Sum of two dependent vectors is dependent

linear algebravectors

I am trying to prove that, given two linearly independent vectors ${v_1, v_2}$, the sum of vectors $v_3+v_4$ (both being some linear combination of $v_1, v_2$) is linearly dependent with $v_1, v_2$.

It makes sense to me intuitively since if we have $x_1 v_1+x_2v_2=v_3$ and $y_1v_1+y_2v_2=v_4$, then $v_3+v_4=x_1 v_1+x_2v_2+y_1v_1+y_2v_2$, but I'm struggling to formulate a proof using the definition of linear dependency. Any suggestions on how I might do so?

Best Answer

Let $v_3 = v_1 + v_2$. Then the set $\{ v_1, v_2, v_3 \}$ is linearly dependent since

$$v_1 + v_2 - v_3 = v_1 + v_2 - (v_1 + v_2) = 0.$$

Remark: It does not make sense to say that a vector is linearly dependent without specifying what other vectors it is linearly dependent on. Therefore, we typically talk about linearly dependent sets.

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