A Linear Transformation Maps the Zero Vector to the Zero Vector
Problem 5
Let $T : \mathbb{R}^n \to \mathbb{R}^m$ be a linear transformation.
Let $\mathbf{0}_n$ and $\mathbf{0}_m$ be zero vectors of $\mathbb{R}^n$ and $\mathbb{R}^m$, respectively.
Show that $T(\mathbf{0}_n)=\mathbf{0}_m$.
(The Ohio State University Linear Algebra Exam)
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Steps.
- Express $\mathbf{0}_n=\mathbf{0}_n + \mathbf{0}_n$ or $\mathbf{0}_n=0\cdot \mathbf{0}_n$.
- Calculate $T(\mathbf{0}_n)$ using step 1 and the definition of linear transformation.
I will give three proofs.
Proof 1.
Since $\mathbf{0}_n=\mathbf{0}_n + \mathbf{0}_n$, we have
\[ T( \mathbf{0}_n)=T( \mathbf{0}_n + \mathbf{0}_n)=T( \mathbf{0}_n)+T( \mathbf{0}_n),\]
where the second equality follows since $T$ is a linear transformation.
Subtracting $T( \mathbf{0}_n)$ from both sides of the equality, we obtain $\mathbf{0}_m=T(\mathbf{0}_n)$.
Note that $\mathbf{0}_m=T( \mathbf{0}_n)-T( \mathbf{0}_n)$ since $T(\mathbf{0}_n)$ is a vector in $\mathbb{R}^m$.
Proof 2.
Observe that we have $0\cdot \mathbf{0}_n=\mathbf{0}_n$. (This is a scalar multiplication of the scalar $0$ and the vector $\mathbf{0}_n$.
Now we have
\[ T(\mathbf{0}_n)=T(0 \cdot \mathbf{0}_n)=0\cdot T(\mathbf{0}_n)=\mathbf{0}_m.\]
Here we used the one of the properties of the linear transformation $T$ in the second equality.
Proof 3.
Note that $\mathbf{0}_n=\mathbf{0}_n – \mathbf{0}_n$.
Thus we have
\[ T( \mathbf{0}_n)=T( \mathbf{0}_n – \mathbf{0}_n)=T( \mathbf{0}_n)-T( \mathbf{0}_n)=\mathbf{0}_m,\]
where we used the linearity of $T$ in the second equality.
In the last equality, note that the vector $T(\mathbf{0}_n)$ is $m$-dimensional vector.
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