Finding the Null Space of a Matrix | Solving for x in Ax=0 | Linear Algebra

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Homework Statement



Determine the null space of the following matrix:

A = [1 1 -1 2
2 2 -3 1
-1 -1 0 -5]

Homework Equations



Ax=0 where x = (x_{1}, x_{2}, x_{3}, x_{4})^{T}

The Attempt at a Solution



If I put the system Ax=0 into augmented form:

1 1 -1 2 | 0
2 2 -3 1 | 0
-1 -1 0 -5 | 0

By row reduction I get the following row echelon form:

1 1 -1 2 | 0
0 0 1 3 | 0
0 0 0 0 | 0

So if

x = (x_{1}, x_{2}, x_{3}, x_{4})^{T} = (-5t-s, s, -3t, t)^{T}

= t(-5, 0, -3, 1)^{T} + s(-1, 1, 0, 0)^{T}

= Span[ (-5, 0, -3, 1)^{T}, (-1, 1, 0, 0)^{T} ]

My book has the answer:

x = (-1, 1, 0, 0)^{T}, Span[ (-5, 0, -3, 1)^{T}]

Have I gone wrong somewhere or are these answers equivalent? I can't see it if they are...
 
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3.141592654 said:

Homework Statement



Determine the null space of the following matrix:

A = [1 1 -1 2
2 2 -3 1
-1 -1 0 -5]

Homework Equations



Ax=0 where x = (x_{1}, x_{2}, x_{3}, x_{4})^{T}

The Attempt at a Solution



If I put the system Ax=0 into augmented form:

1 1 -1 2 | 0
2 2 -3 1 | 0
-1 -1 0 -5 | 0

By row reduction I get the following row echelon form:

1 1 -1 2 | 0
0 0 1 3 | 0
0 0 0 0 | 0

So if

x = (x_{1}, x_{2}, x_{3}, x_{4})^{T} = (-5t-s, s, -3t, t)^{T}

= t(-5, 0, -3, 1)^{T} + s(-1, 1, 0, 0)^{T}

= Span[ (-5, 0, -3, 1)^{T}, (-1, 1, 0, 0)^{T} ]
The above looks fine.
3.141592654 said:
My book has the answer:

x = (-1, 1, 0, 0)^{T}, Span[ (-5, 0, -3, 1)^{T}]
They have the same vectors you have, but their notation is screwed up. The nullspace here is two-dimensional, so it takes two vectors to span it.
3.141592654 said:
Have I gone wrong somewhere or are these answers equivalent? I can't see it if they are...
 
There are two things I don't understand about this problem. First, when finding the nth root of a number, there should in theory be n solutions. However, the formula produces n+1 roots. Here is how. The first root is simply ##\left(r\right)^{\left(\frac{1}{n}\right)}##. Then you multiply this first root by n additional expressions given by the formula, as you go through k=0,1,...n-1. So you end up with n+1 roots, which cannot be correct. Let me illustrate what I mean. For this...
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