LINEAR ALGEBRA QUESTION BANK

(1) (12 points total) Circle True or False:

TRUE / FALSE: If A is any n × n matrix, and In is the n × n identity
matrix, then In A = AIn = A.

TRUE / FALSE: If A, B are n × n matrices, then the inverse of AB is

A−1 B −1 .

TRUE / FALSE: If A, B are n × n matrices, then (A + B)−1 = A−1 +

B −1 . (Hint: is this true for numbers?)

TRUE / FALSE: The Reduced Row Echelon Form of a matrix is unique.

TRUE / FALSE: If A and B are both 2×3 matrices, then their product
AB is defined.

TRUE / FALSE: If A and B are both 2 × 3 matrices, then the product

AB T is defined.

(2) True or false: If a system of equations has more than one solution, it has
infinitely many solutions.

(a) True
(b) False

(3) True or false: If a system of equations is consistent, then it cannot have

any free variables.

(a) True
(b) False

(4) True or false: Let A be a 2 × 3 matrix. Then N ul(A) is a subspace of R2 .

(a) True
(b) False

(5) True or false: Let A be a 2 × 3 matrix. Then Col(A) is a subspace of R2 .

(a) True
(b) False
1
2 LINEAR ALGEBRA QUESTION BANK

(6) True or false: If V is a vector space of dimension d, and {v1 , . . . , vd } are d

different vectors in V , then they must form a basis.

(a) True
(b) False

(7) True or false: If V is a subspace of Rn , then every basis for V must have
the same number of vectors.

(a) True
(b) False

(8) True or false: If V is a vector space of dimension d, and {v1 , . . . , vd } are d

linearly independent vectors in V , then they must span V .

(a) True
(b) False

 
2 3 1 −1 0
(9) What is the dimension of the null space Nul(A) of A = 0 0 4 2 0?
0 0 0 0 0
A. 1
B. 2
C. 3
D. 5
 
2 3 1 −1 0
(10) What is the dimension of the column space Col(A) of A = 0 0 4 2 0?
0 0 0 0 0
A. 1
B. 2
C. 3
D. 5
 
2 3 1 −1 0
(11) What is the dimension of the left null space Nul(AT ) of A = 0 0 4 2 0?
0 0 0 0 0
A. 1
B. 2
C. 3
D. 5
 LINEAR ALGEBRA QUESTION BANK 3

 
2 3 1 −1 0
(12) What is the dimension of the row space Col(AT ) of A = 0 0 4 2 0?
0 0 0 0 0
A. 1
B. 2
C. 3
D. 5
4 LINEAR ALGEBRA QUESTION BANK

For questions 5 and 6: Suppose

 
1 −3 1 −2
A = 0 1 −1 1
1 −1 −1 0
and its reduced echelon form is
 
1 0 −2 1
U = 0 1 −1 1
0 0 0 0
(13) Which of these is a basis for Col(A)?

       
 1 −3 1 −2 
A. 0 ,  1  , −1 ,  1 
1 −1 −1 0
 
   
 1 0 
B. 0 , 1
0 0
 

   
 1 −3 
C. 0 ,  1 
1 −1
 
     
 1 1 −2 
D. 0 , −1 ,  1 
1 −1 0
 

(14) Which of these is a basis for Col(AT )?

     
 1
 0 1 

 −3  1  −1
A. Span  , , 
  −1 −1
 1
 
−2 1 0
 
   

 1 0 
   
0 1

B. Span   ,  


 −2 −1  
1 1
 
     

 1 0 1 
     
−3 1 −1

C.  , , 
 1  −1 −1

 
−2 1 0
 
   

 1 0 
   
 , 1 
0

D.


