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Exercise 1909Linear algebra › Vector spaces and subspacesL1Added 3 Nov 2026

Orthonormal basis of a subspace

#Gram-Schmidt#orthonormal basis#subspace

Statement

Find an orthonormal basis of F=span⁡((1,1,0),(1,0,1))F=\operatorname{span}((1,1,0),(1,0,1)) in R3\mathbb{R}^3.

Hint

Apply Gram-Schmidt to the two generators.

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Solution

Step 1. u1=(1,1,0)/2u_1=(1,1,0)/\sqrt2.

Step 2. Projection of (1,0,1)(1,0,1) onto u1u_1: ⟨(1,0,1),u1⟩=1/2\langle(1,0,1),u_1\rangle = 1/\sqrt2. Orthogonal part:
(1,0,1)−12⋅12(1,1,0)=(1,0,1)−(1/2,1/2,0)=(1/2,−1/2,1).(1,0,1) - \frac{1}{\sqrt2}\cdot\frac{1}{\sqrt2}(1,1,0) = (1,0,1)-(1/2,1/2,0)=(1/2,-1/2,1).
Norm: 1/4+1/4+1=3/2\sqrt{1/4+1/4+1}=\sqrt{3/2}. So
u2=2/3(1/2,−1/2,1)=(1/6,−1/6,2/3).u_2 = \sqrt{2/3}(1/2,-1/2,1) = (1/\sqrt6,-1/\sqrt6,\sqrt{2/3}).

Conclusion. An orthonormal basis of FF is
u1=12(1,1,0),u2=16(1,−1,2).u_1=\frac1{\sqrt2}(1,1,0), \qquad u_2=\frac1{\sqrt6}(1,-1,2).