AI engineering glossary · Linear algebra
What is span?
Span: The set of all vectors you can reach by taking linear combinations of a given list of vectors. It describes how much of a space those vectors cover: two vectors not on the same line span a plane, while two along the same line span only that line.
Span: an example
[1, 0] and [0, 1] span the whole 2-D plane, but [1, 2] and [2, 4] span only the line through [1, 2].
Related terms
More Linear algebra terms
- Sparse matrix
- Sparse vector
- Spectral norm
- Spectral radius
- Spectral theorem
- Standard basis
- Subspace
- Symmetric matrix
Where you learn it
Span is part of the AI Engineering Program, which teaches it with notes, a hands-on lab and an exam. The first lesson is free.