−2   −1 


1 1
 
 LINEAR ALGEBRA QUESTION BANK 5

(15) The matrix for

 a 90◦ counterclockwise rotation in the x-y plane is
0 1
A.
1 0
 
0 −1
B.
−1 0
 
0 −1
C.
1 0
 
0 1
D.
−1 0

(16) Let L be the linear transformation from P2 to P2 given by

L(p(t)) = 2p0 (t) + 3p(t)
and let B = {1, t, t2 } be the standard basis for P2 . Then the coordinate
matrix A representing L with input and output basis B is:
 
3 0 0
A. 2 3 0
0 4 3
 
2 3 0
B. 0 2 6
0 0 2
 
3 2 0
C. 0 3 4
0 0 3
 
2 0 0
D. 3 2 0
0 6 2
6 LINEAR ALGEBRA QUESTION BANK

(17) For every m × n matrix A, the orthogonal complement of Col(A) in Rm is

Nul(A).
A. True
B. F alse

(18) For every m × n matrix A, the sum of the dimensions of Nul(AT ) and
Col(A) is equal to m.
A. T rue
B. False

(19) If V is a 6-dimensional vector space, and v1 , . . . , vm is a basis for V , then

m must be equal to 6.
A. T rue
B. False

(20) If V is a 6-dimensional vector space, and v1 , . . . , v6 are six vectors in V ,

then they must form a basis of V .
A. True
B. F alse

(21) If V is a 6-dimensional subspace of R10 , then the orthogonal complement

V ⊥ must be 4-dimensional.
A. T rue
B. False

(22) If V is a 3-dimensional subspace of R7 , and v1 , v2 , and v3 are three linearly

independent vectors in V , then they also span V .
A. T rue
B. False

(23) If V and W are subspaces of Rn , and W ⊥ = V , then V ⊥ = W .

A. T rue
B. False
 LINEAR ALGEBRA QUESTION BANK 7

(24) Suppose A = [a1 . . . a4 ] and B = [b1 . . . b4 ] are two 4 × 4 matrices so that

 
1 1 2 3
1 2 4 6
AB = 
1
.
3 6 9
1 4 8 12

What is Ab2 ? That is, what is A times the second column of B?

   
1 1
2 2
4 (b) 3 (c) Not enough information to tell.
(a)    

6 4

(25) Let
 
0 1 1
A = 0 5 2 .
6 1 2

For which permutation matrix P does P A have an LU decomposition?

     
1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1
(a) P = 0 1 0 (b) P = 1 0 0 (c) P = 0 1 0
0 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 0

(26) Suppose A is a matrix with LU decomposition:

  
1 0 1 2
A=
2 1 0 1
 
1
If b = , the LU method for Ax = b gives
1
   
3 7
(a) c = ,x= .
1 3
   
−1 3
(b) c = ,x= .
1
   −1
1 7
(c) c = ,x= .
3
  3 
1 3
(d) c = ,x= .
−1 −1

(27) What is the inverse of the matrix

 
1 0 0
A = 2 1 0?
0 0 1
8 LINEAR ALGEBRA QUESTION BANK

     
1 −2 0 1 0 0 1 0 0
(a) A−1 = 0 1 0 (b) A−1 = −2 1 0 (c) A−1 = 0 1 0
0 0 1 0 0 1 0 −2 1

(28) Suppose A is a 3 × 3 matrix so that

           
1 1 3 0 2 0
A 4 = 0 , A 1 = 1 , and A 1 = 0 .
2 0 0 0 7 1

What is the first column of A−1 ?

       
1 1 3 2
(a) 3 (b) 4 (c) 1 (d) 1 (e) Not enough information to tell
2 2 0 7

(29) Suppose A and B are invertible 3 × 3 matrices, with inverses

   
1 0 0 1 0 0
A−1 = −2 1 0 and B −1 = 0 1 0
0 0 1 0 5 1

What is (AB)−1 ?
       
