Linear independence if there is a column of zeros

[ti-84minus]

Homework Statement

If, in a matrix, there is a column of all zeros, does this mean the given vector/matrix is linearly dependent?
An example would be:
[1 2 0 4]
[2 3 0 1]
[5 2 0 7]

A few questions to clear up some possible misconceptions:
1) The matrix above is a 4-dimensional vector?
2) The given vector has 4 unknowns, but a column of zeros, therefore the system is linearly dependent.

Thanks for your help!

 

[aeroplane]

I don't think the matrix you have is a vector, vectors are either row vectors (1xm matrices) or column vectors (nx1 matrices). For this system of linear equations, each row represents a different equation. The system is then linearly independent if each row is independent, ie. row reduction doesn't yield a row of zeros. A column of zeros doesn't affect this linear independence. This is what it affects: if you take a 4x1 column vector, say [a,b,c,d]^T, and multiply it on the left by your matrix, it maps this vector to a 3x1 vector based on the column vectors of your matrix. The zero-column (3rd column) of your matrix maps the third row of your [a,b,c,d]^T to 0 in all rows of its image, which ends up being [a+2b+4d,2a+3b+d,5a+2b+7d]^T.

 

[Mark44]

Homework Statement

If, in a matrix, there is a column of all zeros, does this mean the given vector/matrix is linearly dependent?

A set of vectors can be linearly dependent or linearly independent, but it doesn't usually make any sense to describe a single vector as being dependent or independent.

An example would be:
[1 2 0 4]
[2 3 0 1]
[5 2 0 7]

A few questions to clear up some possible misconceptions:
1) The matrix above is a 4-dimensional vector?

No. The matrix on its own belongs to a vector space of dimension 12. The rows of the matrix are vectors in R⁴, a 4-dimensional vector space. The columns of the matrix are vectors in R³, a 3-dimensional vector space.

2) The given vector has 4 unknowns, but a column of zeros, therefore the system is linearly dependent.

What given vector? Does the matrix above represent a system of three equations in four unknowns?

You need to be more specific about what you're asking before we can give meaningful answers.

Thanks for your help!