Non-Example of a Subspace in 3-dimensional Vector Space $\R^3$

Linear algebra problems and solutions

Problem 125

Let $S$ be the following subset of the 3-dimensional vector space $\R^3$.
\[S=\left\{ \mathbf{x}\in \R^3 \quad \middle| \quad \mathbf{x}=\begin{bmatrix}
x_1 \\
x_2 \\
x_3
\end{bmatrix}, x_1, x_2, x_3 \in \Z \right\}, \] where $\Z$ is the set of all integers.
Determine whether $S$ is a subspace of $\R^3$.

 
LoadingAdd to solve later

Sponsored Links


Proof.

We claim that $S$ is not a subspace of $\R^3$.
If $S$ is a subspace, then $S$ is closed under scalar multiplication.
But this is not the case for $S$.


For example, consider $\mathbf{x}=\begin{bmatrix}
1 \\
1 \\
1
\end{bmatrix}$.
Since all entries are integers, this is an element of $S$.
Let us compute the scalar multiplication of this vector $\mathbf{x}$ and the scalar $1/2 \in \R$. We have
\[\frac{1}{2}\cdot \mathbf{x}= \frac{1}{2}\cdot\begin{bmatrix}
1 \\
1 \\
1
\end{bmatrix}=\begin{bmatrix}
1/2 \\
1/2 \\
1/2
\end{bmatrix}.\] Since $1/2$ is not an integer, the scalar multiplication $\frac{1}{2}\mathbf{x}$ is not in $S$. Therefore the subset $S$ cannot be a subspace of $R^3$.

More Examples of Non-Subspaces

Check out the post ↴
10 Examples of Subsets that Are Not Subspaces of Vector Spaces
for various subsets in vector spaces that are not subspaces.


LoadingAdd to solve later

Sponsored Links

More from my site

You may also like...

Please Login to Comment.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

More in Linear Algebra
Linear algebra problems and solutions
The Null Space (the Kernel) of a Matrix is a Subspace of $\R^n$

Let $A$ be an $m \times n$ real matrix. Then the null space $\calN(A)$ of $A$ is defined by \[...

Close