1 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0
(a) 2 1 0 (b)  2 1 0 (c) −2 1 0 (d)  −2 1 0
0 −5 1 −10 −5 1 0 5 1 −10 5 1

(30) Which of the following are subspaces of P2 , the vector space of polynomials
with degreeat most 2:
• W1 = a0 + a1 t + a2 t2 : a0 = 1, and a1 , a2 ∈ R
• W2 = a0 + a1 t + a2 t2 : a1 = 1, and a0 , a2 ∈ R
• W3 = a0 + a1 t + a2 t2 : a1 = 0, and a0 , a2 ∈ R
• W4 = {at + b(t − 1) : a, b ∈ R}

(a) W3 only
(b) W4 only
(c) W3 and W4 only
(d) W1 and W2 only
(e) All four are subspaces

(31) Which of the

following
 are subspaces of the
 indicated vector space?
 a 
• W1 =  b  : a − 2b = c, 4a + 2c = 1 ⊆ R3
c
 
 LINEAR ALGEBRA QUESTION BANK 9

  

 a−b 

c
  
• W2 =   : a, b, c ∈ R ⊆ R4

 a+c  

a − 2b − c
 
  
a
• W3 = : a · b ≥ 0 ⊆ R2
b
  
a
• W4 = : a + b ≤ 1 ⊆ R2
2 2
b

(a) W2 only
(b) W1 and W2 only
(c) W2 and W3 only
(d) All four are subspaces

(32) Suppose
   
∗ ∗ ∗ ∗ ∗ ∗ ∗ ∗
A = ∗ ∗ ∗ ∗ and B = ∗ ∗ ∗ ∗
∗ ∗ ∗ ∗ ∗ ∗ ∗ ∗
are 3 × 4 matrices, and b is a vector in both Col(A) and Col(B). Suppose
also that
 
 1 

 
0

N ul(A) = {0} and N ul(B) = span 
1
 
0
 

Which of the following is true?

(a) Ax = b has a unique solution, but Bx = b does not.

(b) Bx = b has a unique solution, but Ax = b does not.
(c) Both Ax = b and Ax = b have unique solutions.
(d) Neither Ax = b nor Ax = b have unique solutions.

(33) Let  
1 3
A=
−2 −6
Which of the
 following are in Col(A)?
0
• v1 =
0 
4
• v2 =
−12
 
1
• v3 =
0 
1
• v4 =
−2

(a) v4 only
(b) v1 and v4 only
10 LINEAR ALGEBRA QUESTION BANK

(c) v2 and v4 only

(d) v1 , v2 and v4 only
(e) v1 , v2 , v3 and v4

(34) Which of 
the
 following
   sets
 of vectors are linearly independent?
 4 6 
• A = −2 , −3
6 9
 
       
4 6 1 −2
• B= , , ,
−2 0
     1 3
 4 6 0 
• C = −2 , 2 , 0
 6  1  0
 

 −1
 5 −1  
0  −5  1 
     
• D =  , ,
 
 4
 0 3 
2 10 −11
 

(a) None of them are linearly independent

(b) D only
(c) A and D only
(d) B and D only
(e) C and D only

(35) True or false: If the columns of a matrix A are linearly independent, then
the rows of A must also be linearly independent.

(a) True
(b) False

(36) True or false: The dimension of N ul(A) must be equal to the number of
zero rows at the bottom of an echelon form of A.

(a) True
(b) False

(37) True or false: For every matrix A, with echelon form U , the row space
Col(AT ) must be equal to the row space Col(U T ).

(a) True
(b) False

(38) True or false: If the columns of a matrix A are linearly independent, then
N ul(A) must be {0}.

(a) True
 LINEAR ALGEBRA QUESTION BANK 11

(b) False

(39) True or false: For every matrix A, the column space Col(A) and null space
N ul(A) are orthogonal complements.

(a) True
(b) False

(40) True or false: For every matrix A, the row space Col(AT ) and the null
space N ul(A) are orthogonal complements.

(a) True
(b) False

(41) True or false: Every orthonormal basis is an orthogonal basis.

(a) True
(b) False

(42) True or false: If B = {v1 , . . . , vn } is any basis for Rn , and w is another

vector, then the projections of w onto each of the vectors v1 , . . . , vn must
sum back to w.

(a) True
(b) False

(43) True of false: If A and B are two bases for Rn , and IBA is the change of
basis matrix for input basis A and output basis B, then
vB = IBA vA
n
for any vector v ∈ R .

