MATH235: Linear Algebra 2

Practice Problems for Chapter 1: Abstract Vector Spaces

Instructions
• These problems are meant to give you an opportunity to practice the material covered in class
and in the course notes. They are ungraded: you do not have to submit them. However, we
highly recommend that you attempt all of them and write up full solutions to each.

• You are encouraged to discuss these problems with your instructor, classmates, and on Piazza.

Computational Problems
Q1. In the following problem you are given a set V and definitions for a vector addition + and
a scalar multiplication · with scalars from F. Determine if these definitions turn V into a
vector space over F.

(a) V = {(ai )∞ ∞ ∞ ∞
i=1 : ai ∈ F} (the set of all infinite sequences in F), (ai )i=1 +(bi )i=1 = (ai +bi )i=1
and α · (ai ) = (αai )∞i=1 .
         
2 x1 y1 x1 y2 x1 αx1
(b) V = F , + = , α· = .
x2 y2 x2 y1 x2 αx2
   
cos θ − sin θ
(c) F = R, V = Rθ = ∈ M2×2 (R) : θ ∈ R (the set of 2 × 2 rotation ma-
sin θ cos θ
trices), Rθ + Rϕ = Rθ+ϕ , c · Rθ = Rcθ .

Q2. In the following problem you are given a subset S of a vector space V . Determine if S is
linearly dependent or linearly independent.
#»
(a) S = { 0 , #»
v }, where #»
v ∈ V is an arbitrary vector in an arbitrary vector space V .
(b) S = {1 + x + x2 , 5 − 2x + 2x2 , −2 + 3x + x2 }, V = P2 (F).
(c) S = {1 + x, x − x2 , 1 + 2x3 , 1 − x + x2 − x3 , x + x3 }, V = P3 (F).
   
1 1 0 2 2 2
(d) S = , , V = M2×3 (F).
1 0 0 0 0 0
       
1 0 0 −1 1 0 0 1
(e) S = , , , , V = M2×2 (F).
0 1 1 0 0 −1 1 0
(f) S = {sin(x), cos(x)}, V = C([0, 1]).

Q3. In the following problem you are given a subset S of a vector space V . Determine if S is a
spanning set for V .

(a) S = { #»
v }, where #»
v ∈ V is an arbitrary vector in a 3-dimensional vector space V .
(b) S = {1 + x + x2 , 5 − 2x + 2x2 , −2 + 3x + x2 }, V = P2 (F).
   
1 1 0 2 2 2
(c) S = , , V = M2×3 (F).
1 0 0 0 0 0
       
1 0 0 −1 1 0 0 1
(d) S = , , , , V = M2×2 (F).
0 1 1 0 0 −1 1 0

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MATH235: Linear Algebra 2
Practice Problems for Chapter 1: Abstract Vector Spaces

Q4. In the following problem you are given a subset W of a vector space V . Determine if W is a
subspace of V . If W is a subspace of V , find a basis for W and determine dim W .

(a) W = {A ∈ M2×2 (F) : AT = A}, V = M2×2 (F).

(b) W = {A ∈ Mn×n (F) : An = On×n }, V = Mn×n (F).
(c) W = {A ∈ Mn×n (F) : A is a diagonal matrix}, V = Mn×n (F).
(d) W = {A ∈ M3×3 (C) : A = iA}, V = M3×3 (C).
(e) W = {(p(x))2 : p(x) ∈ P2 (F)}, V = P4 (F).
(f) W = {x2 p(x) : p(x) ∈ P2 (F)}, V = P4 (F).
(g) W = {p(x) ∈ P2 (F) : p′ (1) = p(1) = 0}, V = P2 (F).
(h) W = Span{x − x2 , x − x3 , x2 − x3 }, V = P3 (F).
R1
(i) W = {f ∈ C([0, 1]) : 0 f (x) dx = 1}, V = C([0, 1]).
(j) W = {f ∈ C([0, 1]) : |f (x)| ≤ 1}, V = C([0, 1]).
     
