CNQ#9 PDF

9
Linear algebra and applications*

*This chapter is partly based on Calculus for Biology and Medicine, by Claudia
Neuhauser, Linear Algebra. A Modern Introduction, by David Poole, and Elementary
Linear Algebra, by Howard Anton and Chris Rorres.
Learning objectives
The primary focus of this chapter is on tools from linear algebra that we
require to develop some methods in multidimensional differential calculus.
These tools will also permit us to analyze certain systems of differential
equations. In particular we will learn how to
• solve systems of linear equations,
• define matrices and perform algebraic operations on them,
• calculate determinants,
• find the inverse of a matrix,
• perform simple calculations with vectors including scalar and vector

product,
• use matrices in discrete models of population growth (Leslie matrix).
9.1 Linear Systems
Two different species of insects are reared together in a laboratory cage. They
are supplied with two different types of food each day. Each individual of
species 1 consumes 5 units of food A and 3 units of food B, whereas each
individual of species 2 consumes 2 units of food A and 4 units of food B, on
average, per day. Each day, a lab technician supplies 900 units of food A and
960 units of food B (all of which is consumed). How many of each species
are reared together?
234 I N T E G R A L C A L C U L U S W I T H A P P L I C AT I O N S F O R L I F E S C I E N C E S
To solve such a problem, we will set up a system of equations. If
x = number of individuals of species 1

y = number of individuals of species 2
y
then the following two equations must be satisfied:
food A: 5x + 2y = 900 Ax + By = C
C
B
food B: 3x + 4y = 960
We refer to these two equations as a system of two linear equations in

two variables. This section is devoted to finding solutions of such systems. x
C
A
Graphical solution Figure 9.1: The graph of a linear equation in

standard form.
For starters we restrict our attention to systems of two linear equations in two
variables. Recall that the standard form of a linear equation in two variables
is
Ax + By = C, y
where A, B, and C are constants, A and B are not both equal to 0, and x and
y are the two variables. The graph of this equation is a straight line (see
Figure 9.1). Any point (x, y) on this straight line satisfies (or solves) the
equation Ax + By = C. If we extend this situation to more than one equation,
we call the resulting set of equations a system of linear equations. In the case
of two linear equations in two variables, the system is of the form x
Ax + By = C
(9.1) Figure 9.2: The two lines have exactly one
Dx + Ey = F point of intersection.
y
where A, B, C, D, E, and F are constants and x and y are the two variables.
(We require that A and B and that D and E are not both equal to 0.) When
we say that we “solve” equation (9.1) for x and y we mean that we find
an ordered pair (x, y) that satisfies each equation in the system. Because
each equation in (9.1) describes a straight line, we are therefore asking for
the point of intersection of these two lines. The following three cases are
x
possible:
1. The two lines have exactly one point of intersection. In this case, the Figure 9.3: The two lines are parallel but do
system (9.1) has exactly one solution, as illustrated in Figure 9.2. not intersect.
y
2. The two lines are parallel and do not intersect. In this case, the system
(9.1) has no solution, as illustrated in Figure 9.3.
3. The two lines are parallel and intersect (i.e. they are the same line). In this
case, the system (9.1) has infinitely many solutions—namely, each point
on the line, as illustrated in Figure 9.4.
x
Figure 9.4: The two lines are identical.

L I N E A R A L G E B R A A N D A P P L I C AT I O N S 235
Example 9.1 (Exactly One Solution) Find the solution of
2x + 3y = 6
(9.2)
2x + y = 4
Solution. To solve this system we solve each equation for y to get a new set
of equations
y = 2 − 23 x
y = 4 − 2x
Now setting the right hand sides equal to each other, we obtain
2 − 23 x = 4 − 2x
4
3x =2
3
x= 2
To find y, we substitute the value of x back into one of the two original
equations (say, 2x + y = 4; it does not matter which one you choose). Then
y = 4 − 2x = 4 − (2)( 32 ) = 1 y
4 2x + y = 4
and the solution is the point ( 32 , 1). Looking at Figure 9.5,we see that the two 2x + 3y = 6
3
lines have exactly one point of intersection. This is so because the lines have
different slopes: − 23 and −2, respectively. The point of intersection is ( 32 , 1) 2
and this is the unique solution of system (9.2). 1
Example 9.2 (No Solution.) Find the solution of x

−1 1 2 3
−1
2x + y = 4
(9.3) Figure 9.5: The two lines have exactly one
2x + y = 3 point of intersection.
Solution. As before we solve each equation for y to get a new set of equa-
tions
y = 4 − 2x
y = 3 − 2x
it follows immediately that both lines have the same slope, namely −2, but
different y-intercepts: 4 and 3, respectively. This implies that the two lines are
parallel and do not intersect.
Let’s see what happens when we solve the system of equations. If we take
the two equations y = 4 − 2x and y = 3 − 2x and set the right hand sides equal
to one another we get the equation
4 − 2x = 3 − 2x,
which simplifies to
4 = 3,
y
4 2x + y = 4
2x + y = 3
which obviously has no solution. We conclude that there is no point (x, y)
2
that satisfies both equations in system (9.3) simultaneously.
Looking at Figure 9.6 gives us a geometric understanding. The two lines
coming from our equations are parallel but distinct so they never intersect. It x
−1 1 2 3
follows that there are no solutions to the system.
Figure 9.6: The two lines are parallel but do
not intersect.
Example 9.3 (Infinitely Many Solutions.) Find the solution of
2x + y = 4
(9.4)
4x + 2y = 8
Solution. If we divide the second equation by 2, we get the first equation,

namely 2x + y = 4. So, both equations describe exactly the same line. Every
point on this line satisfies both equations so is a solution to the system (9.4).
To find the solutions algebraically, we use the same procedure as in the past
two examples. Solving the two equations for y gives
y = 4 − 2x
for both equations. We could follow the same pattern as before and eliminate
y to get the equation
4 − 2x = 4 − 2x.
But this simplifies 0 = 0 which is just a true statement. It follows that any
valu of x is part of a solution. A convenient way to write the solution is to
introduce a new variable, say t, to denote the x-coordinate. The new variable
t can take on any real number. To find the corresponding y-coordinate, we
substitute t in for x:
y = 4 − 2x = 4 − 2t.
The solution can then be written as the set of points
(t, 4 − 2t ) for any −∞ < t < ∞.

y
This reflects the fact that the system (9.4) has infinitely many solutions, as 4 2x + y = 4
expected from graphical considerations. (Since both lines are the same, every 4x + 2y = 8
point on the line is a solution to both, as reflected in the one line visible in
Figure 9.7). 2
In the previous example we introduced the variable t to describe the set

of solutions. We call t a dummy variable; it stands for any real number. x
−1 1 2 3
Introducing a dummy variable is a convenient way to describe the set of
solutions when there are infinitely many. Figure 9.7: The two lines are identical
A solution method
The graphical and algebraic way of solving systems of linear equations we
have employed so far works only for systems of two variables. To solve
systems of m linear equations in n variables, we will need to develop a
method that will work for a system of any size. The basic strategy will be
to transform the system of linear equations into a new system of equations
that has the same solutions as the original . The new system is called an
equivalent system. It will be of a simpler form, so that we can solve for the
unknown variables one by one and thus arrive at a solution. We illustrate
this approach in the next example. We tag all equations with labels of the
form (Ri ); Ri stands for ith row. The labels will allow us to keep track of our
computations.
Example 9.4 Solve
3x + 2y = 8 (R1 )
2x + 4y = 5 (R2 )
Solution. There are two basic operations that transform a system of linear
equations into an equivalent system:
1. Multiply an equation by a nonzero number
2. Add one equation to another

Our goal will be to eliminate x in the second equation. If we multiply the
first equation by 2 and the second by −3, we obtain
2(R1 ) 6x + 4y = 16
−3(R2 ) −6x − 12y = −15
If we add the two equations, we find that
−8y = 1.
Through algebraic manipulations, we eliminated x from the second equation.

We can replace the original system of equations by a new (equivalent) system
by leaving the first equation unchanged and replacing the second equation by
−8y = 1. We then obtain the equivalent system of equations [labelled (R3 )
and (R4 )]
(R1 ) 3x + 2y = 8 (R3 )
2(R1 ) − 3(R2 ) −8y = 1 (R4 )
We can now successively solve the system. It follows from equation (R4 ) that
y = − 18 .
Substituting this value into equation (R3 ) and solving for x, we find that
3x + (2)(− 18 ) = 8
3x = 8 + 14
11
x= 4
4 , − 8 ).
The solution is therefore ( 11
1
When we look at equations (R3 ) and (R4 ), we see that the left-hand side
has the shape of a triangle:
∗x + ∗y = ∗
∗y = ∗
We therefore call a system that is written in this form upper triangular.

In the preceding example, we reduced the system of linear equations to upper
triangular form and then solved it by back-substitution. As we will see next,
this method can be generalized to large systems.
Solving systems
We now extend the solution method employed in the examples to systems of
m equations in n variables. We will write such systems in the form
a11 x1 + a12 x2 + ··· +a1n xn = b1

a21 x1 + a22 x2 + ··· +a2n xn = b2
.. (9.5)
.
am1 x1 + am2 x2 + ··· +amn xn = bm
The variables are now x1 , x2 , . . . , xn . The coefficients ai j on the left-hand

side have two subscripts. The first subscript indicates the equation, and
the second subscript indicates to which x j ai j belongs. For instance, you
would find a21 in the second equation as the coefficient of x1 ; a43 would be
in the fourth equation as the coefficient of x3 . Using double subscripts is a
convenient way of labeling the coefficients. The subscripts on the numbers bi
on the right-hand side of (9.5) indicate the equation.
We will transform this system into an equivalent system in upper trian-
gular form. (Recall that equivalent means that the new system has the same
solutions as the old system.) To do so, we will use the following three basic
operations (sometimes called equivalent operations):
1. Multiply an equation by a nonzero constant
2. Add one equation to another
3. Rearrange the order of the equations
This method is also called Gaussian elimination.

As in the case of a linear system with two equations in two variables, the
general system (9.5) may have
1. Exactly one solution
2. No solutions
3. Infinitely many solutions
When a system has no solutions, we say that the system is inconsistent.

Example 9.5 (Exactly one solution.) Solve

3x + 5y − z = 10 (R1 )
2x − y + 3z = 9 (R2 )
4x + 2y − 3z = −1 (R3 )
Solution. Our goal is to reduce this system to upper triangular form. The first
step is to eliminate 2x from the second equation and 4x from the third equa-
tion. We leave the first equation unchanged. Multiplying the first equation by
2 and the second equation by −3 and then adding these two equations yields
a new equation that replaces the second equation:
2 ( R1 ) 6x + 10y − 2z = 20
−3(R2 ) −6x + 3y − 9z = −27
This system yields the new equation
13y − 11z = −7.
In this new equation, the term involving x has been eliminated.

We transform the third equation by multiplying the second equation by 2
and the third equation by −1.
2(R2 ) 4x − 2y + 6z = 18
−(R3 ) −4x − 2y + 3z = 1
Adding the two equations gives
−4y + 9z = 19.
Again, the term involving x has been eliminated.