(a) True
(b) False

(44) True or False: If a square matrix A has an eigenbasis, then A must be

invertible.

(a) True
(b) False

(45) True or False: For all square matrices A and B, det(A + B) = det(A) +
det(B).

(a) True
12 LINEAR ALGEBRA QUESTION BANK

(b) False

(46) True or False: If Q is an orthogonal matrix, then det(Q) must be equal to

1.

(a) True
(b) False

(47) True or False: If A has an orthogonal basis of eigenvectors, then A must

be symmetric.

(a) True
(b) False

(48) True or False: In a discrete dynamical system with transition matrix A, if

all eigenvalues of A have absolute value smaller than 1, then lim vn = 0
n→∞
for every orbit v0 , v1 , v2 , . . .. (You may assume that A has a basis of
eigenvectors.)

(a) True
(b) False

 
1 0 a 0
0 1 b 0
(49) The determinant of the matrix A = 
0 0
 is:
c 0
0 0 d 1
A. abcd
B. a
C. b
D. −c
E. c  
0 0 0 1
0 0 1 0
(50) The determinant of A = 
0
 is:
1 0 0
1 0 0 0
A. −1
B. 0
C. 1
D. 2  
0 0 0 0 0 1
0 0 0 0 1 0
 
0 0 0 1 0 0
(51) The determinant of A = 
0
 is:
 0 1 0 0 0
0 1 0 0 0 0
1 0 0 0 0 0
 LINEAR ALGEBRA QUESTION BANK 13

A. −1
B. 0
C. 1
D. 2  
1 1 4
(52) The determinant of A = 2 2 5 is:
3 3 6
A. −1
B. 0
C. 1
D. 2

For questions 5, 6, 7 and 8: Let P2 be the vector space of polynomials

of degree 2 or less, so vectors have the form f = a0 + a1 t + a2 t2 . Consider
the inner product
Z 1
hf, gi := f (t)g(t)dt.
0

R1 1 2
|10 = 12 .


For example h1, ti = 0
1 · t dt = 2t

(53) If f (t) = t, then the length (or norm) kf k is

A. 1/2
√
B. 1/ 2
C. 1/3
√
D. 1/ 3

(54) Let f (t) = t and g(t) = t2 − 43 t. What is the inner product hf, gi?
A. 1/2
B. −3/4
C. 0
√
D. 1/ 2

(55) If V = Span(f ) = Span(t), and g(t) = t2 − 43 t, then the projection ĝ of g

onto V is
A. t2
B. − 34 t
C. 0
D. t2 − 34 t

(56) Still letting V = Span(f ) = Span(t) and g(t) = t2 − 43 t, the projection g ⊥

of g onto V ⊥ is
14 LINEAR ALGEBRA QUESTION BANK

A. t2
B. − 34 t
C. 0
D. t2 − 34 t
 LINEAR ALGEBRA QUESTION BANK 15

(57) Which of the following vectors is an eigenvector for the matrix

 
2 1
0 21
with eigenvalue 12 ?
 
1
A.
0
 
0
B.
1
 2
−3
C.
1
 
1
D. 2
3

(58) What is the determinant of

 
2 2 4
6 5 0?
0 1 3
A. 18
B. −8
C. 22
D. −4
E. 30

(59) Is 1 an eigenvalue of the matrix

 
3 2 4
6 6 0?
0 1 4
(Hint: Compare to the previous problem.)

A. Yes
B. No
16 LINEAR ALGEBRA QUESTION BANK

 
0 −1
(60) Suppose A is a matrix with real entries, such as . Then the eigen-
1 0
values of A must be real.

A. True
B. False

   
1 0
(61) Let A be a 3×3 matrix so that A  1  = 0. Then A must have non-zero
−1 0
determinant.

A. True
B. False

(62) Consider the matrix

 
1 1 1
A = 1 1 −1
2 −1 0
Then A−1 is equal to AT .

A. True
B. False

   
1 −1
(63) Suppose A is a 2×2 matrix and it has a basis of eigenvectors and .
1 1
Then A must be symmetric.

