Lecture 3

Content: Linear Independence

Math 136

Dan Wolczuk Faculty of Mathematics University of Waterloo

Last class we saw that we could simplify a vector equation for

a set spanned by a set of vectors by removing vectors which
could be written as a linear combination of the other vectors.
We now generalize our method.

Theorem 1.1.2

Let
v 1, . . . ,
v k Rn . There exists a vector
v i such that

v i Span{ v 1 , . . . , v i1 , v i+1 , . . . , v k } if and only if

Span{
v 1, . . . ,
v k } = Span{
v 1, . . . ,
v i1 ,
v i+1 , . . . ,
v k}
Proof:

Math 136

Dan Wolczuk Faculty of Mathematics University of Waterloo

Math 136

Dan Wolczuk Faculty of Mathematics University of Waterloo

v 1, . . . ,
v k } in Rn . We want to
Consider a set of vectors {
form an equation that will tell us if one of the vectors in the
set is a linear combination of the others.
If there exists such a vector, then that means there exists
c1 , . . . , ck R such that

ci
v i = c1
v 1 + + ci1
v i1 + ci+1
v i+1 + + ck
vk
where ci 6= 0.
We can rearrange this as

0 = c1
v 1 + + ck
vk

Math 136

Dan Wolczuk Faculty of Mathematics University of Waterloo

On the other hand, if the equation

0 = c1
v 1 + + ck
vk
has a solution where one of the coefficients, say cj , is
non-zero, then we can rewrite it as
c1
cj1
cj+1
ck

vj=
v 1
v j1
v j+1
vk
cj
cj
cj
cj

Math 136

Dan Wolczuk Faculty of Mathematics University of Waterloo

We have proven that a spanning set can be simplified if and

only if the equation 0 = c1

v 1 + + ck
v k has a solution
where at least one of the coefficients is non-zero.

Definition

A set of vectors {
v 1, . . . ,
v k } in Rn is said to be linearly
dependent if there exist coefficients c1 , . . . , ck not all zero
such that

0 = c1
v 1 + + ck
vk

A set of vectors {
v ,...,
v } is said to be linearly
1

independent if the only solution to

0 = c1
v 1 + + ck
vk
is c1 = c2 = = ck = 0 (called the trivial solution).

Math 136

Dan Wolczuk Faculty of Mathematics University of Waterloo

Theorem 1.1.3
A set of vectors is linearly dependent if and only if one of the
vectors can be written as a linear combination of the other
vectors.

Math 136

Dan Wolczuk Faculty of Mathematics University of Waterloo

Example
Determine which sets are linearly independent and which are
linearly dependent.
   
1
1
(a)
,
2
1
Solution:

Math 136

Dan Wolczuk Faculty of Mathematics University of Waterloo

Example
Determine which sets are linearly independent and which are
linearly dependent.

2
2
1

3 , 1 , 6
(b)

1
1
2
Solution:

Math 136

Dan Wolczuk Faculty of Mathematics University of Waterloo

Example
Determine which sets are linearly independent and which are
linearly dependent.

0
0
1

3 , 1 , 0
(c)

1
2
0
Solution:

Math 136

Dan Wolczuk Faculty of Mathematics University of Waterloo

We can learn things from the examples. From (c), we can see
that we have the following theorem.

Theorem 1.1.4

If a set of vectors {
v 1, . . . ,
v k } contains the zero vector then
it is linearly dependent.
Proof:

Math 136

Dan Wolczuk Faculty of Mathematics University of Waterloo

Also, from (a), we get the following result

Theorem

If
v 1,
v 2 Rn are two vectors such that neither
v 1 nor
v2

is a scalar multiple of the other, then { v 1 , v 2 } is linearly

independent.

Math 136

Dan Wolczuk Faculty of Mathematics University of Waterloo

Remark

Observe that for determining whether a set {

v 1, . . . ,
v k } in
Rn is linearly dependent or linearly independent requires
determining solutions of the vector equation

c1
v 1 + + ck
v k = 0 . However, this equation actually
represents n equations (one for each entry of the vectors) in k
unknowns c1 , . . . , ck . In the next chapter, we will look at how
to efficiently solve such systems of equations.

Math 136

Dan Wolczuk Faculty of Mathematics University of Waterloo

What we have derived above is that the simplest spanning set

for a given set is one that is linearly independent. Hence, we
make the following definition.

Definition
If a subset S of Rn can be written as a span of vectors

v 1, . . . ,
v k where {
v 1, . . . ,
v k } is linearly independent, then

we say that { v 1 , . . . , v k } is a basis for S.

We define a basis for the set { 0 } to be the empty set.

Math 136

Dan Wolczuk Faculty of Mathematics University of Waterloo