Sample Linear Algebra Questions

1. Solve for x
1
, x
2
and x
3
in the following matrix equation.
_
x
1
x
2
x
3
_
_

_
2 1 1
1 3 1
1 2 1
_

_ =
_
5 1 1
_
2. Express the vector u =
_

_
1
2
3
_

_ as a sum of vectors v and w, where v

belongs to the subspace S =
_

_
_

_
x
y
z
_

x + y + z = 0
_

_
and w belongs to S

, the
subspace orthogonal to S.
3. What are the eigenvalues of a 2-by-2 matrix whose trace is 1 and determi-
nant is -12?
4. Suppose matrix A is reduced by the usual row operations to the matrix
R =
_

_
1 4 0 2
0 0 1 2
0 0 0 0
_

_
Find all solutions x R
4
(if the solution exists) to the equation
A x = sum of the columns of A
(Strang)
5. Let A be a matrix such that
A
_

_
1
2
2
_

_ =
_
3
6
_
1
and
A
_

_
3
2
1
_

_ =
_
4
4
_
.
Find
A
_

_
5
6
3
_

_
6. Find the least squares line for the three points (1, 1), (1, 5), (3, 3).
7. Let A be a 3-by-3 anti-symmetric matrix, that is, A
T
= A. What can be
said about the determinant of A? What can be said about the determinant of
an n by n antisymmetric matrix where n is an odd positive integer?
8. Given that a four by four matrix A is reduced to the upper triangular
matrix
_

_
1 1 3 3
0 1 2 1
0 0 1 2
0 0 0 1
_

_
by the following sequence of row operations, nd matrix A.
1) 2R
1
+ R
2
R
2
2) 4R
1
+ R
3
R
3
3) 7R
1
+ R
4
R
4
4)
1
3
R
2
R
2
5) 5R
2
+ R
3
R
3
6) 8R
2
+ R
4
R
4
7)
1
6
R
3
R
3
8)
1
11
R
4
R
4
2
9. Consider the system
ax + y = a
2
x + ay = 1
. For what values of a are there innitely many solutions, no solutions, and a
unique solution?
(From USSR Olympiad)
10. Categorize the following subsets of R
3
as subspaces or not subspaces.
a. {(a, b, 3a 2b)}
b. {(a, b, c) | a + b + c = 0}
c. {(a, b, c) | ab = bc}
d. {(a, ab, b)}
e. {(a, b, a + b + 1)}
f. {(a + 2, b, 2a b + 4)}
11. Solve for x
2
using Cramers rule.
2x
1
+ x
3
+ x
4
= 5
x
2
x
4
= 1
3x
1
x
3
x
4
= 0
4x
1
+ x
2
+ 2x
3
+ 3x
4
= 9
12. Dene the matrix
A
n
=
_

_
1
6
0
1
6
0 1 0
1
6
0
1
6
_

_
n
Find and prove lim
n
A
n
.
13. Let P
2
be the vector space of all polynomials of order two or less over the
real numbers. That is , P
2
= {ax
2
+ bx + c | a, b, c R}. Consider a function
T : P
2
P
2
dened as
T(p(x)) = xp

(x)
3
for any p(x) P
2
. Prove that T is a linear function (linear transformation).
Find the kernel of T. Also, nd the eigenvalues and eigenvectors of T.
14. Find bases for the row space, column space, and null space of the following
matrix A.
A =
_

_
1 1 2 3
2 1 5 2
3 1 8 1
_

_
. Conrm the rank nullity theorem using matrix A.
15. Suppose u, v, and w are three vectors from R
3
such that
det
_
_
_
_

_
u
v
w
_

_
_
_
_ = 10
Find the following
det
_
_
_
_

_
v
u
w
_

_
_
_
_
det
_
_
_
_

_
2u
v
w
_

_
_
_
_
det
_
_
_
_

_
u
v
2u + 3v
_

_
_
_
_
4