A. True
B. False

   
1 1
(64) Suppose A is a 2 × 2 matrix and it has a basis of eigenvectors and .
1 0
Then A must be symmetric.

A. True
B. False

(65) Suppose A is a 3 × 3 matrix with eigenvalues 0, 2 and 7. Then

(a) A must be invertible

(b) A must be non-invertible
(c) Not enough information to tell
 LINEAR ALGEBRA QUESTION BANK 17

 
1
(66) Suppose A is a 3 × 3 matrix so that 4 is an eigenvector with eigenvalue
  2  
0 1
3 and 1 is an eigenvector with eigenvalue 2. What is A 5?
0 3
 
1
(a) 5
2 
3
(b) 14
6
(c) Not enough information to tell.

 
 2 
(67) Which matrix has exactly two eigenspaces: Span 1 corresponding to
0
 
 
 0 
λ = 3 and Span 0 corresponding to λ = 2?
1
 

       
3 0 0 5 −4 0 5 −4 0 3 0 0
(a) 0 3 0 (b) 1 1 0 (c) 1 1 0 (d) 0 3 0 (e) None of the above.
0 0 3 0 0 2 0 0 4 0 0 2

(68) Which of the following statements are true?

A. If M is a 4 × 4 matrix with eigenvalues 1, 2, 3 and 4, then M must
have an eigenbasis.
B. If M is a 4 × 4 symmetric matrix with eigenvalues 1, 2, 3 and 3, then
M must have an eigenbasis.

(a) Both A and B are true

(b) A is true but B is false
(c) B is true but A is false
(d) Neither A nor B is true

(69) Suppose A is a 
5 × 5symmetric matrix, and 1 is an eigenvalue with

 3 

0

 
 
eigenspace Span 1 . Suppose the only other eigenvalue of A is 2.
 
2 
 
 

 
0
 
What are the possible dimensions of the eigenspace of 2?

(a) 0 only
18 LINEAR ALGEBRA QUESTION BANK

(b) 1 only
(c) 0, 1, 2, 3, or 4 only
(d) 1, 2, 3 or 4 only
(e) 4 only

(70) Suppose A is a 2 × 2 matrix,

 
a b
A=
c d
 
2
and that v = is an eigenvector with eigenvalue 2. Is v also an eigen-
3
vector of the matrix 2A, and if so, what is its eigenvalue?

(a) v is not necessarily an eigenvector of 2A.

(b) v must be an eigenvector of 2A, with eigenvalue 1/2
(c) v must be an eigenvector of 2A, with eigenvalue 2
(d) v must be an eigenvector of 2A, with eigenvalue 4

(71) Suppose Q is an m × n matrix with orthonormal columns, and m > n.

Which of the following statements must be true?
A. QQT = Im , where Im is the m × m identity matrix.
B. QT Q = In , where In is the n × n identity matrix.

(a) Both A and B are true

(b) A is true but B is false
(c) B is true but A is false
(d) Both A and B are false

If f and g are functions defined on [0, 4π] we define their dot product to be
Z 4π
hf, gi = f (x)g(x) dx.
0
For numbers 13 and 14 below, consider the functions

1 x ∈ [0, π)
f (x) = , g(x) = sin x.
0 x ∈ [π, 4π]
(72) What is the dot product hf, gi?

(a) 2π
(b) π
(c) 2
(d) 1
(e) 0

(73) Note that hg, gi = 2π. What is the sin x term of the Fourier series for f ?
In other words, the orthogonal projection of f onto g?
 LINEAR ALGEBRA QUESTION BANK 19

(a) 2 sin x
(b) π1 sin x
(c) √12π sin x
q
2
(d) π sin x
(e) 0

 
1 0 0 0
0 1 0 0
(74) The determinant of the matrix A = 
−3
 is:
0 1 0
0 0 0 1

(a) 3
(b) -3
(c) 1
(d) -1
(e) 0

(75) If A is a square matrix and det(A) = 5, then det(2A) must be

(a) 5
(b) 10
(c) 25
(d) 40
(e) Not enough information to tell.

