is linearly dependent or linearly independent set in R3 .

Is there a nontrivial solution to the vector equation

Assignment 5 answers Math 130 Linear Algebra

D Joyce, Fall 2012 Exercises from section 1.5, page 40, exercises 1, 2ef, 8, 11, 16. 1. True/false a. If S is a linearly independent set, then each vector in S is a linear combination of other vectors in S. False, really false. Each vector is not a linear combination of the other vectors. b. Any set containing the zero vector is linearly dependent. True. Since 1 times 0 is 0, therefore 0 is a nontrivial linear combination of vectors in the set. c. The empty set is linearly dependent. False. There are no nontrivial linear combinations of vectors in the set, so 0 cant be expressed as one of them. d. Subsets of linearly dependent sets are linearly dependent. False. To show its false, all you have to do is exhibit one linearly independent subset of a linearly dependent set. For example {(1, 0), (0, 1)} is independent, but {(1, 0), (0, 1), (1, 1)} is dependent. e. Subsets of linearly independent sets are linearly independent. True. If 0 cant be expressed as a nontrivial lin combo of elements a set, it cant be expressed as a nontrivial lin combo of elements of a subset of it. f. If a1 x1 + + an xn = 0 and x1 , . . . , xn are linearly independent, then all the scalars ai are 0. True. Thats the point of linear independence. 2f. Determine if the set {(1, 1, 2), (2, 0, 1), (1, 1, 4)} 1

x(1, 1, 2) + y(2, 0, 1) + z(1, 1, 4) = (0, 0, 0)? Solve the system of homogeneous linear equations x + 2y + z = 0 x + z = 0 2x + y + 4z = 0 The only solution is (x, y, z) = (0, 0, 0). Therefore the set is independent. (You dont have to actually write down the system. This one is easy enough that you could use direct logic to see that theres no nontrivial combo that gives 0.) 8. Let S = {(1, 1, 0), (1, 0, 1), (0, 1, 1)} in the vector space F 3 . (Recall that you showed in an earlier exercise that S spanned F 3 .) a. Prove that if F = R, then S is linearly independent. Solve x(1, 1, 0) + y(1, 0, 1) + z(0, 1, 1) = (0, 0, 0). That corresponds to the system of equations x + y = 0 x + z = 0 y + z = 0 So x = y = z = x, and since x = x, theyre all 0. Since the only solution is trivial, theyre independent vectors. q.e.d. b. Prove that if F has characteristic 2, then S is independent. A eld has characteristic 2 when 1 + 1 = 0 in the eld. Why doesnt the proof given in part a work for elds of characteristic 2? Its that equation x = x. Since 1 + 1 = 0, therefore 1 = 1, so the equation x = x has the solution x = 1. So, when x = y = z = 1, we nd a nontrivial solution. q.e.d. Note that in F 3 when F has characteristic 2, (1, 1, 0) + (1, 0, 1) = (0, 1, 1).

11. Let S = {u1 , u2 , . . . , un } be a linearly independent subset of a vector space V over the eld Z2 of two elements. How many vectors are there in span(S)? Justify your answer. A vector in span(S) is of the form c1 u1 + c2 u2 + + cn un where each ci is either 0 or 1. There are 2n expressions of that form. Each expression names a dierent vector since S is independent, for if two dierent expressions named the same vector, then their dierence would express 0 as a nontrivial linear combination of S. Thus, span(S) has 2n vectors in it. 16. Prove that a set S of vectors is linearly independent i each nite subset of S is linearly independent. The proof seems so obvious, that its hard to write down. The formal denition of S being lin indep is that 0 cannot be expressed as a nontrivial linear combination of a nite number of elements from S. Proof : Suppose that S is lin indep. Then 0 cant be expressed as a nontriv lin combo of a nite number of elements from S, and therefore it cant from any subset of S, nite or not. Proof : Suppose that each nite subset of S is lin indep. If c1 v1 + + cn vn is a nontrivial lin combo from S, then its a nontrivial lin combo of the subset {v1 , . . . , vn } of S, and therefore cannot equal 0 since that subset is indep. Thus, no nontriv lin combo from S can equal 0. Therefore S is indep. q.e.d. Math 130 Home Page at http://math.clarku.edu/~djoyce/ma130/