Computer Science I / Linear Independence and Basis
Practice question · Put in order

Order the steps to test whether two plane vectors u and v are linearly independent.

Hints
  1. For just two vectors, independence reduces to a single check.
  2. Two non-parallel vectors in R^2 automatically span it.
Show the answer
  1. Ask whether one vector is a scalar multiple of the other
  2. If yes, they are dependent
  3. If no, they point in genuinely different directions
  4. Conclude they are independent and form a basis for the plane
Why

For two vectors, independence is exactly 'neither is a multiple of the other'. Two independent vectors in R^2 also span the plane, so they form a basis.

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