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I need help showing that

$W = \begin{bmatrix} 3s - 2t \\ s + 2t \\ 2s + 3t \\ \end{bmatrix}$ such that $s$ and $t$ are real numbers is a subspace of $\mathbb{R}^3$.

I also need to write a basis of $W$ and state the dimension of $W$.

My ideas:

I know that the conditions for a subset being a subspace is that it most include the zero vector, and be closed under addition and multiplication. However, I do not know how to do this.

I am not so sure about writing a basis of $W$, or stating the dimension of $W$, either.

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    You are describing the set of all vectors of the form $s\left[ \begin{matrix} 3 \\ 1 \\ 2 \end{matrix} \right] + t\left[ \begin{matrix} -2 \\ 2 \\ 3 \end{matrix} \right]$, or all linear combinations of the vectors $\mathbf{u} := \left[ \begin{matrix} 3 \\ 1 \\ 2 \end{matrix} \right]$ and $\mathbf{v} := \left[ \begin{matrix} -2 \\ 2 \\ 3 \end{matrix} \right]$. In other words, $\mathsf{span} \left(\left[ \begin{matrix} 3 \\ 1 \\ 2 \end{matrix} \right], \left[ \begin{matrix} -2 \\ 2 \\ 3 \end{matrix} \right]\right)$.2017-02-21
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    latex error i think2017-02-21

1 Answers 1

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It's better to write the subset as: $$W=\left\{\begin{bmatrix} 3s - 2t \\ s + 2t \\ 2s + 3t \\ \end{bmatrix}:s,t \in \mathbb{R}\right\}.$$

I know that the conditions for a subset being a subspace is that it most include the zero vector, and be closed under addition and multiplication. However, I do not know how to do this.

  • To show the zero vector belongs to the set, we find values of $s \in \mathbb{R}$ and $t \in \mathbb{R}$ such that $$\begin{bmatrix} 3s - 2t \\ s + 2t \\ 2s + 3t \\ \end{bmatrix}=\begin{bmatrix} 0 \\ 0 \\ 0 \\ \end{bmatrix}.$$

  • To show that it's closed under addition, we take two arbitrary elements from $W$, add them together, and show that the result is in $W$. I.e. show $$ \begin{bmatrix} 3s - 2t \\ s + 2t \\ 2s + 3t \\ \end{bmatrix} + \begin{bmatrix} 3s' - 2t' \\ s' + 2t' \\ 2s' + 3t' \\ \end{bmatrix} = \begin{bmatrix} 3(s+s') - 2(t+t') \\ (s+s') + 2(t+t') \\ 2(s+s') + 3(t+t') \\ \end{bmatrix} $$ belongs to $W$.

  • To show that it's closed under scalar multiplication, we take an arbitrary element from $W$, and multiply it by an arbitrary scalar $\alpha \in \mathbb{R}$, and show that the result is in $W$. I.e., we show $$ \alpha \begin{bmatrix} 3s - 2t \\ s + 2t \\ 2s + 3t \\ \end{bmatrix} = \begin{bmatrix} 3\alpha s - 2\alpha t \\ \alpha s + 2\alpha t \\ 2\alpha s + 3\alpha t \\ \end{bmatrix} $$ is in $W$.

To identify a basis (a spanning, linearly independent subset), the co-efficients of $s$ and the coefficients of $t$ should give hint. We can rewrite $W$ as: $$W=\left\{s\begin{bmatrix} 3 \\ 1 \\ 2 \\ \end{bmatrix}+t\begin{bmatrix} - 2 \\ 2 \\ 3 \\ \end{bmatrix}:s,t \in \mathbb{R}\right\}.$$ Note: we need to check that the basis vectors are indeed linearly independent.

The dimension of $W$ is the size of any of it's bases, by the Dimension Theorem, so once you've found a basis, the answer to this part is "what's it's size?".