1 −1 2 i 3 3
Q5. Let B = , , be a subset of M2×2 (C).
4 1 3+i 1 1 1 − 2i
(a) Prove that B is linearly independent, and thus a basis for the subspace U = Span(B).
(b) Determine whether or not each of the following matrices is in the subspace U . If it is,
find its coordinate vector with respect to B. If it isn’t, prove it.
     
1 1 5−i 2−i 2i −2i
, , .
2 1 10 + i 3 − 2i 8i 2i

Q6. Let B = {1, 1 + 2x, 1 − x2 } be a subset of P 2 (F).

(a) Prove that B is a basis for P 2 (F).

(b) Find [ #»
v ]B if #»
v = 1 + 2x + x2 .
 
−1
#» ∈ P (F) so that [ w]
(c) Find w #» =  0 .
2 B
3

Conceptual Problems
Q1. Prove that in any vector space V ,
#»
(a) 0 #»
x = 0 for all #»
x ∈V;
(b) (−1) #»x = − #»
x for all #»
x ∈V;
#» #»
(c) t 0 = 0 for all t ∈ F;
#» #»
(d) if a #»
x = 0 , where a ∈ F and #»
x ∈ V , then either a = 0 or #»
x = 0.

Q2. Let V be an n-dimensional vector space over F with ordered basis B. Let #» x ∈ V . Prove that
#» #»
[ #»
x ]B = 0 n (the zero vector in Fn ) if and only if #»
x = 0 V (the zero vector in V ).

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MATH235: Linear Algebra 2
Practice Problems for Chapter 1: Abstract Vector Spaces

Q3. Let V be a vector space with basis B = { #»

v 1 , #»
v 2 }. Suppose that #»
x , #»
y ∈ V are given by
#»
x = a #»
v 1 + b #»
v2
#» #»
y = cv + dv . #»
1 2

Show that { #»
x , #»
y } is linearly independent if and only if ad − bc ̸= 0.

Q4. Can there be a vector space over F containing exactly 3 vectors? Explain.

Q5. Let V be a vector space over F and let W be a subset of V that satisfies the following two
properties:
#»
(i) 0 ∈ W ;
#» ∈ W , then − w
(ii) if w #» ∈ W .

Prove or disprove: W must be a subspace of V .

Q6. Let V be a vector space over F and let #»

x , #»
y ∈ V be distinct vectors. Let

S = {t #»
x + (1 − t) #»
y : t ∈ F}.

(a) Show, by giving an example, that S need not be a subspace of V .

(b) Determine conditions on #»
x and #»
y that ensure that S will be a subspace of V .
(c) Show that there exists a vector #»
v ∈ V for which the set T = { #»u + #»
v : #»
u ∈ S} is a
subspace of V .

[Hint: What is S if V = R2 ? Draw a picture. This should help you form some intuition for
this problem.]

Q7. Let U and W be subspaces of a vector space V .

(a) Prove that U ∩ W is a subspace of V .

(b) Show by example that U ∪ W need not be a subspace of V .
(c) Suppose that dim V = 3 and dim U = dim W = 2. Suppose further that U ̸= W . Show
that dim(U ∩ W ) = 1. (The picture you should have in mind is the intersection of two
planes in R3 giving a line.)

Q8. Let U and W be subspaces of a vector space V . The subspace sum of U and W is defined
to be the set
U + W = { #»u +w#» : #» #» ∈ W }
u ∈ U, w
consisting of all sums of vectors from U and W .

(a) Prove that U + W is a subspace of V .

#»
(b) Determine U + U and U + { 0 }.
(c) Let V = R2 and let U = Span{ #»x } be a one-dimensional subspace of V . Prove that there
exists a one-dimensional subspace W of V such that U + W = R2 .

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 MATH235: Linear Algebra 2
Practice Problems for Chapter 1: Abstract Vector Spaces

(d) Prove/disprove: If U, W, W ′ are subspaces of V , and if U + W = U + W ′ , then W = W ′ .