These two steps transform the original set of equations into the followign
equivalent set of equations, labeled (R4 ) − (R6 ):
(R1 ) 3x + 5y − z = 10 (R4 )
2(R1 ) − 3(R2 ) 13y − −11z = −7 (R5 )
2(R2 ) − (R3 ) − 4y + 9z = 19 (R6 )
Our next step is to eliminate y from (R6 ). To do this, we multiply (R5 ) by 4
and (R6 ) by 13:
4(R5 ) 52y − 44z = −28

13(R6 ) −52y + 117z = 247
Adding the two equations then yields
73z = 219.
We leave the first two equations unchanged. The new (equivalent) system of
equations is thus
(R4 ) 3x + 5y − z = 10 (R7 )
( R5 ) 13y − 11z = −7 (R8 ) (9.6)
4(R5 ) + 13(R6 ) 73z = 219 (R9 )
The system of equations is now in upper triangular form, as can be seen from
its shape. We use back-substitution to find the solution. Solving equation
(R9 ) for z yields
z = 219
73 = 3.
Solving (R8 ) for y and substituting the value of z gives
13 (−7 + 11z) 13 (−7 + (11)(3))

1 1 26
y= = = 13 = 2.
Solving (R7 ) for x and substituting the values of y and z, we find that
x = 13 (10 − 5y + z)
= 13 (10 − 5(2) + 3)
= 1.
Hence the solution is x = 1, y = 2, and z = 3.
In the previous example, when we eliminate variables, we have a choice in
how to do this.
Example 9.6 (No Solution.) Solve

2x − y + z = 3 ( R1 )
4x − 4y + 3z = 2 (R2 )
2x − 3y + 2z = 1 (R3 )
Solution. As in the previous example, we try to reduce the system to upper
triangular form. We begin by eliminating terms involving x from the second
and third equations. We leave the first equation unchanged. We replace the
second equation by the result of subtracting the second equation from the
first, after multiplying the first equation by 2. We replace the third equation
by the result of subtracting the third equation from the first. The result of all
these operations is
(R1 ) 2x − y + z = 3 (R4 )
2(R1 ) − (R2 ) 2y − z = 4 (R5 )
(R1 ) − (R3 ) 2y − z = 2 (R6 )
To obtain (R5 ), we also could have computed (R2 ) − 2(R1 ); we then would
have found that −2y + z = −4. Similarly, for (R6 ), we could have computed
(R3 ) − (R1 ). As long as we do not use the same pair of equations twice, we
have some freedom in how we reduce the system to upper triangular form.
Now, let’s continue with our calculations. To eliminate terms involving y
from Equation (R6 ), we replace (R6 ) by the difference of (R5 ) and (R6 ). We
keep the first two equations. Then
(R4 ) 2x − y + z = 3
(R5 ) 2y − z = 4
(R5 ) − (R6 ) 0 = 2
The last equation 0 = 2 is false statement, which means that the system does
not have any solutions.
Example 9.7 (Infinitely Many Solutions.) Solve
x − 3y + z = 4 ( R1 )
x − 2y + 3z = 6 (R2 )
2x − 6y + 2z = 8 (R3 )
Solution. We proceed as in the preceding examples. The first step is to
eliminate terms involving x from the second and third equations. We leave the
first equation unchanged. We replace the second equation by the difference of
the first and second equations. We replace the third equation by the difference
of the first and third equations after dividing the third equation by 2. We find
that
(R1 ) x − 3y + z = 4 (R4 )
(R2 ) − (R1 ) y + 2z = 2 (R5 )
(R1 ) − 12 (R3 ) 0z = 0 (R6 )
The third equation 0z = 0 is true for any value of z so this is automatically
true. So, we can introduce any value for z and still solve the problem. We
introduce the dummy variable t and set
z = t.
If we solve (R5 ) for y and substitute z = t into the resulting equation, we get
y = 2 − 2z = 2 − 2t.
If we solve (R4 ) for x and substitute y = 2 − 2t and z = t into the resulting

equation we find that
x = 4 + 3y − z
= 4 + 3(2 − 2t ) − t
= 10 − 7t.
So for any possible value of t we can set z = t and y = 2 − 2t and x = 10 − 7t

to form a solution. We conclude that the set of all solutions is the set of all
points of the form (t, 2 − 2t, 10 − 7t ) for a number t.
Shorthand matrix notation

When we transform a system of linear equations, we make changes only
to the coefficients of the variables. It is therefore convenient to introduce
notation that will simply keep track of the coefficients and suppress the
names of the variables. This motivates the following definition.
Definition 9.1 A matrix is a rectangular array of numbers:

⎡ ⎤
a11 a12 · · · a1n
⎢ ⎥
⎢ a21 a22 · · · a2n ⎥
A=⎢ ⎢ .. .. .. .. ⎥
⎥.
⎣ . . . . ⎦
am1 am2 · · · amn
The elements ai j of the matrix A are called entries. If the matrix has m rows
and n columns, it is called a m × n matrix.
We can think of the matrix A in the definition as the coefficient matrix of

the linear system we introduced in (9.5)
a11 x1 + a12 x2 + ··· +a1n xn = b1
a21 x1 + a22 x2 + ··· +a2n xn = b2
.. .. .. .. ..
. . . . .
am1 x1 + am2 x2 + ··· +amn xn = bm
The entries ai j of the matrix have two subscripts: The entry ai j is located in
the ith row and the jth column. You can think of this numbering system as the
street address of the entries, using streets and avenues. Suppose that streets
go north-south and avenues go east-west; then finding the corner of Second
Avenue and Third Street would be like finding the element of A that is in the
second row and third column, which is a23 in the matrix.
If a matrix has the same number of rows as columns, it is called a square
matrix. An m × 1 matrix is called a column vector and a 1 × n matrix is called
a row vector. Following are examples of a 3 × 3 square matrix, a 3 × 1 column
vector, and a 1 × 4 row vector (the shapes of these matrices explain their
names):
⎡ ⎤ ⎡ ⎤
1 3 0 2
⎢ ⎥ ⎢ ⎥
⎣0 1 −1⎦ ⎣7⎦ 1 4 0 5
5 4 3 4
If A is a square matrix, then the diagonal of A consists of the elements a11 ,
a22 , . . ., ann . In the preceding 3 × 3 square matrix the diagonal consists of
1, 1, 3.
To solve systems of linear equations with the use of matrices, we introduce
the augmented matrix—the coefficient matrix of the linear system (9.5),
augmented by an additional column representing the right hand side of (9.5).
The augmented matrix representing the linear system (9.5) is therefore
⎡ ⎤
a11 a12 · · · a1n b1
⎢ ⎥
⎢ a21 a22 · · · a2n b2 ⎥
⎢ . .. ⎥
⎢ . .. .. .. ⎥
⎣ . . . . . ⎦
am1 am2 · · · amn bm
So how can we use augmented matrices to solve systems of linear equations?
Example 9.8 Find the augmented matrix for the system given in Example
9.5, and solve the system by using the augmented matrix.
Solution. The augmented matrix is given by

⎡ ⎤
3 5 −1 10 (R1 )
⎢ ⎥
⎣2 −1 3 9⎦ (R2 )
4 2 −3 −1 (R3 )
Our goal is to transform the augmented matrix into the simpler, upper trian-
gular form in which all of the entries below the diagonal are zero. We use
the same basic transformations as before and you should compare the steps
that follow with the steps in Example 9.5. We indicate on the left side of the
matrix the transformation that we used, and we relabel the rows on the right
side of the matrix:
⎡ ⎤
(R1 ) 3 5 −1 10 (R4 )
⎢ ⎥
2(R1 ) − 3(R2 ) ⎣0 13 −11 −7⎦ (R5 )
2(R2 ) − (R3 ) 0 −4 9 19 (R6 )
That is, we copied row 1, which we now call row 4: to get the second row,
we multiplied the first row by 2 and the second row by 3 and then took the
difference (2(R1 ) − 3(R2 )), calling the resulting row (R5 ), and so on.
The next step is to eliminate the −4 in (R6 ). We find that
⎡ ⎤
(R4 ) 3 5 −1 10
⎢ ⎥
(R5 ) ⎣0 13 −11 −7⎦
4(R5 ) + 13(R6 ) 0 0 73 219
This is now the augmented matrix for the system of linear equations in
Equation (9.6), and we can proceed as in that example to solve the system by
back-substitution.
So far, all of the systems that we have considered have had the same
number of equations as variables. This need not be the case however. When a
system has fewer equations than variables we say that it is underdetermined.
Although underdetermined systems can be inconsistent (have no solutions),
they frequently have infinitely many solutions. When a system has more
equations than variables, we say that it is overdetermined. Overdetermined
systems are frequently inconsistent.
In Example 9.9 we will look at an underdetermined system, and in Exam-
ple 9.10 an overdetermined system.
Example 9.9 Solve the following underdetermined system:
2x + 2y − z = 1 (R1 )
2x − y + z = 2 (R2 )
Solution. The system has fewer equations than variables and is therefore
underdetermined. We use the augmented matrix

2 2 −1 1 (R1 )
2 −1 1 2 (R2 )
to solve the system. Transforming the augmented matrix into upper triangular
form, we find that

(R1 ) 2 2 −1 1
(R1 ) − (R2 ) 0 3 −2 −1
Translating this matrix back into a system of equations, we obtain
2x + 2y − z = 1
3y − 2z = −1
It then follows that

y = − 13 + 23 z
and

2x = 1 − 2y + z = 1 − 2 − 13 + 23 z + z = 53 − 13 z,
or
x = 56 − 16 z.
We use a dummy variable again and set z = t. Then x = 56 − 16 t and y =
− 13 + 23 t. The solution can then be written as all points of the form
( 56 − 16 t, − 13 + 23 t,t ) for any t.
Example 9.10 Solve the following overdetermined system:
2x − y = 1 (R1 )
x + y = 2 (R2 )
x − y = 3 (R3 )
Solution. The system has more equations than variables and is therefore
overdetermined. To solve it, we write
(R1 ) 2x − y = 1 (R4 )
2(R2 ) − (R1 ) 3y = 3 (R5 )
(R2 ) − (R3 ) 2y = −1 (R6 ) y
4
It follows from (R6 ) that y = − 12 and from (R5 ) that y = 1. Since 1 = − 12 , x+y =2
there cannot be a solution. The system is inconsistent. In this example, we x−y =3 2
2x − y = 1
can show that the system is inconsistent if we graph the three straight lines
x
represented by (R1 ), (R2 ), and (R3 ) as in Figure 9.8. −4 −2 2 4
In order for the system to have soutions, the three lines would need to −2
intersect in one point (or be identical). They don’t, so there is no solution. −4
Example 9.11 (More Dummy Variables.) Solve Figure 9.8: The straight lines in Exam-
ple 9.10 do not intersect in one point.
3x − 3y + 6z = 9 ( R1 )
−x + y − 2z = −3 (R2 )
Solution. We see that (R1 ) = −3(R2 ). Thus, eliminating the variable x from
(R2 ) yields
(R1 ) 3x − 3y + 6z = 9
(R1 ) + 3(R2 ) 0z = 0
To write the solution, we introduce a dummy variable t and set z = t. To solve

(R1 ) , we need a second dummy variable s, which satisfies y = s. Now we can
solve for x in terms of the dummy variables s and t:
3x = 9 + 3s − 6t,
so
x = 3 + s − 2t.
The solution is the set of all points of the form
(3 + s − 2t, s,t ) where s,t are any real numbers.
9.2 Matrices
We introduced matrices in the previous section; in this section, we will learn

various matrix operations.
Basic matrix operations

Recall that an m × n matrix A is a rectangular array of numbers with m rows
and n columns. We write it as
⎡ ⎤
a11 a12 · · · a1n
⎢ ⎥
⎢ a21 a22 · · · a2n ⎥
⎢
A=⎢ . .. ⎥
.. .. ⎥ = [ai j ]1≤i≤m
⎣ .. . . . ⎦ 1≤ j≤n
am1 am2 · · · amn
We will also use the shorthand notation A = [ai j ] if the size of the matrix is
clear. We list a few simple definitions that do not need much explanation.
Definition 9.2 Suppose that A = [ai j ] and B = [bi j ] are two m × n matrices.
Then
A=B
if and only if, for all 1 ≤ i ≤ m and 1 ≤ j ≤ n,
ai j = bi j .
This definition says that we can compare matrices of the same size, and
they are equal if all their corresponding entries are equal. The next definition
shows how to add matrices.
Definition 9.3 Suppose that A = [ai j ] and B = [bi j ] are two m × n matrices.
Then
C = A+B
is an m × n matrix with entries
ci j = ai j + bi j for 1 ≤ i ≤ m, 1 ≤ j ≤ n.
Note that addition is defined only for matrices of equal size. Matrix
addition satisfies the following two properties:
1. A + B = B + A,
2. (A + B) + C = A + (B + C ).
The matrix with all its entries equal to zero is called the zero matrix and
is denoted by 0. The following holds:
A + 0 = A.
We can also multiply matrices by numbers. In this context we frequently call

these numbers scalars. Formally speaking, the term scalar is just a synonym
for number, but we use the term scalar to emphasize that the given expression
is not a matrix or something more complicated.
Definition 9.4 Suppose that A = [ai j ] is an m × n matrix and c is a scalar.

Then cA is an m × n matrix with entries cai j for 1 ≤ i ≤ m and 1 ≤ j ≤ n.
Example 9.12 Find A + 2B − 3C if

2 3 0 1 1 0
A= , B= , C= .
1 0 −1 −3 0 3
Solution.