   
2 0
(76) If A is a 3 × 3 matrix and A  0  = 0 then det(A) must be
−1 0

(a) 0
(b) 1
(c) -1
(d) 2
(e) Not enough information to tell.

 
1 2
(77) The eigenvalues of the matrix A = are:
3 6

(a) 1 and 0
(b) 1 and 6
(c) 2 and 3
(d) 3.5 and -3.5
(e) 0 and 7
20 LINEAR ALGEBRA QUESTION BANK

(78) If f : R2 → R is a twice-differentiable function,

 with a critical point at 0,
2 −1
and its Hessian matrix at this point is H = then
−1 3

(a) f must have a local minimum at 0

(b) f must have a local maximum at 0
(c) f cannot have a local minimum or maximum at 0
(d) Not enough information to tell

(79) True or False: If A and B are two invertible n × n matrices, then

(AB)−1 = B −1 A−1 .
(a) True
(b) False

(80) True or False: If A, B and C are three n × n matrices, then

(ABC)2 = A2 B 2 C 2 .
(a) True
(b) False

(81) True or False: Every invertible n × n matrix A can be written as a product

of elementary matrices:
A = E1 E2 · · · Er
(a) True
(b) False

(82) True or False: If E is an elementary matrix, then E −1 is also an elementary

matrix.

(a) True
(b) False

(83) True or False: If A is an n × n matrix and the columns of A are linearly

independent, then A is invertible.

(a) True
(b) False

       
a c a b
(84) True or False: If and are linearly independent, then and
b d c d
must be linearly independent.

(a) True
(b) False
 LINEAR ALGEBRA QUESTION BANK 21

(85) True or False: If A is an m × n matrix and an echelon form U has a bottom

row consisting entirely of zeroes, then the columns of A must be linearly
dependent.

(a) True
(b) False

(86) True or False: If A is an m × n matrix and an echelon form U has a bottom

row consisting entirely of zeroes, then the columns of A do not span all of
Rm .

(a) True
(b) False

(87) True or False: If V is a vector space of dimension n, and v1 , . . . , vn are

n different vectors that together span V , then they must also be linearly
independent.

(a) True
(b) False

(88) True or False: If v and w are perpendicular vectors in R2 , then the dot
product v · w must be zero.

(a) True
(b) False

(89) True or False: If A is an m × n matrix, then the column space Col(A) and
the left null space Nul(AT ) are orthogonal complements.

(a) True
(b) False

(90) True or False: If v and w are vectors in Rn , w is in the span of v, and if

ŵ is the projection of w onto v, then
Span{v, w} = Span{v, ŵ}
(a) True
(b) False

(91) True or False: If v and w are vectors in Rn , w is not in the span of v, and
if w⊥ is the projection of w onto the orthogonal complement of Span{v},
then
Span{v, w} = Span{v, w⊥ }
(a) True
22 LINEAR ALGEBRA QUESTION BANK

(b) False

(92) True or False: For every square matrix A, both A and AT have the same
determinant.

(a) True
(b) False

(93) True or False: Rearranging the rows of A does not change its determinant.

(a) True
(b) False

(94) True or False: If A is a square matrix, then its null space Nul(A) is also
one of the eigenspaces of A.

(a) True
(b) False

(95) True or False: Every square matrix A has a diagonalization A = P DP −1 ,

where D is a diagonal matrix.

(a) True
(b) False

(96) True or False: If A is symmetric, then all its eigenvalues must be real.

(a) True
(b) False

(97) True or False: If f is a twice-differentiable function with a critical point at

0, and every entry in its Hessian matrix H is positive, then f must have a
local minimum at 0.

(a) True
(b) False

(98) True or False: If A is a Markov matrix, then A must have λ = 1 as an

eigenvalue.

(a) True
(b) False
 LINEAR ALGEBRA QUESTION BANK 23

(99) Let   
 2a + 3b 
V =  2c  : a, b, c ∈ R
3a + c
 
Which of the following is a basis for V ?
     
