MATH 2220 LINEAR ALGEBRA FOR
ENGINEERING
Dimension
Section 4. 6
MATH 2220 LINEAR ALGEBRA FOR ENGINEERING Dimension
Definition
The dimension of a finite-dimensional vector space V is denoted by
dim(V ) and is defined to be the number of vectors in a basis for V . In
addition, the zero vector space is defined to have dimension zero.
MATH 2220 LINEAR ALGEBRA FOR ENGINEERING Dimension
Theorem
Let V be an n -dimensional vector space, and let {v1 , v2 , . . . , vn } be
any basis.
(a) If a set in V has more than n vectors, then it is linearly dependent.
(b) If a set in V has fewer than n vectors, then it does not span V .
MATH 2220 LINEAR ALGEBRA FOR ENGINEERING Dimension
Dimensions of Some Familiar Vector Spaces
Example
dim R n = n
[The standard basis has n vectors.
dim (Pn ) = n + 1 [The standard basis has n + 1 vectors. ]
dim (Mmn ) = mn [The standard basis has mn vectors.
MATH 2220 LINEAR ALGEBRA FOR ENGINEERING Dimension
Dimension of a Solution Space
Example
Find a basis for and the dimension of the solution space of the
homogeneous system
x1 + 3x2 − 2x3 + 2x5 =0
2x1 + 6x2 − 5x3 − 2x4 + 4x5 − 3x6 =0
5x3 + 10x4 +15x6 =0
2x1 + 6x2 +8x4 + 4x5 + 18x6 =0
MATH 2220 LINEAR ALGEBRA FOR ENGINEERING Dimension
Solution
We found the solution of this system to be
x1 = −3r − 4s − 2t, x2 = r , x3 = −2s, x4 = s, x5 = t, x6 = 0
which can be written in vector form as
(x1 , x2 , x3 , x4 , x5 , x6 ) = (−3r − 4s − 2t, r , −2s, s, t, 0)
MATH 2220 LINEAR ALGEBRA FOR ENGINEERING Dimension
Solution
or, alternatively, as
(x1 , x2 , x3 , x4 , x5 , x6 ) = r (−3, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0)+s(−4, 0, −2, 1, 0, 0)+t(−2, 0, 0, 0
This shows that the vectors
v1 = (−3, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0), v2 = (−4, 0, −2, 1, 0, 0), v3 = (−2, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0)
span the solution space. We leave it for you to check that these vectors
are linearly independent by showing that none of them is a linear
combination of the other two (but see the remark that follows). Thus,
the solution space has dimension 3 .
MATH 2220 LINEAR ALGEBRA FOR ENGINEERING Dimension
Plus/Minus Theorem
Theorem
Let S be a nonempty set of vectors in a vector space V .
(a) If S is a linearly independent set, and if v is a vector in V that is
outside of span(S), then the set S ∪ {v} that results by inserting v into
S is still linearly independent.
(b) If v is a vector in S that is expressible as a linear combination of
other vectors in S, and if S − {v} denotes the set obtained by
removing v from S, then S and S − {v} span the same space; that is,
span(S) = span(S − {v})
MATH 2220 LINEAR ALGEBRA FOR ENGINEERING Dimension
Example
Applying the Plus/Minus Theorem Show that p1 = 1 − x 2 , p2 = 2 − x 2 ,
and p3 = x 3 are linearly independent vectors.
Solution: The set S = {p1 , p2 } is linearly independent since neither
vector in S is a scalar multiple of the other. Since the vector p3 cannot
be expressed as a linear combination of the vectors in S (why?), it can
be adjoined to S to produce a linearly independent set
S ∪ {p3 } = {p1 , p2 , p3 }
MATH 2220 LINEAR ALGEBRA FOR ENGINEERING Dimension
Theorem
Let V be an n -dimensional vector space, and let S be a set in V with
exactly n vectors. Then S is a basis for V if and only if S spans V or S
is linearly independent.
MATH 2220 LINEAR ALGEBRA FOR ENGINEERING Dimension
Bases by Inspection
Example
(a) Explain why the vectors v1 = (−3, 7) and v2 = (5, 5) form a basis
for R 2 .
(b) Explain why the vectors v1 = (2, 0, −1), v2 = (4, 0, 7), and
v3 = (−1, 1, 4) form a basis for R 3 .
Solution (a) Since neither vector is a scalar multiple of the other, the
two vectors form a linearly independent set in the two-dimensional
space R 2 , and hence they form a basis
Solution (b) The vectors v1 and v2 form a linearly independent set in
the xz -plane . The vector v3 is outside of the xz -plane, so the set
{v1 , v2 , v3 } is also linearly independent. Since R 3 is
three-dimensional, then {v1 , v2 , v3 } is a basis for the vector space R 3 .
MATH 2220 LINEAR ALGEBRA FOR ENGINEERING Dimension
Theorem
Let S be a finite set of vectors in a finite-dimensional vector space V .
(a) If S spans V but is not a basis for V , then S can be reduced to a
basis for V by removing appropriate vectors from S.
(b) If S is a linearly independent set that is not already a basis for V ,
then S can be enlarged to a basis for V by inserting appropriate
vectors into S.
MATH 2220 LINEAR ALGEBRA FOR ENGINEERING Dimension
Theorem
If W is a subspace of a finite-dimensional vector space V , then:
(a) W is finite-dimensional.
(b) dim(W ) ≤ dim(V ).
(c) W = V if and only if dim(W ) = dim(V ).
MATH 2220 LINEAR ALGEBRA FOR ENGINEERING Dimension