2 3 0 1 1 0
A + 2B − 3C = +2 −3
1 0 −1 −3 0 3

2 3 0 2 −3 0
= +
1 0 −2 −6 0 −9

2+0−3 3+2+0
=
1−2+0 0−6−9

−1 5
= .
−1 −15
Example 9.13 Let

1 3
A= .
0 4
Find B so that

1 1
A+B = .
1 1

1 1
Solution. If A + B = then we have
1 1

1 1
B= −A
1 1

1 1 1 3
= −
1 1 0 4

0 −2
= .
1 −3

Matrix multiplication
The multiplication of two matrices is much more complicated than any
operations we learned earlier in the chapter. We give the full definition first.
Definition 9.5 Suppose that A = [ai j ] is an m × matrix and B = [bi j ] is an

× n matrix. Then
C = AB
is an m × n matrix with entries
ci j = ai1 b1 j + ai2 b2 j + . . . + ai b j

= ∑ aik bk j
k =1
for 1 ≤ i ≤ m and 1 ≤ j ≤ n.
To explain this mathematical definition in words, note that ci j is the entry

in C that is located in the ith row and the jth column. To obtain it, we multiply
the entries of the ith row of A with the entries of the jth column of B, as
indicated in the definition. For the product AB to be defined, the number
of columns in A must equal the number of rows in B. Let’s see how this
definition works with some examples.
Example 9.14 (Matrix multiplication.) Compute AB for

⎡ ⎤

1 2 3 −3
1 2 3 ⎢ ⎥
A= and B = ⎣ 0 −1 4 0⎦ .
−1 0 4
−1 0 −2 1
Solution. First, note that A is a 2 × 3 matrix and B is a 3 × 4 matrix. So A has
3 columns and B has 3 rows. Therefore, the product AB is defined, and AB is
a 2 × 4 matrix. We write the product as
⎡ ⎤

1 2 3 −3
1 2 3 ⎢ ⎥
C = AB = ⎣ 0 −1 4 0⎦ .
−1 0 4
−1 0 −2 1
For instance, to find c11 , we multiply the first row of A with the first column
of B as follows:
⎡ ⎤
1
⎢ ⎥
c11 = 1 2 3 ⎣ 0⎦ = (1)(1) + (2)(0) + (3)(−1) = −2.
−1
You can see from this calculation that the number of columns of A must be
equal to the number of rows of B. Otherwise we would run out of numbers
when multiplying the corresponding entries.
To find c23 we multiply the second row of A by the third column of B:
⎡ ⎤
3
⎢ ⎥
c23 = −1 0 4 ⎣ 4⎦ = (−1)(3) + (0)(4) + (4)(−2) = −11.
−2
The other entries are obtained in a similar way, and we find that

−2 0 5 0
C= .
−5 −2 −11 7

In multiplying matrices, the order is important. For instance BA is not even
defined for the two matrices from the previous example, since the number of
columns of B (which is 4) is different from the number of rows of A (which is
2). From this, it should be clear that typically AB = BA. Even if both AB and
BA exist, the resulting matrices are usually not the same. They can differ in
both the number of rows and columns and in the actual entries. The next two
examples illustrate this key point.
Example 9.15 (Order is important.) Suppose that

⎡ ⎤
1
⎢ ⎥
A = 2 1 −1 and B = ⎣−1⎦ .
0
Show that both AB and BA are defined but AB = BA.
Solution. Note that A is a 1 × 3 matrix and B is a 3 × 1 matrix. Thus, the

product AB is defined, since the number of columns of A is the same as the
number of rows of B (namely, 3); the product AB is a 1 × 1 matrix. When we
carry out the matrix multiplication, we find that
⎡ ⎤
1
⎢ ⎥
AB = 2 1 −1 ⎣−1⎦ = [2 − 1 + 0] = [1] = 1.
0
Note that a 1 × 1 matrix is simply a number.

The product BA is also defined, since the number of columns of B is the

same as the number of rows of A (namely, 1); the product BA is a 3 × 3 matrix.
When we carry out the matrix multiplication, we obtain
⎡ ⎤ ⎡ ⎤
1 2 1 −1
⎢ ⎥ ⎢ ⎥
BA = ⎣−1⎦ 2 1 −1 = ⎣−2 −1 1⎦ .
0 0 0 0
Comparing AB and BA we see immediately that AB = BA since the two

matrices are not even the same size.
Example 9.16 (Order is important.) Suppose that

2 −1 1 −1
A= and B = .
4 −2 2 −2
Show that both AB and BA are defined but AB = BA.
Solution. A and B are both 2 × 2 matrices, so AB and BA both exist and both
are 2 × 2 matrices. We find that

0 0 −2 1
AB = and BA = .
0 0 −4 2
Since the entries in AB are not the same as BA, it follows that AB = BA.
The product AB in the previous example resulted in a matrix with all
entries equal to 0. Earlier we called this the zero matrix and denoted it by
0. This example illustrates that a product of two matrices can be the zero
matrix without either matrix being the zero matrix. This is an important
fact and is different from multiplying real numbers. When multiplying two
real numbers, we know that if the product is equal to 0, at least one of the
two factors must have been equal to 0. This rule, however, does not hold
for matrix multiplication; if A and B are two matrices whose product AB is
defined, then the product AB can be equal to the zero matrix 0 without either
A or B being equal to 0.
The following properties of matrix multiplication assume that all matrices
are of appropriate sizes so that all of these matrix multiplications are defined:
1. (A + B)C = AC + BC,
2. A(B + C ) = AB + AC,
3. (AB)C = A(BC ),
4. A0 = 0A = 0.
(We will practice applying these properties in the problems at the end of the
section.)
Next, we note that if A is a square matrix (i.e. if A has the same number of
rows as columns), we can define powers of A: If k is a positive integer, then
Ak = AA · · · A .

k
For instance, A2 = AA and A3 = AAA, and so on.

1 2
Example 9.17 (Powers of matrices.) Find A3 if A = .
3 4
Solution. To find A3 , we first need to compute A2 . We obtain

2 1 2 1 2 7 10
A = AA = = .
3 4 3 4 15 22
To compute A3 now, we can compute either A2 A or AA2 . Both will yield A3 .

This is a special case in which we know that the order of the multiplication
does not matter, since A3 = (AA)A = A(AA) = AAA. We do it both ways.

3 2 7 10 1 2 37 54
A =A A= = ,
15 22 3 4 81 118
and

3 1 2 2 7 10 37 54
A = AA = = .
3 4 15 22 81 118

An important square matrix is the identity matrix, denoted by In . The
identity matrix is an n × n matrix with 1’s on the diagonal and 0’s elsewhere;
that is ⎡ ⎤
1 0 0 ··· 0
⎢ ⎥
⎢0 1 0 · · · 0⎥
In = ⎢
⎢ .. .. .. .. .. ⎥
⎥.
⎣. . . . .⎦
0 0 0 ··· 1
For instance,
⎡ ⎤

1 0 0
1 0 ⎢ ⎥
I1 = [1] , I2 = , I3 = ⎣0 1 0⎦ .
0 1
0 0 1
(We frequently write I instead of In if the size of the matrix is clear from
context.) The identity matrix serves the same role as the number 1 in the
multiplication of real numbers: If A is an m × n matrix, then
AIn = Im A = A.
It follows that I k = I for any positive integer k.

If a and x are number, then ax = x can be written as ax − x = 0. To factor
x on the left-hand side, we transform that side as follows: ax − 1x = (a − 1)x.
To factor x, we needed to introduce the factor of 1 in front of x. We obtain

(a − 1)x = 0. There is a similar procedure for matrices, but we must be more
careful, since the order in which we multiply matrices is important.
Example 9.18 (Matrix equation.) Let A be a 2 × 2 matrix and X be a 2 × 1

matrix. Show that AX = X can be written as (A − I2 )X = 0.
Solution. We know that AX = X is equivalent to AX − X = 0. To factor X,

we multiply X from the left by I2 . The matrix I2 will then allow us to factor
X just as the factor 1 allowed use to factor x in ax − x = 0 in the case of real
numbers. Multiplying X from the left by I2 gives
AX − I2 X = 0.
We can now factor X to get
(A − I2 )X = 0.
Observe again that we multiplied X from the left by A − I2 . We are not allowed
to reverse the order. (In fact, here the product X (A − I2 ) is not even defined.)

There is a close connection between systems of linear equations and
matrices: The system of linear equations
⎡ ⎤
a11 a12 · · · a1n b1
⎢ ⎥
⎢ a21 a22 · · · a2n b2 ⎥
⎢ . .. ⎥
⎢ . .. .. .. ⎥
⎣ . . . . . ⎦
am1 am2 · · · amn bm
can be written in the matrix form
AX = B,
with
⎡ ⎤ ⎡ ⎤ ⎡ ⎤
a11 a12 · · · a1n x1 b1
⎢ ⎥ ⎢ ⎥ ⎢ ⎥
⎢ 21
a a22 · · · a2n ⎥ ⎢ 2⎥
x ⎢b2 ⎥
A=⎢
⎢ .. .. .. .. ⎥
⎥, X =⎢ ⎥
⎢ .. ⎥ , B=⎢ ⎥
⎢ .. ⎥ .
⎣ . . . . ⎦ ⎣.⎦ ⎣.⎦
am1 am2 · · · amn xn bn
Example 9.19 (Matrix representations of linear systems.) Write
2x1 + 3x2 + 4x3 = 1

−x1 + 5x2 − 6x3 = 7
in matrix form.
Solution. In matrix form, we have

⎡ ⎤

x1

2 3 4 ⎢ ⎥ 1
⎣x2 ⎦ = .
−1 5 6 7
x3
We see that A is a 2 × 3 matrix and X is a 3 × 1 matrix. We therefore expect

(on the basis of the rules of multiplication) that B is a 2 × 1 matrix, which it is
indeed.
We will use matrix representation to solve systems of linear equations in
the next part of the section.
Determinants and inverse matrices

In this subsection, we will learn how to solve systems of n linear equations in
n unknowns when they are written in the matrix form
AX = B, (9.7)
where A is a square n × n matrix and X and B are n × 1 column vectors. We

start with a simple example in which n = 1. When we solve
5x = 10
for x, we simply divide both sides by 5 or, equivalently, multiply both sides
by 15 = 5−1 to obtain
5−1 · 5x = 5−1 · 10.
Since 5−1 · 5 = 1 and 5−1 · 10 = 2 we find that x = 2. To solve (9.7), we
therefore need an operation that is analogous to division, or multiplication
by the “reciprocal” of A. We will define a matrix A−1 that will serve this
function. It is called the inverse matrix of A. If this inverse matrix A−1
exists, then we can multiply both sides of equation (9.7) on the left by A−1 to
obtain
A−1 AX = A−1 B.
In order for the inverse matrix to have the same effect as multiplying a
number by its reciprocal, it should have the property that A−1 A = I, where I is
the identity matrix. The solution would then be of the form
X = A−1 B.
Definition 9.6 Suppose that A = [ai j ] is a square n × n matrix. If there exists

a square n × n matrix B so that
AB = BA = In ,
then B is called the inverse matrix of A and is denoted A−1 .
If A has an inverse matrix, A is called invertible or nonsingular; if A does

not have an inverse matrix, A is called singular. If A is invertible, its inverse
matrix is unique; that is if B and C are both inverse matrices of A, then B = C.
To see why this is true, assume that both B and C are inverses of A. Then we
have BA = In and AC = In so
B = BIn = B(AC ) = (BA)C = InC = C.
The following properties hold for inverse matrices:

1. If A is an invertible n × n matrix, then (A−1 )−1 = A.
2. If A and B are invertible n × n matrices then (AB)−1 = B−1 A−1 .
The first statement says that if we apply the inverse operation twice, we
get the original matrix back. This property is familiar from dealing with real
numbers: Take the number 2; its inverse is 2−1 = 12 . If we take the inverse
of 12 , we get 2 again. To see why this analogous property holds for matrices,
assume that A is an n × n matrix with inverse A−1 . Then by definition
AA−1 = A−1 A = In .
But this equation also says that A is the inverse matrix of A−1 ; that is A =
(A−1 )−1 . To see why the second statement is true, we must verify that
(AB)(B−1 A−1 ) = (B−1 A−1 )(AB) = In .
To check this we compute
(AB)(B−1 A−1 ) = A(BB−1 )A−1 = AIn A−1 = AA−1 = In ,
and
(B−1 A−1 )(AB) = B−1 (A−1 A)B = B−1 In B = B−1 B = In .
For matrices of size 3 × 3 and larger it is a cumbersome and complicated
process to compute the inverse. However checking if two matrices are
inverses of one another is relatively straightforward as evidenced by the
following example.
Example 9.20 Show that the following matrices are inverses

⎡ ⎤ ⎡ ⎤
3 5 −1 −3/73 13/73 14/73
⎢ ⎥ ⎢ ⎥
A = ⎣2 −1 3⎦ and B = ⎣ 18/73 −5/73 −11/73⎦ .
4 2 −3 8/73 14/73 −13/73
Solution. Carrying out the matrix multiplications AB and BA we find that
AB = I3 and BA = I3 .
Therefore, B = A−1 .
Next we compute the inverse of a 2 × 2 matrix.
Example 9.21 (Finding an inverse.) Find the inverse of

2 5
A= .
1 3
Solution. We need to find a matrix

b11 b12
B= ,
b21 b22
such that AB = I2 . We will then check that BA = I2 and hence, that B is the
inverse of A. We must solve

2 5 b11 b12 1 0
= ,
1 3 b21 b22 0 1
or equivalently,
2b11 + 5b21 = 1 2b12 + 5b22 = 0

and
b11 + 3b21 = 0 b12 + 3b22 = 1
We solve both equations by reducing them to upper triangular form. Leav-

ing the first equation of either set and eliminating b11 from the first set of
equations and b12 from the second we find that
2b11 + 5b21 = 1 2b12 + 5b22 = 0

and
−b21 = 1 −b22 = −2
The left set of equations has the solution
b21 = −1 and b11 = 12 (1 − 5b21 ) = 12 (1 + 5) = 3.
The right set of equations has the solution
b22 = 2 and b12 = 12 (−5b22 ) = −5.
Hence we must have

3 −5
B= .
−1 2
You can verify that both AB = I2 and BA = I2 ; thus B = A−1 .