 2 3 0 
(a) 0 , 0 , 2
3 0 1
 
     
 2 3 0 
(b) Span 0 , 0 , 2
3 0 1
 

(100) The matrix A can be put into Echelon form using the following row oper-
ations:
     
1 0 3 1 0 3 1 0 3
R2→R2+3R1 R3→R3−2R1
A = −3 4 −7 −−−−−−−−−→ 0 4 2 −−−−−−−−−→ 0 4 2 
2 4 5 2 4 5 0 4 −1
 
1 0 3
R3→R3−R2
−−−−−−−−→ 0 4 2  = U
0 0 −3
What is the matrix L in the LU decomposition of A corresponding to the
above U ?
       
1 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0
(a)  3 1 0 (b)  3 1 0 (c) −3 1 0 (d) −3 1 0
−2 −1 1 −5 −1 1 −1 1 1 2 1 1

   
1 0
(101) Suppose A is a 3 × 3 matrix with A 3 = 0. Is A invertible?

2 0

(a) Yes
(b) No
(c) Not enough information to tell

   
1 1
(102) Suppose A is a 3 × 3 matrix with A 3 = 3. Is A invertible?
2 2

(a) Yes
(b) No
(c) Not enough information to tell
24 LINEAR ALGEBRA QUESTION BANK

 
3 2
(103) Select the inverse of :
1 2
       
2 −2 1 2 −2 −3 1 1 −3 1
(a) (b) (c) (d)
−1 3 4 −1 3 2 −2 4 2 −2

(104) Suppose A is a 3 × 3 matrix with columns v1 , v2 and v3 :

 
| | |
A = v1 v2 v3 
| | |
 
 2 
and Nul(A) = Span −3 . Are the columns of A linearly dependent,
1
 
and if so, what is a nontrivial dependence relation between them?

(a) The columns of A are linearly independent

(b) The columns of A are linearly dependent and a dependence relation is
0v1 + 0v2 + 0v3 = 0
(c) The columns of A are linearly dependent and a dependence relation is
4v1 − 6v2 + 2v3 = 0
(d) The columns of A are linearly dependent, but neither of the above
options is a nontrivial dependence relation

(105) Which of the following are subspaces of the indicated vector space:
2
A. If A is a 2 × 2 matrix, {x | Ax = 3x},
 as a subset of R
2
B. If A is a 2 × 2 matrix, {x | Ax = }, as a subset of R2
0

(a) Only A is a subspace

(b) Only B is a subspace
(c) Both A and B are subspaces
(d) Neither A nor B are subspaces

(106) The matrix

 
98 −225 −309 13
 56 −114 −162 22 
A=
 
−14 21 33 −13
14 −27 −39 7
has Echelon form
 
7 1 −5 18
0 1 1 1
U =
0
.
0 0 0
0 0 0 0
 LINEAR ALGEBRA QUESTION BANK 25

Which of the following is a basis for the column space of A?

   

 98 −225 

56  −114
A.   ,  

 −14  21  
 14 −27
 
   

 7 1 
   
0 1

B.   ,  


 0 0  
0 0
 
       

 98 −225 −309 13  
 , −114 , −162 ,  22 
56 
      
C. 
 −14
   21   33  −13

14 −27 −39 7
 

(a) A only
(b) B only
(c) A and B only
(d) A and C only

(107) If A is a 3 × 6 matrix of rank 2, then Nul(A) has dimension

(a) 0
(b) 1
(c) 2
(d) 3
(e) 4

(108) The matrix

 
2 3 3 4
A = 4 6 6 8
2 5 7 7
has Echelon form
 
2 3 3 4
U = 0 2 4 3 .
0 0 0 0

Which of the following are a basis for Col(AT )?

   

 2 4 
   
3  , 6

A. 