Q9. Let V be an n-dimensional vector space over F. Let S = { #»

v 1 , . . . , #»
v k }. Prove that:

(a) If k > n then S is linearly dependent.

(b) If k < n then S is doesn’t span V .
(c) If k = n then S spans V if and only if S is linearly independent.

Q10. Let { #»
v 1 , . . . , #»
v k } be a subset of a vector space V .

(a) Prove/disprove: If #»
v 1 ∈ Span{ #»
v 2 , . . . , #»
v k } then Span{ #»
v 1 , . . . , #»
v k } = Span{ #»v 2 , . . . , #»
v k }.
(b) Prove/disprove: If v#» #» #» #»
̸∈ Span{ v , . . . , v } then { v , . . . , v #» } is linearly indepen-
k+1 1 k 1 k+1
dent.

Q11. (a) We can view C as a vector space over R by simply only allowing ourselves to scalar
multiply by real numbers. Call this real vector space CR . (Convince yourself that this
really is a vector space over R.) Find a basis for CR hence determine dim CR .
(b) Generalize part (a) to Cn .
(c) More generally still, suppose that V is a vector space over C and let VR denote the R
vector space consisting of the same vectors as V but where the scalar multiplication is
restricted to R. Supposing that V is finite-dimensional (as a vector space over C), show
that VR is finite-dimensional over R. What is the relation between dim V and dim VR ?
[Food for thought: Is there a way to reverse the above process and begin with a real vector
space V and then somehow “extend” it to a complex vector space VC ?]

Q12. Let V be a finite-dimensional vector space, and let U be a subspace of V .

(a) Let C = { #» u 1 , . . . , #»
u k } be a basis for U . Show that we can extend C to a basis B =
{ u 1 , . . . , u k , v 1 , . . . , #»
#» #» #» v l } of V . (Here dim V = k + l.)
(b) Let W = Span{ v 1 , . . . , #»
#» v l }. Show that every #»
v ∈ V can be expressed in the form
#» #» #»
v = u + w for unique vectors u ∈ U and w ∈ W . #» #»

(c) Show that the definition PU ( #» #» = #»

u + w) u gives a well-defined function P : V → V . Show
further that PU is linear and determine Range(PU ) and Ker(PU ).

[Note: The linear map PU is called the projection of V onto U .]

Q13. Let U and W be finite-dimensional subspaces of a vector space V . Prove that

dim(U + W ) = dim(U ) + dim(W ) − dim(U ∩ W ).

Refer to Q8 for the definition of U + W . [Hint: Start with a basis B for U ∩ W . Extend it
to get bases BU and BW for U and W . Think about how to use the vectors in B, BU and
BW to get a basis for U + W .]

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 MATH235: Linear Algebra 2
Practice Problems for Chapter 1: Abstract Vector Spaces

Q14. Let V be a finite-dimensional vector space over F and let U be a subspace of V such that
dim U = dim V − 1. Let W be a subspace of V that is not contained in U (i.e. W ̸⊆ U ).
Prove that dim(U ∩ W ) = dim W − 1. [Note: This is a generalization of Q7(c).]

Q15. Let V and W be vector spaces over F. The Cartesian product of V and W , denoted by
V × W , is the set of all ordered pairs of elements of V and W :

V × W = {( #» #» : #»
v , w) v ∈ V, #»
v ∈ W }.

(a) Define a vector addition and scalar multiplication on V × W by

( #» #» ) + ( #»
v 1, w 1
#» ) = ( #»
v 2, w 2 v 1 + #» #» + w
v 2, w 1
#» )
2
s( #» #» = (s #»
v , w) #»
v , s w).

Show that these operations turn V × W into a vector space over F.

(b) Suppose that dim(V ) = n and dim(W ) = m. Determine dim(V × W ).

Q16. Show that the real vector space C([0, 1]) of continuous functions f : [0, 1] → R is not finite-
dimensional. [Hint: Assume it has a finite basis and try to derive a contradiction.]