There are methods that can be employed for larger matrices. It is essen-
tially the same method as in the above example, but uses augmented matrices
(see a textbook on linear algebra for further details). Since manually inverting
larger matrices takes a long time, graphing calculators or computer software
should be used to find inverses of large matrices.
We have already indicated the connection between systems of linear
equations and matrix multiplication. A system of linear equations can be
written as
AX = B. (9.8)
In a linear system of n equations in n unknowns, A is an n × n matrix. If A is
invertible, then multiplying equation (9.8) by A−1 from the left gives
A−1 AX = A−1 B.
Since A−1 A = In and In X = X it follows that
X = A−1 B.
We will use this equation to redo Example 9.5 from Section 9.1.
Example 9.22 (Using inverse matrices to solve linear systems.) Solve
3x + 5y − z = 10
2x − y + 3z = 9
4x + 2y − 3z = −1
Solution. The coefficient matrix of A is

⎡ ⎤
3 5 −1
⎢ ⎥
A = ⎣2 −1 3⎦ ,
4 2 −3
which we encountered in Example 9.20, where we saw that

⎡ ⎤
−3/73 13/73 14/73
⎢ ⎥
A−1 = ⎣ 18/73 −5/73 −11/73⎦ .
8/73 14/73 −13/73
We set ⎡ ⎤
10
⎢ ⎥
B = ⎣ 9⎦ ,
−1
and compute A−1 B. We find that
⎡ ⎤ ⎡ ⎤
10 1
−1 ⎢ ⎥ ⎢ ⎥
A ⎣ 9⎦ = ⎣2⎦ .
−1 3
That is, x = 1, y = 2, and z = 3, as we found in Example 9.5 from Section 9.1.

We now have two methods for solving systems of linear equations when
the number of equations is equal to the number of variables: We can reduce
the system to upper triangular form and then use back-substitution, or we
can write the system in the matrix form AX = B, find A−1 , and then compute
X = A−1 B. Of course, the second method works only when A−1 exists. If A−1
does not exist, the system has either no solution or infinitely many solutions.
But when A−1 exists, AX = B has exactly one solution.
There is a simple and very useful criterion for checking whether a 2 ×
2 matrix is invertible. Deriving this criterion will also provide us with a
formula for the inverse of an invertible 2 × 2 matrix. We set

a11 a12 b11 b12
A= and B = .
a21 a22 b21 b22
We wish to write the entries of B in terms of the entries of A so that AB =

BA = I or B = A−1 . From

a11 a12 b11 b12 1 0
= ,
a21 a22 b21 b22 0 1
we obtain the following set of equations:
a11 b11 + a12 b21 = 1

(9.9)
a21 b11 + a22 b21 = 0
a11 b12 + a12 b22 = 0

(9.10)
a21 b12 + a22 b22 = 1
We solve the system of linear equations 9.9 for b11 and b21 :
a11 b11 + a12 b21 = 1 (R1 )

a21 b11 + a22 b21 = 0 (R2 )
If we compute a11 (R2 ) − a21 (R1 ) we find that
a11 a22 b21 − a12 a21 b21 = −a21 .
Solving this equation for b21 , we first factor b21 on the left hand side. This
yields
(a11 a22 − a12 a21 )b21 = −a21 .
If a11 a22 − a12 a21 = 0, we can isolate b21 :
a21
b21 = − .
a11 a22 − a12 a21
Substituting b21 into (R1 ) and solving for b11 we obtain for a11 = 0
1
b11 = (1 − a12 b21 )
a11

1 −a12 a21
= 1−
a11 a11 a22 − a12 a21
1 a11 a22
=
a11 a11 a22 − a12 a21
a22
= .
a11 a22 − a12 a21
When a11 = 0 the final result also holds. So, in solving 9.9 we find that
−a12
b12 = ,
a11 a22 − a12 a21
a11
b22 = .
a11 a22 − a12 a21
A similar analysis for system 9.10 yields the following important property.

a11 a12
Inverting 2 × 2 matrices. If A = and a11 a22 − a12 a21 = 0, then
a21 a22
A is invertible and has inverse

−1 1 a22 −a12
A = .
a11 a22 − a12 a21 −a21 a11
The expression a11 a22 − a12 a21 is extremely significant and prompts the
following definition.

a11 a12
Definition 9.7 If A = , the determinant of A is defined to be
a21 a22

a a12
11
det A = = a11 a22 − a12 a21 .
a21 a22
Looking back at the formula for A−1 , where A is a 2 × 2 matrix whose

determinant is nonzero, we see that, to find the inverse of A, we divide A by
the determinant of A, switch the diagonal elements of A, and change the sign
of the off-diagonal elements. If the determinant is equal to 0, then the inverse
of A does not exist.
We define the determinant of a 1 × 1 matrix A = [a] to be
det A = |a| = a.
Note that |a| here does not denote the absolute value of a.
It is worth stressing that det A is always a number.
⎡ ⎤
a11 a12 a13
⎢ ⎥
Definition 9.8 If A = ⎣a21 a22 a23 ⎦, then the determinant of the 3 × 3
a31 a32 a33
matrix A is defined to be

a
11 a12 a13 a a a
22 a23 21 a23 21 a22
det A = a21 a22 a23 = a11 − a12 + a13 .
a32 a33 a31 a33 a31 a32
a31 a32 a33
We can either use this formula directly or apply a simplified technique

which is analogous to the method for calculating the determinant of a 2 × 2
matrix: Copy the first two columns of A to the right of the matrix and take the
products of the elements on the six diagonals shown below. Attach plus signs
to the products from the downward-sloping diagonals and attach minus signs
to the products from the upward-sloping diagonals.
⎡ −
⎤ − −
a11 a12 a13 a11 a12
⎣a21 a22 a23 ⎦ a21 a22
a31 a32 a33 a31 a32
+ + +
This method gives
det A = a11 a22 a33 + a12 a23 a31 + a13 a21 a32
− a31 a22 a13 − a32 a23 a11 − a33 a21 a12 .
Example 9.23 (Finding determinant of a 3 × 3 matrix) Compute the

determinant of ⎡ ⎤
5 −3 2
⎢ ⎥
A = ⎣1 0 2⎦ .
2 −1 3
Solution. We find det A using both the definition and the simplified technique.
By the definition,

0 2 1 2 1 0

det A = 5 − (−3) + 2
−1 3 2 3 2 −1
= 5(0 − (−2)) + 3(3 − 4) + 2(−1 − 0)
= 5(2) + 3(−1) + 2(−1) = 5.
Following the second approach, we adjoin to A its first two columns and
compute the six indicated products:
⎡ ⎤− − −
5 −3 2 5 −3
⎣1 0 2⎦ 1 0
2 −1 3 2 −1
+ + +
Adding the three products at the bottom and subtracting the three products
at the top gives
det A = 0 + (−12) + (−2) − 0 − (−10) − (−9) = 5,
as before.

The determinant can be defined for any n × n matrix, but we will not give
the general formula, which is computationally complicated for n > 3. But we
mention the following result, which allows us to determine whether or not an
n × n matrix has an inverse.
Determinants and singularity. An n × n matrix is invertible if and only if
det A = 0.
Example 9.24 (Using determinants to find inverse matrices.) Determine

which of the following matrices is invertible, and for 2 × 2 matrices compute
the inverse if it exists.
⎡ ⎤

1 2 3
3 5 2 6 ⎢ ⎥
(a) A = , (b) B = , (c) C = ⎣−4 5 6⎦ .
2 4 1 3
−7 −8 9
Solution.
1. To check if A is invertible, we compute its determinant
det A = (3)(4) − (2)(5) = 2 = 0.
So A is invertible and its inverse is given by

−1 1 4 −5 2 −5/2
A = = .
2 −2 3 −1 3/2
2. To check if B is invertible, we compute its determinant
det B = (2)(3) − (1)(6) = 0.
So, B is not invertible.
3. To check if C is invertible, we compute its determinant
detC = (1)(5)(9) + (2)(6)(7) + (3)(−4)(−8)

− (7)(5)(3) − (−8)(6)(1) − (9)(−4)(2) = 240.
Therefore, C is invertible.
We mentioned that if A is invertible then AX = B has exactly one solution,

namely X = A−1 B. Of particular importance B = 0. That is,

is the case
when
0 0
assume that A is a 2 × 2 matrix and B = ; then X = is a solution of
0 0
AX = B.

0
We say that is a trivial solution. This is the only solution to AX = 0 when
0
A is invertible. If A is not invertible, then there may be nonzero solutions to
the equation AX = 0 and we call any such solution a nontrivial solution. For
the special case of square matrices, the existence of nontrivial solutions is
equivalent to singularity.
If A is an n × n matrix and 0 is an n × 1 column vector, then the equation
AX = 0
has a nontrivial solution if and only if A is singular.

a 6
Example 9.25 (Nontrivial solutions.) Let A = . Determine a so
3 2
that AX = 0 has at least one nontrivial solution, and find at least one such
nontrivial solution.
Solution. To determine when AX = 0 has a nontrivial solution, we must find

conditions under which A is singular, or equivalently, when det A = 0. We have
det A = 2a − 18.
So A will be singular if 2a − 18 = 0 which happens exactly when a = 9.

So, if a = 9 then the equation AX = 0 has a nontrivial solution. To find this
nontrivial solution we want to solve

9 6 x1 0
= .
3 2 x2 0
which can be written as a system of two linear equations:
9x1 + 6x2 = 0
3x1 + 2x2 = 0
We see that the first equation is three times the second equation. We can
therefore simplify the system to obtain
3x1 + 2x2 = 0
0=0
This system has infinitely many solutions. Using a new dummy variable t
we may let x2 = t. Then by the first equation we have x1 = − 23 x2 = − 23 t.
Therefore there are infinitely many solutions to system of equations given by
all (x1 , x2 ) of the form
(− 23 t,t ) for any real number t .
As a particular example, if we take t = 3 then (x1 , x2 ) = (−2, 3) is a solution.

