0 1 2 0 0 1 2
and so (x, y, z) = (1, 1, 2).

0 1 1 1
(b) (3pts) Let a = 1, b = 2, c = 1, and v = 1. Express v as a linear combination of a, b, and c.
2 4 3 4
Hint, these vectors closely relate to the system of equations in part (a).
v = a b + 2c.

4
4 (10pts) Below you are given the matrix A and its reduced row echelon form.

1 2 1 1 4 1 2 0 0 2
A = 2 4 1 0 4 rref(A) = 0 0 1 0 0
1 2 1 1 4 0 0 0 1 2

(a) (2pts) What is the rank of A?

rank(A) = 3.

(b) (2pts) Write down the homogeneous system of linear equations corresponding to A.

x1 +2x2 x3 x4 +4x5 =0
2x1 +4x2 +x3 +4x5 =0 .
x1 +2x2 +x3 x4 +4x5 =0

(c) (6pts) Write down the general solution to the homogeneous system of linear equations corresponding to A.
Since weve been given the row reduced form of A, we immediately indentify x2 and x5 as the
only free variables.
Let x2 = t and x5 = s. We then see

x1 2t 2s 2 2
x2 t 1 0

x3 = 0 = t 0 + s 0 .

x4 2s 0 2
x5 s 0 1

5
5 (10pts) For each of the following subsets of R2 , either prove that the subset is a subspace or provide an example
that shows it is not a subspace.

(a) (5pts) U = {x R2 : x e1 + x e2 = 1}.

U is not a subspace because it is not closed under vector addition. Notice e1 , e2 U , but
w e1 + w
= e1 + e2 satisfies w e2 = 2 and so w
/ U.

(b) (5pts) V = {x R2 : x e1 + x e2 = 0}.

V is a subspace. Let u, v V . Then u e1 + u e2 = 0 and v e1 + v e2 = 0. We then have

(u + v ) e1 + (u + v ) e2 = u e1 + u e2 + v e1 + v e2 = 0 + 0 = 0,

and so V is closed under vector addition. Further, if v V , we have

(kv ) e1 + (kv ) e2 = k(v e1 + v e2 ) = k0 = 0

for any scalar k, and so V is closed under scalar multiplication.