Math 304

Exam #2A - Solutions

Sections 3.1-4.2

1. [10 pts] Let A be a 2 2 matrix, that is, A R2x2 . Show that the set of matrices
S = {B|AB = BA, B R2x2 }
is a subspace.
Solution: You must use the properties that define the set, that is AB = BA. Let B1
and B2 be elements of the set S. This means that AB1 = B1 A and AB2 = B2 A.
Therefore we have
A(B1 + B2 ) = AB1 + AB2 = B1 A + B2 A = (B1 + B2 )A
so S is closed under addition. Similarly
A(kB) = kAB = kBA = (kB)A
so S is closed under scalar multiplication.

2. [10 pts] Show that the following set of functions is linearly independent
{e2x , ex , ex , e2x }

Solution: The easiest way is to compute the Wronskiian

 2x x x 2x 


 e e e e 
 2e2x ex ex 2e2x 
W = 2x  = 72 6= 0
 2x x x

 4e e e 4e 
 8e2x ex ex 8e2x 

Alternatively, you can pick 4 distinct points and evaluate the functions there.

3. [10 pts] Calculate the Wronskiian of the set of functions {1, x, x2 }

Solution: The Wronskian is given by
 
 1 x x2 
 
W =  0 1 2x  = 2 6= 0
 0 0 2 
4. [10 pts] Determine if the transformation L[p(x)] = x2 p00 (x) + xp(x) + p(0) is linear
or not.
Solution: You must show that L preserves addition and scalar multiplication.

L[p(x) + q(x)] = x2 [p(x) + q(x)]00 + x[p(x) + q(x)] + [p(0) + q(0)]

= x2 p00 (x) + xp(x) + p(0) + x2 q 00 (x) + xq(x) + q(0)
= L[p(x)] + L[q(x)]

L[kp(x)] = x2 [kp(x)]00 + x[kp(x)] + kp(0) = k(x2 p00 (x) + xp(x) + p(0)] = kL[p(x)]

therefore L is linear.

5. [10 pts] Given the two vectors x1 = (1, 1, 1)T and x2 = (3, 1, 4)T , find a third
vector x3 such that {x1 , x2 , x3 } forms a basis for R3 .
Solution: You need to find a third linearly independent vector. One easy way is to
put the vectors in rows, and find rref form. You can then put a vector with 1s in the
free variable columns.
Row reducing
   
1 1 1 1 0 5/4

3 1 4 0 1 1/4
So we can add the vector [0, 0, 1]T and obtain a basis.

6. [10 pts] Find the change of basis matrix (transition matrix) between the standard
basis {1, x, x2 } and the basis {1, 1 + x, 1 + x2 }.
Solution: We are going from the standard basis

1 0 0
E= 0 1 0
0 0 1

to the non-standard basis

1 1 1
F = 0 1 0
0 0 1
 The change of basis matrix is therefore

1 1 1
F 1 = 0 1 0
0 0 1

7. [15 pts]
a) Find a basis for the row space, column space and null space for the matrix

3 3 1 3 3 1
A= 3 2 2 1 2 2
1 1 3 3 3 3

Solution: Using your calculator (or by hand!) you get

1 0 0 2 1 0
rref (A) = 0 1 0 11/4 7/4 0
0 0 1 3/4 3/4 1

The row space is therefore spanned by the vectors

{[1, 0, 0, 2, 1, 0], [0, 1, 0, 11/4, 7/4, 0], [0, 0, 1, 3/4, 3/4, 1]}

The lead variables are in columns 1, 2, and 3. Therefore the column space is spanned
by the vectors [3, 3, 1]T , [3, 2, 1]T , [1, 2, 3]T .
The null space is found by using rref (A) and isolating the free variables. We obtain

{[2, 2.75, 0.75, 1, 0, 0]T , [1, 1.75, 0.75, 0, 1, 0]T , [0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 1]T }

Remember, the basis vectors for the null space must be dimension 6 1.
b) Find the dimension of each of these spaces.
Solution: The dimension of all three spaces is 3.

8. [10 pts]
a) Determine the kernel and range of the linear operator L : R3 R3 given by

L[(x1 , x2 , x3 )T ] = (x1 , x3 , x3 )T
 Solution: The kernel of L is given by solving L[x] = 0, that is

x1 x1 0
L x2 = x3 = 0
x3 x3 0

which implies that x1 = 0, x3 = 0, but x2 is undetermined. Therefore, the null space

consists of the vectors [0, x2 , 0]T , which is spanned by {[0, 1, 0]T }.
The range is given by noting that

x1 x1 1 0
L x2 = x3 = x1 0 + x3 1
x3 x3 0 1

So the range is given by the span of {[1, 0, 0]T , [0, 1, 1]T }.

b) Find the Matrix representation of L with respect to the standard basis.
Solution: Substituting e1 , e2 , e3 into L, we get

1 0 0
0 0 1
0 0 1

9. [15 pts] Let E = {(1, 0, 1)T , (1, 2, 1)T , (1, 1, 1)T } and F = {(1, 1)T , (2, 1)T }
be bases for R3 and R2 respectively. Find the matrix representation of

L(x) = (x1 + x2 , x1 x3 )T

with respect to E,F.

Solution: We substitute the basis functions for E into L, and then write them in
terms of the basis for F .

1 1 1  
1 3 0
L[E] = 0 2 1 =
2 0 2
1 1 1

To solve for the basis coefficients, in F , we row reduce

 
1 2 1 3 0
1 1 2 0 2
The result is given by
 
1 5 3 4
F L[E] =
3 3 2