Note that any value for t other than t = 0 would give a nontrivial solution.
If we were to graph the two lines corresponding to these two equations
when a = 9, then both would be identical. For any other value of a these two
lines would intersect at the origin—corresponding to the trivial solution of
(0, 0).
Inverting 3 × 3 matrices
In case of 3 × 3 matrices, there is no such easy formula as the one we used to

invert 2 × 2 matrices. We present here the Gauss-Jordan elimination technique
which is used to invert n × n matrices. It is beyond the scope of this course to
prove it, therefore we just lay out the steps.
Inverting 3 × 3 matrices.
1. Check whether the given matrix A is invertible by finding det A and

verifying that det A = 0.
2. Construct a “super-augmented matrix” [A|I ] by augmenting the matrix A

with the 3 × 3 identity matrix I.
3. Perform equivalent operations on the long rows of the new matrix [A|I ]
aimed at constructing “1”s on the diagonal and “0”s otherwise on the
left-hand side.
4. The inverse matrix A−1 appears on the right-hand side of the equivalent
augmented matrix
elementary
[A|I ] −−−−−−−−→ [I|A−1 ].
operations
Example 9.26 (Finding the inverse of a 3 × 3 matrix.) Find the inverse of

the matrix
⎡ ⎤
1 2 −1
⎢ ⎥
A = ⎣2 2 4⎦
1 3 −3
using the Gauss-Jordan elimination technique.
Solution. We check if given matrix A is invertible.
det A = (1)(2)(−3) + (2)(4)(1) + (−1)(2)(3)

− (1)(2)(−1) − (3)(4)(1) − (−3)(2)(2) = −2.
Since det A = 0, we can proceed adjoining the identity matrix I to matrix A and
then trying to manipulate [A|I ] into [I|A−1 ]:

⎡ ⎤
1 2 −1 1 0 0 (R1 )
⎢ ⎥
[A|I ] = ⎣2 2 4 0 1 0⎦ (R2 )
1 3 −3 0 0 1 (R3 )
⎡ ⎤
1 2 −1 1 0 0 (R4 )
⎢ ⎥
(R2 ) − 2(R1 ) −→ ⎣0 −2 6 −2 1 0⎦ (R5 )
(R3 ) − (R1 ) 0 1 −2 −1 0 1 (R6 )
⎡ ⎤
1 2 −1 1 0 0 (R7 )
⎢ ⎥
− 12 (R5 ) −→ ⎣0 1 −3 1 − 12 0⎦ (R8 )
0 1 −2 −1 0 1 (R9 )
⎡ ⎤
1 2 −1 1 0 0 (R10 )
⎢ ⎥
−→ ⎣0 1 −3 1 − 12 0⎦ (R11 )
(R9 ) − (R8 ) 0 0 1 −2 1
2 1 (R12 )
⎡ ⎤
(R10 ) + (R12 ) 1 2 0 −1 2 1 (R13 )
1
⎢ ⎥
(R11 ) + 3(R12 ) −→ ⎣0 1 0 −5 1 3⎦ (R14 )
0 0 1 −2 12 1 (R15 )
⎡ ⎤
1 0 0 9 − 32 −5
⎢ ⎥
(R13 ) − 2(R14 ) −→ ⎣0 1 0 −5 1 3⎦ .
0 0 1 −2 1
2 1
Therefore, ⎡ ⎤
9 − 32 −5
−1 ⎢ ⎥
A = ⎣−5 1 3⎦ .
−2 1
2 1
Check ⎡ ⎤⎡ ⎤ ⎡ ⎤
1 2 −1 9 − 32 −5 1 0 0
⎢ ⎥⎢ ⎥ ⎢ ⎥
⎣2 2 4⎦ ⎣−5 1 3⎦ = ⎣0 1 0⎦ .
1 3 −3 −2 1
2 1 0 0 1

In the case of a non-invertible matrix (when det A = 0), Gauss-Jordan
elimination technique fails. Elementary operations performed on augmented
matrix [A|I ] in this case do not lead to identity matrix on the left-hand side.
Example 9.27 (Finding the inverse of a 3 × 3 matrix.) Find the inverse of

the matrix ⎡ ⎤
2 1 −4
⎢ ⎥
A = ⎣−4 −1 6⎦
−2 2 −2
using the Gauss-Jordan elimination technique.
Solution. Again, we start with finding det A:
det A =(2)(−1)(−2) + (1)(6)(−2) + (−4)(−4)(2)

− (−2)(−1)(−4) − (2)(6)(2) − (−2)(−4)(1) = 0.
This means that A−1 does not exist. But let us still try to follow the proce-
dure:
⎡ ⎤
2 1 −4 1 0 0 (R1 )
⎢ ⎥
[A|I ] = ⎣−4 −1 6 0 1 0⎦ (R2 )
−2 2 −2 0 0 1 (R3 )
⎡ ⎤
2 1 −4 1 0 0 (R4 )
⎢ ⎥
(R2 ) + 2(R1 ) −→ ⎣0 1 −2 2 1 0⎦ (R5 )
(R3 ) + (R1 ) 0 3 −6 1 0 1 (R6 )
⎡ ⎤
2 1 −4 1 0 0
⎢ ⎥
−→ ⎣0 1 −2 2 1 0⎦ .
(R6 ) − 3(R5 ) 0 0 0 −5 −3 1
At this point, we see that it is not possible to reduce matrix A to I, since

there is a row of zeros on the left-hand side of the augmented matrix. Conse-
quently, A is not invertible, as we proved at the beginning using det A.

9.3 The Leslie Matrix
In this section, we discuss age-structured populations with discrete breeding

seasons, such as perennial plants in the temperate zone, where reproduction is
limited to a particular season of the year. Such populations are described by
discrete-time models.
We begin with the simplest case. We measure time in units of generations
and denote the size of a population at generation t by N (t ), where t =
0, 1, 2, . . .. The discrete-time analogue of unrestricted growth is described
by
N (t + 1) = RN (t ) for t = 0, 1, 2, . . . (9.11)
with N (0) = N0 . The constant R can be interpreted as the number of individu-

als in the next generation per individual in the current generation. We assume
that R ≥ 0. The solution of (9.11) can be found by first computing N (t ) for
t = 1, 2, and 3:
N (1) = RN (0),
N (2) = RN (1) = R [RN (0)] = R2 N (0),

N (3) = RN (2) = R R2 N (0) = R3 N (0).
Recognizing the pattern, we conclude that
N (t ) = Rt N (0).
Unrestricted growth results in exponential growth of the population. Depend-

ing on the value of R, we obtain the following long-term behaviour:

⎧
⎪
⎨ ∞ if R > 1,
lim N (t ) = N (0) if R = 1,
t→∞ ⎪
⎩ 0 if R < 1.
(See Figure 9.9.)
N (t) Figure 9.9: The population size N (t ) =

R N (0) for successive values of t when R >
1, R = 1, and 0 < R < 1.
R>1
R=1
N (0)
0<R<1
t
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
This population model is the simplest discrete-time model for population

growth. The quantity R describes the relative change of the population size
from generation to generation.
In many species, reproduction is highly age dependent. For instance,
periodical cicadas spend 13 to 17 years in the nymphal stage; they reproduce
only once in their life. The purple coneflower, a prairie flower, does not
reproduce until it is about three years old, but then continues to produce
seeds throughout its adult life. To take the life history into account, we
will examine discrete-time, age-structure models. Introduced by Patrick
Leslie in 1945, these models are formulated as matrix models and are based
on demographic data. They are used to calculate important demographic
quantities such as the population size in each age class and the growth rate
of the population. Leslie’s approach is widely used not only in population
biology, but also in the life insurance industry.
We begin with a numerical example to illustrate the method. Since only
females produce offspring, we will follow only the females of the population.
We assume that breeding occurs once a year and that we take a census of
the population at the end of each breeding season. Individuals born during
a particular breeding season are of age 0 at the end of that season. If a zero-
year-old survives until the end of the next breeding season, it will be age 1
when we take a census at the end of that season. If a one-year-old survives
until the end of the next breeding season, it will be age 2 at the end of that
breeding season, and so on. In our example, we will assume that no individ-
ual lives beyond age 3; that is, there are no individuals age 4 or older in the
population. We define
Nx (t ) = number of females of age x at time t,
where t = 0, 1, 2, . . . Then
⎡ ⎤
N0 (t )
⎢N (t )⎥
⎢ 1 ⎥
N (t ) = ⎢ ⎥.
⎣N2 (t )⎦
N3 (t )
is a vector that describes the number of females in each age class at time t.
We assume that 40% of the females age 0, 30% of the females age 1, and
10% of the females age 2 at time t are alive when we take the census at time
t + 1. So:
N1 (t + 1) = (0.4)N0 (t ),
N2 (t + 1) = (0.3)N1 (t ),
N3 (t + 1) = (0.1)N2 (t ).
The number of zero-year-old females at time t + 1 is equal to the number of

female offspring during the breeding season that survive until the end of the
breeding season when the census is taken. We assume that
N0 (t + 1) = 2N1 (t ) + 1.5N2 (t ),
which means that females reach sexual maturity when they are age 1. The
factor 2 in front of N1 (t ) should be interpreted as the average number of
surviving female offspring of a one-year-old female. Similarly, the factor 1.5
in front of N2 (t ) is the average number of surviving female offspring from
a two-year-old female. There is no contribution of three-year-olds to the
newborn class (these individuals are too old to have additional offspring).
We can summarize the dynamics of this model in matrix form:
⎡ ⎤ ⎡ ⎤⎡ ⎤
N0 (t + 1) 0 2 1.5 0 N0 (t )
⎢N (t + 1)⎥ ⎢0.4 0 0⎥ ⎢ ⎥
⎢ 1 ⎥ ⎢ 0 ⎥ ⎢N1 (t )⎥
⎢ ⎥=⎢ ⎥⎢ ⎥. (9.12)
⎣N2 (t + 1)⎦ ⎣0 0.3 0 0⎦ ⎣N2 (t )⎦
N3 (t + 1) 0 0 0.1 0 N3 (t )
The 4 × 4 matrix in this equation is called the Leslie matrix, which we
denote by L. With this we can express (9.12) in the following extremely
compact form:
N (t + 1) = LN (t ).
To see how this equation works, let’s assume that the population at time t
has the following age distribution:
N0 (t ) = 1000, N1 (t ) = 200, N2 (t ) = 100, N3 (t ) = 10.

When we take a census after the next breeding season, we find that 40%
of the females aged 0 at time t are alive at time t + 1; that is N1 (t + 1) =
(0.4)(1000) = 400. Also, 30% of the females age 1 at time t are alive at time
t + 1; that is N2 (t + 1) = (0.3)(200) = 60. And 10% of the females age 2 at
time t are alive at time t + 1; so N3 (t + 1) = (0.1)(100) = 10. Finally, the
number of newborns who are age 0 at time t + 1 is given by
N0 (t + 1) = 2N1 (t ) + 1.5N2 (t ) = (2)(200) + (1.5)(100) = 550.
We obtain the same result when we use the Leslie matrix (9.12):
⎡ ⎤ ⎡ ⎤⎡ ⎤ ⎡ ⎤ ⎡ ⎤
N0 (t + 1) 0 2 1.5 0 N0 (t ) (2)(200) + (1.5)(100) 550
⎢N (t + 1)⎥ ⎢0.4 ⎥ ⎢ ⎥ ⎢ ⎥ ⎢ ⎥
⎢ 1 ⎥ ⎢ 0 0 0⎥ ⎢N1 (t )⎥ ⎢ (0.4)(1000) ⎥ ⎢400⎥
⎢ ⎥=⎢ ⎥⎢ ⎥=⎢ ⎥=⎢ ⎥
⎣N2 (t + 1)⎦ ⎣0 0.3 0 0⎦ ⎣N2 (t )⎦ ⎣ (0.3)(200) ⎦ ⎣ 60 ⎦
N3 (t + 1) 0 0 0.1 0 N3 (t ) (0.1)(100) 10
To obtain the age distribution at time t + 2, we apply the Leslie matrix to

the population vector at time t + 1; that is
⎡ ⎤ ⎡ ⎤⎡ ⎤ ⎡ ⎤
N0 (t + 2) 0 2 1.5 0 550 890
⎢N (t + 2)⎥ ⎢0.4 0⎥ ⎢ ⎥ ⎢ ⎥
⎢ 1 ⎥ ⎢ 0 0 ⎥ ⎢400⎥ ⎢220⎥
⎢ ⎥=⎢ ⎥⎢ ⎥ = ⎢ ⎥.
⎣N2 (t + 2)⎦ ⎣0 0.3 0 0⎦ ⎣ 60 ⎦ ⎣120⎦
N3 (t + 2) 0 0 0.1 0 10 6
These three breeding seasons are illustrated in Figure 9.10.
0 years old 1000 550 890 Figure 9.10: An illustration of the three
breeding seasons.
1 year old 200 400 220
2 years old 100 60 120
3 years old 10 10 6
Census Census Census
From the preceding discussion, we can now find the general form of the
Leslie matrix. We assume that the population is divided into m + 1 age classes.
The census is again taken at the end of each breeding season. Then, for the
survival of each age class, we find that
N1 (t + 1) = P0 N0 (t ),
N2 (t + 1) = P1 N1 (t ),
..
.
Nm (t + 1) = Pm−1 Nm−1 (t ),
where Pi denotes the fraction of females age i at time t that survive to time t +
1. Since Pi denotes a fraction, it follows that 0 ≤ Pi ≤ 1 for i = 0, 1, . . . , m − 1.
The equation for zero-year-old females is given by
N0 (t + 1) = F0 N0 (t ) + F1 N1 (t ) + . . . + Fm Nm (t ),
where Fi is the average number of surviving female offspring per female

individual age i. Writing this equation in matrix form, we find that the Leslie
matrix is given by
⎡ ⎤
F0 F1 F2 · · · Fm−1 Fm
⎢P 0 ··· 0⎥
⎢ 0 0 0 ⎥
⎢ ⎥
⎢ 0 P1 0 · · · 0 0 ⎥.
⎢ ⎥
⎢ .. .. ⎥
⎣ . ··· ··· ··· ··· . ⎦
0 ··· ··· 0 Pm−1 0
This is a matrix in which all elements are 0, except possibly those in the first
row and in the first subdiagonal below the diagonal. The size of the matrix is
(m + 1) × (m + 1), reflecting the m + 1 age classes.
Example 9.28 Suppose that the Leslie matrix of a population is
⎡ ⎤
5 7 1.5
⎢ ⎥
⎣0.2 0 0 ⎦.
0 0.4 0
Interpret this matrix, and determine what happens if you follow a population
for two breeding seasons, starting from 1000 zero-year-old females.
Solution. The population is divided into three age classes: zero-year-olds,

one-year-olds, and two-year-olds. The elements in the subdiagonal describe
the survival probabilities; that is, 20% of the zero-year olds survive until
the next census, and 40% of the one-year-olds survive until the next census.
The maximum age is tow years. Zero-year olds produce an average of five
surviving females per female; one-year-olds produce an average of seven
surviving females per female; two-year-olds produce an average of 1.5
surviving females per female.
A population that starts with 1000 zero-year-old females at time 0 has the
population vector ⎡ ⎤
1000
⎢ ⎥
⎣ 0 ⎦.
0
Using N (t + 1) = LN (t ) we find that

