Math 235 Assignment 1 Solutions

   
3 1 4 2 3 1 0 1 0 1
5 2 7 3 4 0 1 1 0 −2
1. Let A = 
2 −1 1
, then the RREF of A is R =  .
3 7 0 0 0 1 1
3 2 5 2 1 0 0 0 0 0

a) Find rank(A) and dim(Null(A)).

Solution: rank(A) = 3 and dim(Null(A)) = 5 − 3 = 2

b) Find a basis for Row(A).

     

 1 0 0 

0  1  0

      


Solution: A basis for Row(A) is 1 ,  1  , 0
    




0  0  1 

 1 −2 1 

c) Find a basis for Null(A).

   

 −1 −1 
−1   2 


   

Solution: A basis for Null(A) is  1  ,  0 
  


  0  −1 

 0 
1 

d) Find a basis for Col(A).

     

 3 1 2 
     
5  2  3

Solution: A basis for Col(A) is  , ,
2 −1 3

 
 3 2 2 

e) Find a matrix B such that Null(A) = Col(B).

 
−1 −1
−1 2 
 
Solution: We can take B = 
 1 0 .

 0 −1
0 1
2

2. Let U, V, W be finite dimensional vector spaces over R and let L : V → U and M : U →

W be linear mappings.
a) Prove that rank(M ◦ L) ≤ rank(M ).
Solution: Since the rank of a linear mapping is equal to the dimension of the range, we
consider the range of both mappings. Observe that every vector of the form (M ◦ L)(~x) =
M (L(~x)) can be written as M (~y ) for some ~y ∈ U . Thus, the range of M ◦ L is a subspace
of the range of M . Hence, the dimension of the range of M ◦ L must be less than or equal
to the dimension of the range of M which is the desired result.

b) Prove that rank(M ◦ L) ≤ rank(L).

Solution: The null space of L is a subspace of the nullspace of M ◦ L, because if L(~x) = ~0,
then certainly (M ◦ L)(~x) = ~0. Therefore
nullity(L) ≤ nullity(M ◦ L),
so
n − nullity(L) ≥ n − nullity(M ◦ L).
Hence rank(L) ≥ rank(M ◦ L), by the dimension theorem.

c) Prove that if M is invertible, then rank(M ◦ L) = rank L.

Solution: Since M is invertible, its nullspace is {~0}. Suppose that the rank of L is r. Let
{~v1 , . . . , ~vr } be a basis for the range of L. Since ~vi = L(~xi ) for some ~xi ∈ V , M (~vi ) =
M (L(~xi )) is in the range of M ◦ L. Thus the set S = {M (~v1 ), . . . , M (~vr )} is in the range
of M ◦ L and we have
c1 M (~v1 ) + · · · + cr M (~vr ) = ~0
M (c1~v1 + · · · + cr~vr ) = ~0 since M is linear
c1~v1 + · · · + cr~vr = ~0 since the nullspace of M is {~0}.
Hence c1 = · · · = cr = 0 is the only solution and so S is linearly independent. Thus, the
rank of rank(M ◦ L) ≥ r = rank(L). Also, by b) we know that rank(M ◦ L) ≤ rank(L),
hence rank(M ◦ L) = rank(L) as required.
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3. Let T : V → W be a linear mapping and let {~v1 , . . . , ~vr , ~vr+1 , . . . , ~vn } be a basis for V
such that {~vr+1 , . . . , ~vn } is a basis for Null(T ). Prove that {T (~v1 ), . . . , T (~vr )} is a basis
for the range of T .
Solution: Consider any element w ~ in the range of T . Then w~ = T (~v ) for some ~v ∈ V . Since
B = {~v1 , . . . , ~vr , ~vr+1 , . . . , ~vn } is a basis for V there exists coefficients c1 , . . . , cn such that
~ = T (c1~v1 + · · · + cr~vr + cr+1~vr+1 + · · · + cn~vn )
w
= c1 T (~v1 ) + · · · + cr T (~vr ) + cr+1 T (~vr+1 ) + · · · + cn T (~vn )
= c1 T (~v1 ) + · · · + cr T (~vr ) + ~0
Thus, {T (~v1 ), . . . , T (~vr )} is a spanning set for the range of T .

Since rank(T ) = n − nullity(T ) = n − (n − r) = r, it follows that {T (~v1 ), . . . , T (~vr )} is a

basis for the range of T .