Linear Algebra : Operations and Properties

Study concepts, example questions & explanations for Linear Algebra

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Example Questions

Example Question #38 : The Transpose

Which of the following is equal to ?

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

 is the transpose of  - the result of interchanging the rows of  with its columns.  is the conjugate transpose of  - the result of changing each entry of  to its complex conjugate. Therefore, if 

,

we can find  by simply changing each entry in  to its complex conjugate:

Example Question #39 : The Transpose

True or false:  is an upper triangular matrix.

Possible Answers:

True

False

Correct answer:

True

Explanation:

 is the result of interchanging rows of  with columns, then changing each entry to its complex conjugate. Also,  is equal to , so perform the same process on :

A matrix is upper triangular if all elements below its main (upper-left corner to lower right corner) diagonal are equal to 0. These elements in  are displayed in red above. Since all of the lower-triangular elements of  are zeroes,  is upper triangular.

Example Question #32 : The Transpose

Determine .

Possible Answers:

is undefined.

Correct answer:

is undefined.

Explanation:

is a two-by-three matrix. It follows that its transpose, , the result of switching rows with columns, is a three-by-two matrix. Since and have different dimensions, is an undefined expression.

Example Question #61 : Operations And Properties

True or false; The set of all  symmetric matrices is a subspace of all matrices. 

Possible Answers:

False

True

Correct answer:

True

Explanation:

Without being too abstract, it is easy to convince oneself that this is true. We have to check the 3 criteria for a subspace.

1. Closure under vector addition

Adding together two symmetric matrices will always result in another symmetric matrix.

2. Closure under scalar multiplication.

Multiplying a symmetric matrix by a scalar will also always give you another symmetric matrix

3. The zero vector (matrix in this case) is also in the subset

Indeed the zero vector itself is a symmetric matrix.

Example Question #1 : Symmetric Matrices

Which matrix is symmetric?

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

A symmetric matrix is symmetrical across the main diagonal. The numbers in the main diagonal can be anything, but the numbers in corresponding places on either side must be the same. In the correct answer, the matching numbers are the 3's, the -2's, and the 5's.

Example Question #62 : Operations And Properties

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

Example Question #3 : Symmetric Matrices

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

Example Question #4 : Symmetric Matrices

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

Example Question #1 : Symmetric Matrices

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

Example Question #6 : Symmetric Matrices

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

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