⎡ ⎤⎡ ⎤ ⎡ ⎤
5 7 1.5 1000 5000
⎢ ⎥⎢ ⎥ ⎢ ⎥
N (1) = ⎣0.2 0 0 ⎦ ⎣ 0 ⎦ = ⎣ 200 ⎦ ,
0 0.4 0 0 0
and ⎡ ⎤⎡ ⎤ ⎡ ⎤
5 7 1.5 5000 26, 400
⎢ ⎥⎢ ⎥ ⎢ ⎥
N (2) = ⎣0.2 0 0 ⎦ ⎣ 200 ⎦ = ⎣ 1000 ⎦ .
0 0.4 0 0 80

We will next investigate what happens when we run a model like the
preceding one for a long time. Let’s assume that the Leslie matrix is given by

1.5 2
L= .
0.08 0
Using the matrix equation N (t + 1) = LN (t ) we can compute successive

populations vectors; that is,
N0 (t + 1) = 1.5N0 (t ) + 2N1 (t ),
N1 (t + 1) = 0.08N0 (t ).
Suppose that we start with N0 (0) = 100 and N1 (0) = 100. Then

N0 (1) 1.5 2 100 350
= = .
N1 (1) 0.08 0 100 8
Continuing in this way, we find the population vectors at successive times,

starting at time 0:

100 350 541 868 1388 2221 3553 5685
, , , , , , , ,...
100 8 28 43 69 111 178 284
(In these calculations, we rounded to the nearest integer.) The first thing you
notice is that the total population is growing. (The population size at time t is
N0 (t ) + N1 (t ).) But we can say a lot more. If we look at the successive ratios
N0 (t )
q0 (t ) = ,
N0 (t − 1)
we find the following:
t 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
q0 (t ) 3.5 1.55 1.60 1.5991 1.6001 1.5997 1.6001
That is, q0 (t ) seems to approach a limiting value of 1.6. The same hap-
pens when we look at the ratio
N1 (t )
q1 (t ) = .
N1 (t − 1)
We find
t 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
q1 (t ) 0.08 3.5 1.536 1.605 1.609 1.604 1.596
Both ratios seem to approach 1.6. In fact, using some tools from linear
algebra, it can be proved that
N0 (t ) N1 (t )
lim = lim = 1.6.
t→∞ N0 (t − 1) t→∞ N1 (t − 1)
Next consider the fraction of the females of age 0, namely
N0 (t )
p(t ) = .
N0 (t ) + N1 (t )
Computing this fraction for the times 0 ≤ t ≤ 7 we obtain
t 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
p(t ) 0.5 0.9777 0.9508 0.9528 0.9526 0.9524 0.9523 0.9524
As is suggested by this table, this fraction also converges. Roughly 95.2%

of the population is in age class 0 when t is sufficiently large.
Although the population is increasing in size, the fraction of females in
age class 0 (and hence also in age class 1) converges. This constant fraction is
referred to as the stable age distribution.
The preceding method of finding the stable age distribution does not
always work, and we will give an example in the exercises in which the
population does not reach a stable age distribution.
If we start the population in the stable age distribution, the fraction of
females in age class 0 will remain the same, about 95.2%, and the population
will increase by a constant factor of 1.6 each generation. Here is a numerical
illustration of these two important properties: A stable age distribution for the
population is

2000
N (0) = .
100
If we start with the foregoing stable age distribution, then we have

1.5 2 2000 3200
N (1) = LN (0) = = .
0.08 0 100 160
The fraction of females in age class 0 remains the same, namely 3200/3360 =
2000/2100. We compare this with

2000 3200
(1.6) = ,
100 160
which yields the same result. That is, if N denotes a stable age distribution,
then
LN = λ N,

N0
where λ = 1.6 and N = with N0 /(N0 + N1 ) ≈ 95.2%.
N1
The vector N is called an eigenvector and the value λ the corresponding
eigenvalue. Computing eigenvectors and eigenvalues is central to the theory
of linear algebra. This powerful theory is of great significance in theoretical
mathematics. However, linear algebra also has extremely widespread and im-
portant uses in applications of mathematics. Leslie matrices offer a glimpse
of how matrices can be used to model scientific phenomena, but this is just
the tip of a great iceberg.
9.4 Introduction to Vectors
We encountered the term vector in Section 9.1 in relation with matrices.

Recall: An m × 1 matrix is called a column vector and a 1 × n matrix is called
a row vector. In other words, it is a set of numbers placed in a certain order.
In general, vectors are used to describe various physical quantities, such
as velocity, force, and acceleration. They require both a magnitude and a
direction for their description. In this section, we introduce the geometric
representation of vectors and define some simple operations using vectors.
Vectors can be viewed as directed line segments or arrows in two- B
dimensional or three-dimensional space. The direction of the arrow specifies
the direction of the vector, and the length of the arrow describes its magni-
tude. The tail of the arrow is called the initial point of the vector, and the tip
of the arrow the terminal point. Symbolically, we denote vectors in lower-
case boldface type (for instance, a, k, v, w, and x. When discussing vectors, A
we refer to numbers as scalars. They are denoted in lowercase italic type (for
instance, a, k, v, w, and x).
−
→
If the initial point of a vector v is A and the terminal point is B (Fig- (a) The vector AB
ure 9.11a), we write
−→
v = AB.
Vectors with the same length and same direction, such as those in Fig-
ure 9.11b, we call equivalent. Since we want a vector to be determined
by its length and direction, equivalent vectors are regarded as equal even
(b) Equivalent vectors
though they may be located in different positions. If v and w are equivalent,
we write Figure 9.11: Geometric vectors.
v = w.
Problems involving vectors can often be simplified by introducing a rectan-

gular coordinate system. Let v be a vector in the plane with its initial point at
the origin of a rectangular coordinate system (Figure 9.12a) The coordinates
(v1 , v2 ) of the terminal point B of vector v are called components of v, and
we write

v1
v = (v1 , v2 ) or v = or v = [v1 , v2 ].
v2
Depending on the particular course and the textbook, either of these three
y
denotations can be used. For simplicity, we use the first one below.
We know that two matrices are equal if and only if their components are
equal. Extending this idea to the geometric interpretation of vectors, we say
that two vectors B
v = (v1 , v2 ) and w = (w1 , w2 )
(v1 , v2 )
are equivalent if and only if their corresponding components are equal:
v1 = w1 , and v2 = w2 . x
0
The vector whose components are all zero is called the zero vector. It is (a) Two-dimensional coordinate space
z
denoted by 0.
Vector computation rules. For given vectors v(v1 , v2 )and w(w1 , w2 )
B
v + w = (v1 + w1 , v2 + w2 ), (v1 , v2 , v3 )
v − w = ( v 1 − w 1 , v 2 − w2 ) ,
kv = (kv1 , kv2 ), y
(9.13) 0
v + (−v) = 0,
v + w = w + v,
v + 0 = v.
x
Geometrically, these rules are presented in Figure 9.13 below.
(b) Three-dimensional coordinate space
In three-dimensional space (Figure
⎡ 9.12b),
⎤ vectors can be viewed as 3 × 1
v1 Figure 9.12: Vectors in coordinate spaces.
⎢ ⎥
column matrices with three entries ⎣v2 ⎦, or 1 × 3 row matrices [v1 , v2 , v3 ], or
v3
we can use the notation
v = (v1 , v2 , v3 ).
Vector computation rules 9.13 hold in this case as well. The only difference
is that now we need to perform all algebraic operations on all 3 components
simultaneously; that is, given vectors v(v1 , v2 , v3 ), w(w1 , w2 , w3 ), and scalar k,
v + w = (v1 + w1 , v2 + w2 , v3 + w3 ),
v − w = (v1 − w1 , v2 − w2 , v3 − w3 ),
kv = (kv1 , kv2 , kv3 ).
Example 9.29 If v = (1, −3, 2) and w = (4, 2, 1), find v + w, 2v, −w, and
v − w.
Solution.
v + w = (1 + 4, −3 + 2, 2 + 1) = (5, −1, 3),

2v = (2 · 1, 2 · (−3), 2 · 2) = (2, −6, 4),
−w = (−4, −2, −1),
v − w = v + (−w) = (−3, −5, 1).
w w Figure 9.13: Vector computation rules.
v v v+w
v+w w+v v
w
(a) The sum v + w. (b) v + w = w + v.
v
v v−w
−v
w
(c) The negative of v (d) The difference v − w.
has the same length
as v, but is oppositely
directed.
v 1 (−1)v
2v
(−3)v
v 2v
v−w
−w w
(e) The parallelogram rule. (f) Scalar multiplication kv.


Sometimes a vector is positioned in such a way that its initial point is not z
at the origin. Consider the points P1 (x1 , y1 , z1 ) and P2 (x2 , y2 , z2 ) (Figure 9.14).
−−−→ P2 (x2 , y2 , z2 )
Let P1 be the initial point and P2 – the terminal point of the vector v. Then P1 (x1 , y1 , z1 ) v = P1 P2
−−→ −−→
v = P1 P2 = (x2 − x1 , y2 − y1 , z2 − z1 ). OP1
−−→
OP2
Similarly, in two-dimensional space, on the plane, the vector v with initial
point P1 (x1 , y1 ) and terminal point P2 (x2 , y2 ) is given by y
−−→ x
v = P1 P2 = (x2 − x1 , y2 − y1 ). −−→
Figure 9.14: Vector v = P1 P2 .
Example 9.30 Find the coordinates of the terminal point P2 (x2 , y2 , z2 ) of the
non-zero vector u with initial point P1 (−1, 3, −5) such that
(a) u has the same direction as v = (6, 7, −3)
(b) v is oppositely directed to v = (6, 7, −3).
Solution.
(a) u = (6, 7, −3) and u = (x2 − x1 , y2 − y1 , z2 − z1 ). Then
(x2 − (−1), y2 − 3, z2 − (−5)) = (6, 7, −3), or

(x2 + 1, y2 − 3, z2 + 5) = (6, 7, −3).
Matching the components,
x2 + 1 = 6, y2 − 3 = 7, z2 + 5 = −3,
and
x2 = 5, y2 = 10, z2 = −8,
that is, we found P2 (5, 10, −8).
(b) u = (−6, −7, 3) and u = (x2 − x1 , y2 − y1 , z2 − z1 ). Then
(x2 − (−1), y2 − 3, z2 − (−5)) = (−6, −7, 3), or

(x2 + 1, y2 − 3, z2 + 5) = (−6, −7, 3).
Matching the components,
x2 + 1 = −6, y2 − 3 = −7, z2 + 5 = 3,
and
x2 = −7, y2 = −4, z2 = −2,
that is, we found P2 (−7, −4, −2).