 3  6 


  8
4
 

 2 0 
   
3  , 2

B. 3 4

 
4 3
 
26 LINEAR ALGEBRA QUESTION BANK

     
 2
 4 2 

3 6 5
C.   ,   ,  
    

 3 6 7

4 8 7
 

(a) A only
(b) B only
(c) A and B only
(d) A and C only

(109) For every 5 × 5 matrix A, if

dim Col(AT ) = 3,
then the multiplicity of the eigenvalue λ = 0 of A

(a) must be 2.
(b) must be 3.
(c) can be either 0, 1, or 2.
(d) can be either 3, 4, or 5.
(e) can be either 2, 3, 4, or 5.

(110) Which of the following maps T : R2 → R2 are linear?

   
x x+1
A. T =
y x+1
   
x 2x − 3y
B. T =
y x
   
x x
C. T = 2
y y
D. Rotation by an angle of α about the origin

(a) A, B, C, and D
(b) A, B, and D only
(c) B and D only
(d) A and B only
(e) None of the above

(111) Suppose f : P1 → P1 is a linear map that has matrix

 
2 −1
A=
1 0
with respect to input and output bases {1, t}. What is f (1 + 3t)?
 
5
(a)
3
 
−1
(b)
1
(c) 3 + 5t
 LINEAR ALGEBRA QUESTION BANK 27

(d) −1 + t

(112) Let L be the linear transformation from P2 to P2 given by

L(p(t)) = p0 (t) + 4p(t)
and let B = {1, t, t2 } be the standard basis for P2 . Then the coordinate
matrix LBB representing L with respect to input and output basis B is:
       
1 0 0 4 0 0 4 1 0 1 4 0
(a) 4 1 0 (b) 1 4 0 (c) 0 4 2 (d) 0 1 8 (e) None of the above.
0 8 1 0 2 4 0 0 4 0 0 1

   
1 1
2 −1
(113) Given v = 
2 and w =  1  what is the projection of v onto w?
  

4 1
       
1 −1 1 1
−1  13  5 −1
  2
(a) 45 
1
 (b) 14 
 3  (c)

2  1  (d) 51 
2 (e) None of the above


1 11 1 4

(114) If B = {v1 , v2 , v3 , v4 } is an orthogonal basis of R4 and W = Span{v1 , v2 },

then the coordinate matrix PBB representing the projection map onto W
with input and output basis B is:
     
1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0
0 0 0 0 (b) 0 0 0 0 (c) 0 0 1 0 (d) None of the above
(a)      

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1

 
    
 1 1 1 
(115) Consider the orthonormal basis B = √12 −1 , √13 1 , √16  1  of
 0 1 −2
 
1
R3 . What are the coordinates of the vector 0 in this basis?
0
 1 
√
     
1 1 1/2
√1 −1
 √12 
(a) 1 (b) 2
(c) 1/3
  (d)  3 
1 0 1/6 √1
6

(116) If V is a 13 dimensional subspace of R20 , then the dimension of V ⊥ must

be
28 LINEAR ALGEBRA QUESTION BANK

(a) 0
(b) 7
(c) 13
(d) 20

(117) If A is the edge-node incidence matrix for the graph

2
1 > 4
1 5

>

>
>
4
3
2 > 3

then the dimension of Nul(A) is

(a) 0
(b) 1
(c) 2
(d) 4
(e) 5

(118) Consider the three row vectors aT , bT , cT , where a, b, c ∈ R3 . Let

aT
 

A= bT 
cT
be a matrix with determinant 3. What is the determinant of the matrix
2aT
 

B= 2aT + 2cT ?

T T
2b + 10c

(a) -6
(b) 6
(c) -24
(d) 24

      
2 3 5 2 3 1
(119) If A and B are bases, and IBA = , then the equation =
1 4 5 1 4 1
means:
   
1 5
(a) If v has A-coordinates , then it has B-coordinates .
1
  5
1 5
(b) If v has B-coordinates , then it has A-coordinates .
  1   5
1 5
(c) If v = , then it has B-coordinates .
1 5
 LINEAR ALGEBRA QUESTION BANK 29

   
1 5
(d) If v = , then it has A-coordinates .
1 5