Linear algebra and discrete mathematics

Example tasks

Mid-term 1

1. The following complex numbers are given:

√ √
x = 1 + i, y = −1 − 3i, z = −8 − 8 3i

Determine the algebraic form of the following complex numbers! (Trigonometric form can be used
for calculations.) √
(a) xy (b) xy (c) y 20 (d) 4 z

2. Solve the following equation on the set of complex numbers

x7 − 28x4 + 27x = 0

3. Perform the following polynomial long division. What is the result and what is the remainder?
Give the original polynomial in terms of the result, divisor and remainder.

(x6 − 2x4 + 2x2 + 3x − 5) : (x2 − x + 1)

4. Give the following polynomial as the product of irreducible polynomials

(a) over R (b) over C

P (x) = 3x6 − 3x2

5. Let A, B, C ⊆ U be sets on universe U . Prove that

A ∩ (B△C) = (A ∩ B)△(A ∩ C)

6. (a) Eleanor decided to give treats to her six cats. She has 12 treats in total. How many possible
ways can she distribute these 12 treats between her cats? (It is also possible that a cat gets multiple
treats or none at all.)

(b) How many positive whole numbers with at most 5 digits can be made from the even digits (0,
2, 4, 6, 8) if we can use the same digit multiple times?

(c) The teacher is going to choose two teams of 4 students each out of a classroom of 15 students
to represent the university at a Mathematics competition. How many ways are there to select the
two teams?

7. Prove the following using induction

8 | 5n + 2 · 3n−1 + 1

8. Let the sets An , n ∈ N be given by

    
1 1 1 1
An = | k ∈ {1, 2, ..., n} = 1, , , ...,
k 2 3 n
Determine the following sets
\
P = An ,
n∈N
[
Q= An .
n∈N

Provide proof to your statements.

√
9. Give an example of a polynomial with real coefficients that has the roots 1 + i and 3 − i.

10. Let us define the ⋆ operation for a, b ∈ Z as

a ⋆ b = a + b − 1.

Prove that the algebra (Z, ⋆) is a group.

 
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
11. Given the permutation π = . Calculate the powers π 2024 and θ−1761 .
4 1 2 3 7 5 6

12. Show that the function f : R+ −→ R, f (x) = log2 x3 − 1 is invertible. Determine the inverse of
f.

13. Determine the n-th iteration (n ∈ N) of the following functions

(a) f (x) = 3x − 2 (b) g(x) = ⌊x⌋ (c) h(x) = −x (d) s(x) = x − ⌊x⌋

14. Prove that the polynomial P (x) = (x3 − x + 1)2024 − 1 is divisible by x3 − x.

15. Consider the following expression:

√ 1 19
(x x − √ )
3
x
Calculate the term that has x with an exponent of 1.
 Linear algebra and discrete mathematics
Example tasks

Mid-term 2

1. Let the following points be given in space:

A = (3, 1, 2), B = (−1, −1, 4), C = (−4, 4, p), D = (1, 1, 0)

(a) Determine all values for parameter p, where AB and BC are perpendicular to each other.
(b) Determine all values for parameter p, where AB, AC and AD form a linearly independent vector
system.
(c) If p = 4, what is the equation for the plane spanned by the points A, B and C?
(d) If p = 4, what is the equation for the line spanned by the points B and C?
(e) If p = 4, what is the equation for the plane spanned by the points A, B and C?
(f) If p = 4, what is the area of the triangle spanned by A, B and C? What is the area of the
paralellogram spanned by A, B and C?
(g) If p = 4, what is the volume of the tetrahedron spanned by A, B, C and D? What is the volume
of the prism spanned by A, B, C and D?
(h) If p = 4, what is the cosine of angle BAC∢? Give the exact value, not an approximation.
(i) If p = 4, what is the sine of angle BAC∢? Give the exact value, not an approximation.

2. Calculate the rank of the following matrix

 
−3 2 2 1
−4 4 4 2
A=  2 −1 1

0
−3 4 8 3

3. Determine the inverse of the following matrix. Verify your results.

 
−3 2 2
A = −4 4 4
−2 −1 1

4. Solve the following system of linear equations using Gaussian elimination or Cramer’s rule:

x + 3y + 2z = −3
2x − 2y + 3z = 3
−3x − y + 2z = 3

5. Examine the solvability of the following system of linear equations based on parameters p, q ∈ R:

x + 2y + 2z = 1
2x − 2y − 3z = −3
−x + y + p · z = q
6. Calculate the determinant of the following matrices
 
6 −9 5 4 −6 8 7
  0 10 −4 −1 −10 −3 −4 
−2 2 0 1 
0 0 −1 −6

−2 4 −1 2   −1 −2 6 
A=  3 −2 0 −1
 , B = 0 0
 0 −2 8 4 −10
,
0 0 0 0 −10 0 1 
1 2 0 −3 
0 0

0 0 0 9 3 
0 0 0 0 0 0 1
 
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
2 4 6 8 10 12 14 
 
6
 6 5 0 −9 4 6
C = −4 8
 0 2 −4 −3 −7,
 9 −9 2 −3 −1 7 5
 
 2 −10 10 −3 −7 −10 3
6 −2 −3 7 −8 2 1

7. Let A and B be the following matrices

   
4 −5 4 5
A= ,B = .
5 −6 −5 9
Calculate the matrix S = 5 · (A2 + A · B + B · A + B 2 )
 Linear algebra and discrete mathematics
Example tasks

Additional tasks for exam

Note that all tasks from mid-term 1 and mid-term 2 are also possible on the exam.

This section will be extended later.