Example 9.31 Let u = (−3, 1, 2), v = (4, 0, −8), and w = (6, −1, −4). Find
the components of the vector x that satisfies the equation 2u − v + x = 7x + w.
Solution. At first, we solve the equation for x(x1 , y1 , z1 )
2u − v − w = 6x,
or
1
x = (2u − v − w).
6
Using the components,
1
(x1 , y1 , z1 ) = (2 · (−3) − 4 − 6, 2 · 1 − 0 − (−1), 2 · 2 − (−8) − (−4))
6
1
= (−6 − 4 − 6, 2 − 0 + 1, 4 + 8 + 4)
6
1 8 1 8
= (−16, 3, 16) = (− , , ).
6 3 2 3

Example 9.32 Let u, v, and w be the vectors in Example 9.31. Find scalars
c1 , c2 , and c3 such that
c1 u + c2 v + c3 w = (2, 0, 4).
Solution. Switching to components
c1 (−3, 1, 2) + c2 (4, 0, −8) + c3 (6, −1, −4) = (2, 0, 4).
By comparing each component on the left-hand side and the right-hand

side, we get the system of three linear equations to find the unknown scalars
c1 , c2 , c3 :
−3c1 + 4c2 + 6c3 = 2,
c1 − c3 = 0,
2c1 − 8c2 − 4c3 = 4.
Construct the augmented matrix and solve the system of linear equations
following the procedure outlined in Section 9.1.
⎡ ⎤
−3 4 6 2 (R1 )
⎢ ⎥
⎣ 1 0 −1 0⎦ (R2 )
2 −8 −4 4 (R3 )
⎡ ⎤
(R2 ) 1 0 −1 0 (R4 )
⎢ ⎥
(R1 ) + 3(R2 ) −→ ⎣0 4 3 2⎦ (R5 )
(R3 ) − 2(R2 ) 0 −8 −2 4 (R6 )
⎡ ⎤
1 0 −1 0
⎢ ⎥
−→ ⎣0 4 3 2⎦
(R6 ) + 2(R5 ) 0 0 4 8
From the last row we get 4c3 = 8, c3 = 2 and by back substitution we find
4c2 + 3 · 2 = 2, y
4c2 + 6 = 2,
4c2 = −4,
c2 = −1. (u1 , u2 )
u
Finally, u2
c1 − 2 = 0,
x
c1 = 2. u1
(a)
The answer: c1 = 2, c2 = −1, c3 = 2. z

The length of a vector u is often called the norm of u and is denoted by
u . It follows from the Theorem of Pythagoras that the norm of a vector P (u1 , u2 , u3 )
u = (u1 , u2 ) in two-dimensional space is
u

u = u21 + u22
O y
(Figure 9.15a). Let u = (u1 , u2 , u3 ) be a vector in three-dimensional space. S
Using Figure 9.15b and two applications of the Theorem of Pythagoras, we Q R
obtain x
(b)
u = (OR)2 + (RP)2 = (OQ)2 + (OS)2 + (RP)2 = u21 + u22 + u23 .
Figure 9.15: Norm of a vector.
Thus,

u = u21 + u22 + u23 .
A vector of norm 1 is called a unit vector.
Example 9.33 Let u= (2, −2, 3), v = (1, −3, 4), and w = (2, 1, −8). Find:
w
(a) u + v , (b)
w .
Solution.
(a)
u + v = (2 + 1, (−2) + (−3), 3 + 4) = (3, −5, 7),

√ √
u + v = 32 + (−5)2 + 72 = 9 + 25 + 49 = 83.
(b)
√ √
w = 22 + 12 + (−8)2 = 4 + 1 + 64 = 69,

w 1 2 1 8
= √ (2, 1, −8) = √ , √ , − √ ,
w 69 69 69 69
2 2 2
w 2 1 8 4 + 1 + 64
= √ + √ + − √ = = 1.
w 69 69 69 69

There are two more very important concepts related to vectors: the Eu-
clidean inner product (otherwise called dot product) and the cross-product.
They utilize two different kinds of vector multiplication.
Inner product. If u and v are vectors in two- or three-dimensional space,
then the Euclidean inner product u • v is defined by
u • v = u v cos θ , (9.14)
where θ is the angle between u and v (0 ≤ θ < π).

u1 v1
If u = ,v = , then in the component form,
u2 v2

v1
u v = [ u1
• u2 ] = u1 v1 + u2 v2 . (9.15)
v2
⎡ ⎤ ⎡ ⎤
u1 v1
⎢ ⎥ ⎢ ⎥
In the three-dimensional case, if u = ⎣u2 ⎦ , v = ⎣v2 ⎦, then
u3 v3
⎡ ⎤
v1
⎢ ⎥
u • v = [u1 u2 u3 ] ⎣v2 ⎦ = u1 v1 + u2 v2 + u3 v3 . (9.16)
v3
Example 9.34 Consider the vectors u = (2, −1, 1) and v = (1, 1, 2). Find
u • v and determine the angle θ between u and v.
Solution. Using the formula (9.14), we get

u•v
cos θ = .
u v
√ √ √
Since u = 22 + (−1)2 + 12 = 6, v = 12 + 12 + 22 = 6, using
Eqn. (9.16), we have
u • v = 2 · 1 + (−1) · 1 + 1 · 2 = 2 − 1 + 2 = 3,
and thus,
3 1
cos θ = √ √ = .
6· 6 2
Finally, θ = π/3.
Note that the inner product of 2 vectors is always a scalar.
Next, we consider a cross-product of two vectors. In many applications of
vectors to problems in geometry, physics, and engineering, it is of interest to
construct a vector in 3-dimensional space that is perpendicular (orthogonal)
to the given vectors.
Cross-product. If u = (u1 , u2 , u3 ) and v = (v1 , v2 , v3 ) are vectors in three-

dimensional space, then the cross-product u × v is the vector w defined by
w = u × v = (u2 v3 − u3 v2 , u3 v1 − u1 v3 , u1 v2 − u2 v1 ), (9.17)
or in determinant notation,
!
u u3 u1 u3 u1 u2
2
u×v = ,− , . (9.18)
v2 v3 v1 v3 v1 v2
The cross-product has a very important geometric interpretation. The

resulting vector w is perpendicular to both vectors u and v. It is possible to
prove that
w = u × v = u v sin θ , (9.19)
and it is equal to the area of the parallelogram, whose sides are formed by the
vectors u and v (Figure 9.16):
A = (base)(altitude) = u v sin θ = u × v .
v
Also, without a proof, there is another yet important relationship between
vectors, related determinants, and geometric objects. While both proofs are v
beyond the scope of this course, the results will be used in subsequent physics
v sin θ
courses.,
Geometric interpretation of determinants.
u
θ u
(a) The absolute value of the determinant
Figure 9.16: Area of the parallelogram.
u u
1 2

v1 v2
is equal to the area of the parallelogram in two-dimensional space deter-

mined by the vectors u = (u1 , u2 ) and v = (v1 , v2 ). (See Figure 9.17a.)
(b) The absolute value of the determinant

u u3
1 u2

v1 v2 v3

w1 w2 w3
is equal to the volume of the parallelepiped in three-dimensional

space determined by the vectors u = (u1 , u2 , u3 ), v = (v1 , v2 , v3 ), and
w = (w1 , w2 , w3 ). (See Figure 9.17b.)
Exercises
9.1. For each linear system of equations,

y Figure 9.17: Geometric interpretation of

z
determinants.
(v1 , v2 )
(u1 , u2 , u3 )
u
v (w1 , w2 , w3 )
(u1 , u2 ) w (v1 , v2 , v3 )
u v y
x
x
(a) (b)
(i) solve the system;

(ii) graph the two lines corresponding to the two equations in a single
coordinate system; and
(iii) use your graph to explain your solution.
x − y = 1 x − 3y = 6
(a) (c)
x − 2y = −2 y = 3 + 13 x
1
2x + 3y = 6 2x + y = 3
(b) (d)
x − 4y = −4 6x + 3y = 1
9.2. Determine c such that
2x − 3y = 5
4x − 6y = c
has
(a) infinitely many solutions, and
(b) no solutions.
(c) Is it possible to choose a number for c so that the system has
exactly one solution? Explain.
9.3.(a) Determine the solutions of
−2x + 3y = 5
ax − y =1
in terms of a.
(b) For which values of a are there no solutions, exactly one solution,
and infinitely many solutions?
9.4. Show that the solution of
a11 x1 + a12 x2 = b1
a21 x1 + a22 x2 = b2
is given by
a22 b1 − a12 b2
x1 =
a11 a22 − a21 a12
and
−a21 b1 + a11 b2
x2 = .
a11 a22 − a21 a12
9.5. Assume that the system
a11 x1 + a12 x2 = b1
a21 x1 + a22 x2 = b2
has infinitely many solutions. Determine the number of solutions if

you change
(a) a11 ,
(b) b1 .
9.6. Reduce the linear equations to upper triangular form and solve.
2x − y =3 3x − y = 1
(a) (d)
x − 3y = 7 −3x + y =4
5x − 3y =2 2x + 3y =5
(b) (e)
2x + 7y =3 − y = −2 + 23 x
7x − y =4 x + 2y = 3
(c) (f)
3x + 2y =1 4y + 2x = 6
5x + 2y = 8 x − 2y =2
(d) (g)
−x + 3y = 9 4y − 2x = −4
9.7. Joe wants to buy fish and plants for his aquarium. Each fish costs $2.30;
each plant costs $1.70. He buys a total of 11 items and spends a total
of $21.70. Set up a system of linear equations that will allow you to
determine how many fish and how many plants Joe bought, and solve
the system.
9.8. Laboratory mice are fed a mixture of two foods that contain two
essential nutrients. Food 1 contains 3 units of nutrient A and 2 units of
nutrient B per ounce. Food 2 contains 4 units of nutrient A and 5 units
of nutrient B per ounce.
(a) In what proportion should you mix the food if the mice require
nutrients A and B in equal amounts?
(b) Assume now that the mice require nutrients A and B in the ratio 1 : 2.
Is it possible to satisfy their dietary needs with the two foods
available?
9.9. Show that if
a11 a22 − a21 a12 = 0,
then the system

+ a12 x2 = 0
a11 x1
+ a22 x2 = 0
a21 x1
has exactly one solution, namely, x1 = 0 and x2 = 0.
9.10. Solve each system of linear equations.
2x − 3y + z = −1
(a) x + y − 2z = −3 (d)
3x − 2y + z = 2 −2x + 4y + z = −1
x + 7y + 2z = −4
5x − y + 2z = 6
3x − 2y + 3z = −3
(b) x + 2y − z = −1
3x + 2y − 2z = 1 2x − y + 3z = 3
(e) 2x + y + 4z = 4
x + 4y − 3z = −13
2x − 3y + 2z = 2
(c) 2x − 3y + 5z = 18
3x + y − 2z = 1
9.11. Find the augmented matrix and use it to solve the system of linear
equations.
−x − 2y + 3z = −9 y + x = 3
(a) 2x + y − z = 5 (c) z − y + −1
4x − 3y + 5z = −9 x + z = 2
3x − 2y + z = 4 2x − z = 1
(b) 4x + y − 2z = −12 (d) y + 3z = x − 1
2x − 3y + z = 7 x + z = y − 3
9.12. Determine whether each system is overdetermined or underdeter-

mined; then solve each system.
4y − 3z = 6
x − 2y + z = 3
(a) (d) 2y + z = 1
2x − 3y + z = 8 y + z = 0
x − y = 2 2x − 7z + z = 2
(b) (e)
x + y + z = 3 x + y − 2z = 4
2x − y = 3 3x + y = 1
(c) x + y = 4 (f) x − y = 0
3x − y = 1
4x = 1
9.13. SplendidLawn sells three types of lawn fertilizer: SL 24-4-8, SL 21-

7-12, and SL 17-0-0. The three numbers refer to the percentages of
nitrogen, phosphate, and potassium, in that order, of the contents. (For
instance 100 g of SL 24-4-8 contains 24 g of nitrogen.) Suppose that
each year your lawn requires 500 g of nitrogen, 100 g of phosphate,
and 180 g of potassium per 1000 square feet. How much of each of
the three types of fertilizers should you apply per 1000 square feet per
year?
9.14. Three different species of insects are reared together in a laboratory
cage. They are supplied with two different types of food each day.
Each individual of species 1 consumes 3 units of food A and 5 units
of food B, each individual of species 2 consumes 2 units of food A
and 3 units of food B, and each individual of species 3 consumes 1
unit of food A and 2 units of food B. Each day, 500 units of food A
and 900 units of food B are supplied. How many individuals of each
species can be reared together? Is there more than one solution? What
happens if we add 550 units of a third type of food, called C, and each
individual of species 1 consumes 2 units of food C, each individual of
species 2 consumes 4 units of food C, and each individual of species 3
consumes 1 unit of food C?
9.15. Let

−1 2 0 1 1 −2
, , .
0 −3 2 4 1 −1
(a) Find A − B + 2C.
(b) Find −2A + 3B.
(c) Determine D so that A + B = 2A − B + D.
(d) Show that (A + B) + C = A + (B + C ).
(e) Show that 2(A + B) = 2A + 2B.
9.16. Let
⎡ ⎤ ⎡ ⎤ ⎡ ⎤
1 3 −1 5 −1 4 −2 0 4
⎢ ⎥ ⎢ ⎥ ⎢ ⎥
⎣2 4 1⎦ , ⎣2 0 1⎦ , ⎣ 1 −3 1⎦ .
0 −2 2 1 −3 −3 0 0 2
(a) Find 2A + 3B −C.

