Problem Sheet 1, Math 104
Exercises
1. Suppose V = R4 and U is a subspace spanned by the vectors
1 1 1 1 2
2 2 4 1 5
, , , ,
2 1 2 2 0
−1 1 −4 −1 2
Find the basis of U .
2. Prove that if {u1 , u2 , . . . , um } and {w1 , w2 , . . . , wn } are both bases of a vector space V over a field F, then m = n.
3. (a) Let U be the subspace of R5 defined by
U = {(x1 , x2 , x3 , x4 , x5 ) ∈ R5 : x1 = 3x2 and x3 = 7x4 }.
Find a basis of U .
(b) Extend the basis in part (a) to a basis of R5 .
(c) Find a subspace W of R5 such that R5 = U ⊕ W .
4. (a) Let U = {p ∈ P4 (F) : p(6) = 0}. Find a basis of U .
Here, P4 (F) denotes the set of all polynomials with coefficients in F and degree at most 4.
(b) Extend the basis in part (a) to a basis of P4 (F).
(c) Find a subspace W of P4 (F) such that P4 (F) = U ⊕ V .
5. Recall: If W1 and W2 are finite-dimensional subspace of a vector space V , then W1 + W2 is also finite-dimensional and
dim(W1 + W2 ) = dim(W1 ) + dim(W2 ) − dim(W1 ∩ W2 ).
You might guess, by analogy with the formula for the number of elements in the union of three subsets of a finite set, that
if U1 , U2 , U3 are subspaces of a finite-dimensional vector space, then
dim(U1 + U2 + U3 ) = dim U1 + dim U2 + dim U3
− dim(U1 ∩ U2 ) − dim(U1 ∩ U3 ) − dim(U2 ∩ U3 )
+ dim(U1 ∩ U2 ∩ U3 ).
Prove this or give a counterexample.
6. Suppose that U and W are subspaces of R8 such that dim U = 3, dim W = 5, and R8 = U + W . Prove that R8 = U ⊕ W .
7. (a) Give an example of a function ϕ : R2 → R such that
ϕ(av) = aϕ(v)
for all a ∈ R and all v ∈ R2 but ϕ is not linear.
(b) Give an example of a function ϕ : C → C such that ϕ(w + z) = ϕ(w) + ϕ(z) for all w, z ∈ C but ϕ is not linear.
(c) Suppose b, c ∈ R. Define T : R3 −→ R2 by T (x, y, z) = (2x − 4y + 3z + b, 6x + cxyz). Show that T is linear if and
only if b = c = 0.
8. Suppose U is a subspace of V with U ̸= V . Suppose S ∈ L(U, W ) and S =
̸ {0} (which means that Su ̸= 0 for some u ∈ U ).
Define T : V −→ W by
(
Sv if v ∈ U,
Tv =
0 if v ∈ V and v ∈ / U.
Prove that T is not a linear map on V.
9. Let V be the vector space of all n × n matrices over the field F, and let B be a fixed n × n matrix. If
T (A) = AB − BA
verify that T is a linear transformation from V into V .