is this set of vectors linearly independent ? How are vectors linearly independent vs. matrix linearly independent?

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Apologize, completely understood the question now.

Given: \begin{align*} v_1 &= (1, −1, 2, 0) \\ v_2 &= (1, 0, 1, 1) \\ v_3 &= (1, −2, 3, −1) \\ v_4 &= (3, 1, 2, 4) \end{align*}

Are $v_1, v_2, v_3, v_4$ linearly independent? I was confused with the matrix linearly independent.

How is vectors linearly independently vs matrix linearly independently?

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If that is the REF that you obtained, you could have divide the third row by $-4$ and you will get a leading one in that row and the conclusion is the rank is $3$.

However, that is not the right REF. Check the step when you first update $R_3$, you make an arithmetic mistake there. The rank is indeed $2$.

Also notice that $cR_i-R_j$ is not actually a single elementary operations, it consist of $-R_i + R_j$ and $-R_j$.

If you have a zero row in the end, clearly they are not linearly indepedent.

If your original matrix is $A$, working on $A^T$ will help you identify a basis in the original vector set. Also, note that since there is no row swapping operations, the first two rows are linearly indepedent.