MATH 312 - Spring 2012

Midterm Exam I

You may use one 35 notecard while you take this exam. No calculators, no course notes, no books,
no phones, no help from your neighbors. Show all work, even on multiple choice or short answer
questionsI will be grading as much on the basis of work shown as on the end result. Remember
to put your name at the top of this page. Good luck.

Problem

Score (out of )

(12)

(12)

(12)

(10)

(8)

(10)

(6)

Total

(70)

1. (12 points) No partial credit.

(a) True or False: Every linear transformation L : R2 R3 is one-to-one.

(b) True or False: Any set of distinct vectors {~v1 , ~v2 , . . . , ~vn } in Rm with n < m is linearly
independent.

(c) True or False: The polynomials x and x 2/3 are orthogonal with respect to the inner product
given by
Z
1

hp(x), q(x)i =

p(x)q(x) dx
0

(d) True or False: If matrices A and B commute and are both skew symmetric, AB is symmetric.

(e) True or False: If A is m n and ~x Rm satisfies AT ~x = ~0, then ~x is orthogonal to every

column of A.

(f) True or False: If ~x1 and ~x2 are solutions of A~x = ~b (for some ~b 6= ~0), then ~x1 + ~x2 is a solution
as well.

2. (12 points) Suppose that A and B are symmetric n n matrices, and that C is a skew-symmetric
n n matrix. For each of the following matrices, specify whether it is always symmetric, always
skew-symmetric, neither, or both.
(a) A + B

(d) AC

(b) (A B)(A + B)

(e) A + C

(c) AB BA

(f) C 2

3. Consider the matrix

"
A=

1
0

4
3

"
(b) (3 points) Let S be the 2 2 matrix that maps ~e1 to ~e1 and ~e2 to

1
1

#
. Compute S 1 .

(c) (3 points) Compute S 1 AS.

(d) (6 points) What is A10 ? Note: you may leave numerical answers in exact forme.g. leave 310
as it is, instead of actually trying to compute it...

4. (a) (6 points) For the matrix A below, determine

~b = (2, 5, 1). If there is, give at least one.

1 0

A= 2 1
3 1

whether there is a solution to A~x = ~b, where

0
1

(b) (4 points) Under what conditions on the vector ~b = (b1 , b2 , b3 ) is there a solution to the equation
A~x = ~b, with A the matrix from part (a)?

5. An affine transformation T : R2 R2 is a map of the form

T (~x) = A~x + ~b
where A is 2 2 and ~b R2 essentially a linear transformation followed by a shift.
(a) (5 points) Find an affine transformation T that brings about the following transformation of the
figure I, matching the indicated points.

(b) (3 points) Prove or disprove: T is a linear transformation.

6. (10 points) Choose vectors from the set

0
1
2
0

0 , 1 , 1 , 0 , 0

0
1
1
1
1
that form a basis for R3 . Justify your answer.

7. (6 points) Consider the road network illustrated below, with associated rates of traffic flow in
cars per hour. Find the rates x1 , x2 , and x3 .