(b) Find 3C − B + 12 A.
(c) Determine D so that A + B + C + D = 0.
(d) Determine D so that A + 4B = 2(A + B) + D.
(e) Show that A + B = B + A.
(f) Show that (A + B) + C = A + (B + C ).
(g) Show that if A + B = C, then A = C − B.
9.17. Suppose A is a 2 × 2 matrix. Find conditions on the entries of A so that
A + A = 0
9.18. Let

−1 0 2 3 1 2
A= , B= , C= .
1 2 −1 1 0 −1
(a) Compute AB and BBA.

(b) Compute ABC.

(c) Show that AC = CA.
(d) Show that (AB)C = A(BC ).
(e) Show that (A + B)C = AC + BC.
(f) Show that A(B + C ) = AB + AC.
9.19. Suppose that A is a 3 × 4 matrix and B is an m × n matrix. What are the
values of m and n such that the following products are defined?
(a) AB
(b) BA
9.20. Let
⎡ ⎤
−1
⎢ ⎥
A= 1 4 −2 and B = ⎣ 2⎦ .
3
(a) Compute AB.

(b) Compute BA.
9.21. Let

2 1
A= .
−1 −3
Find A2 , A3 , and A4 .
9.22. Let

0 1
B= .
1 0
(a) Find B2 , B3 , B4 and B5 .

(b) What can you say about Bk when
(i) k is even, and
(ii) k is odd?
9.23. Let ⎡ ⎤
1 0 0
⎢ ⎥
I3 = ⎣0 1 0⎦ .
0 0 1
Show that I3 = I32 = I33 .

9.24. Let

1 3 1 0
A= and I2 = .
0 −2 0 1
Show that AI2 = I2 = A.

9.25. Let
⎡ ⎤ ⎡ ⎤
1 3 0 1 0 0
⎢ ⎥ ⎢ ⎥
A=⎣ 0 −1 2⎦ and I3 = ⎣0 1 0⎦ .
−1 −2 1 0 0 1
Show that AI3 = I3 A = A.

9.26. Write each system in matrix form.
2x1 + 3x2 − x3 = 0 2x1 − 3x2 = 4
(a) 2x2 + x3 = 1 (c) −x1 + x2 = 3
x1 − 2x3 = 2 3x1 = 4
2x2 − x1 = x3 (d)
(b) 4x1 + x3 = 7x2 x1 − 2x2 + x3 = 1
x2 − x1 = x3 −2x1 + x2 − 3x3 = 0
9.27. Show that the inverse of

2 1 1 −1
A= is B= .
1 1 −1 2
9.28. Show that the inverse of

⎡ ⎤ ⎡ ⎤
2 3 1 − 65 2
5
7
5
⎢ ⎥ ⎢ ⎥
A = ⎣5 2 3⎦ is B=⎣ 3
5 − 15 − 15 ⎦ .
1 2 0 8
5 − 15 − 11
5
9.29. Let

−1 1 2 −2
A= , B= .
2 3 3 2
(a) Find the inverse (if it exists) of A.
(b) Find the inverse (if it exists) of B.
(c) Show that (A−1 )−1 = A.
(d) Show that (AB)−1 = B−1 A−1 .
9.30. Find the inverse (if it exists) of

2 4
C= .
3 6
9.31. Suppose that

−1 0 −2
A= and D= .
2 −3 −5
Find X such that AX = D by

(a) solving the associated system of linear equations and

(b) using the inverse of A.
9.32.(a) Show that if X = AX + D, then
X = (I − A)−1 D
provided that I − A is invertible.

(b) Suppose that

3 2 −2
A= and D= .
0 −1 2
Compute (I − A)−1 , and use your result in (a) to compute X.

9.33. Use the determinant to determine whether the following matrices are
invertible.

2 −1 4 −1
(a) , (c) ,
1 3 8 −2

−1 3 −1 2
(b) , (d) .
0 3 −1 2
9.34. Suppose that

2 4
A= .
3 6
(a) Compute det A. Is A invertible?
(b) Suppose that

x b1
X= and B= .
y b2
Write AX = B as a system of linear equations.

(c) Show that if

3
B= 9 then AX = B
2
has infinitely many solutions. Graph the two straight lines associ-
ated with the corresponding system of linear equations, and explain
why the system has infinitely many solutions.
(d) Find a column vector

b1
B= so that AX = B
b2
has no solutions.
9.35. Suppose that

a 8 x b1
A= , X= , and B= .
2 4 y b2
(a) Show that when a = 4, AX = B has exactly one solution.

(b) Suppose a = 4. Find conditions on b1 and b2 such that AX + B has
(i) infinitely many solutions and
(ii) no solutions.
(c) Explain your results in (a) and (b) graphically.
9.36. Use the determinant to find the inverse of A.

2 1 −1 4
(a) A = , (c) A = ,
3 −1 5 1

1 2 −2 1
(b) A = , (d) A = .
0 3 3 2
9.37. Use the determinant to determine whether A is invertible. If it is

invertible, compute its inverse.
⎡ ⎤ ⎡ ⎤
2 −1 −1 −1 3 −1
⎢ ⎥ ⎢ ⎥
(a) A = ⎣ 2 1 1⎦ , (c) A = ⎣ 2 −2 3⎦ ,
−1 1 −1 −1 1 2
⎡ ⎤ ⎡ ⎤
−1 0 −1 −1 0 2
⎢ ⎥ ⎢ ⎥
(b) A = ⎣ 0 −2 0⎦ , (d) A = ⎣−1 −2 3⎦ .
−1 1 2 0 2 −1
9.38. Assume that a population is divided into three age classes and
that 20% of females age 0 and 70% of the females age 1 survive
until the end of the next breeding season. Assume further that females
age 1 have an average of 3.2 female offspring and females age 2 have
an average of 1.7 female offspring. If, at time 0, the population con-
sists of 2000 females age 0, 800 females age 1 and 200 females age 2,
find the Leslie matrix and age distribution at time 2.
9.39. Assume that a population is divided into three age classes and
that 80% of the females age 0 and 10% of the females age 1 survive
until the end of the next breeding season. Assume further that females
age 1 have an average of 1.6 female offspring and females age 2 have
an average of 3.9 female offspring. If, at time 0, the populations con-
sists of 1000 females age 0, 100 females age 1 and 20 females age 2,
find the Leslie matrix and the age distribution at time 3.
9.40. Assume that a population is divided into four age classes and that 70%
of the females age 0 and 50% of the females age 1 and 10% of the fe-
males age 2 survive until the end of the next breeding season. Assume
further that females age 2 have an average of 4.6 female offspring and
females age 3 have an average of 3.7 female offspring. If, at time 0,

the populations consists of 1500 females age 0, 500 females age 1
and 250 females age 2, and 50 females age 3, find the Leslie matrix
and the age distribution at time 2.
9.41. Assume that a population is divided into four age classes and that 65%
of the females age 0 and 40% of the females age 1 and 30% of the fe-
males age 2 survive until the end of the next breeding season. Assume
further that females age 1 have an average of 2.8 female offspring and
females age 2 have an average of 7.2 female offspring, and females
age 3 have an average of 3.7 female offspring. If, at time 0, the pop-
ulations consists of 1500 females age 0, 500 females age 1 and 250
females age 2, and 50 females age 3, find the Leslie matrix and the age
distribution at time 3.
9.42. Assume the given Leslie matrix L. Determine the number of age
classes in the population, the fraction of one-year-olds that sur-
vive until the end of the next breeding season, and the average
number of female of female offspring of a two-year-old female.
⎡ ⎤ ⎡ ⎤
2 3 2 1 0 5 0
⎢0.4 ⎥ ⎢ ⎥
⎢ 0 0 0⎥ (b) L = ⎣0.8 0 0⎦ .
(a) L = ⎢ ⎥,
⎣ 0 0.6 0 ⎦
0 0.3 0
0 0 0.8 0
9.43. Assume that the Leslie matrix is

1.2 3.2
L= .
0.8 0
Suppose that, at time t = 0, N0 (0) = 100 and N1 (0) = 0. Find the
population vectors for t = 0, 1, 2, . . . , 10. Compute the successive ratios
N0 (t ) N1 (t )
q0 (t ) = and q1 (t ) =
N0 (t − 1) N1 (t − 1)
for t = 1, 2, . . . , 10. What value do q0 (t ) and q1 (t ) approach as t → ∞?
(Take a guess) Compute the fraction of females age 0 for t = 0, 1, . . . , 10.
Can you find a stable age distribution?

0.2 3
L= .
0.33 0
N0 (t ) N1 (t )
q0 (t ) = and q1 (t ) =
N0 (t − 1) N1 (t − 1)
for t = 1, 2, . . . , 10. What value do q0 (t ) and q1 (t ) approach as t → ∞?
(Take a guess) Compute the fraction of females age 0 for t = 0, 1, . . . , 10.
Can you find a stable age distribution?

0 2
L= .
0.6 0

N0 (t ) N1 (t )
q0 (t ) = and q1 (t ) =
N0 (t − 1) N1 (t − 1)
for t = 1, 2, . . . , 10. Do q0 (t ) and q1 (t ) converge? Compute the fraction

of females age 0 for t = 0, 1, . . . , 10. Describe the long term behaviour
of q0 (t ).

0 a
L= .
b 0

N0 (t ) N1 (t )
q0 (t ) = and q1 (t ) = .
N0 (t − 1) N1 (t − 1)
Do q0 (t ) and q1 (t ) converge? Compute the fraction of females age 0

for t = 0, 1, . . . , 10. Describe the long term behaviour of q0 (t ).
9.47. Draw the following vectors in R2 :

3 −2
(a) a = , (c) c = ,
0 3

2 3
(b) b = , (d) d = .
3 −2
9.48. Compute w = a + b (vectors a and b are given in Problem 9.47) and
find the resulting vector w graphically.
9.49. Solve for the vector x in terms of the vectors a and b.
(a) x − a = 2(x − 2a),
(b) x + 2a − b = 3(x + a) − 2(2a − b).
9.50. Let u = (−3, 1, 2), v = (4, 0, −8), and w = (6, −1, −4). Find the
components of the vector x that satisfies 2u − v + x = 7x + w.
9.51. Show that there do not exist scalars c1 , c2 , and c3 such that
c1 (−2, 9, 6) + c2 (−3, 2, 1) + c3 (1, 7, 5) = (0, 5, 4).
9.52. Find all scalars c1 , c2 , and c3 such that
c1 (1, 2, 0) + c2 (2, 1, 1) + c3 (0, 3, 1) = (0, 0, 0).

1
9.53.(a) Show that if v is any nonzero vector, then v is a unit vector.
v
(b) User the result in part (a) to find a unit vector that has the same
direction as the vector v = (3, 4).
9.54. Find u • v and cosine of the angle θ between u and v.
(a) u = (2, 3), v = (5, −7),
(b) u = (1, −5, 4), v = (3, 3, 3).
9.55. In each part, something is wrong with the expression. What?
(a) (u • v) + w
(b) u • v
(c) k • (u + v)
9.56. Let u = (3, 2, −1), v = (0, 2, −3), w = (2, 6, 7). Compute
(a) v × w,
(b) u × (v × w).
9.57. Find the area of the parallelogram determined by u = (1, −1) and
v = (0, 3).
9.58. Find the volume of the parallelepiped determined by u = (2, −6, 2),
v = (0, 4, −2), and w = (2, 2, −4).

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9

Linear algebra and applications*

• solve systems of linear equations,

• deﬁne matrices and perform algebraic operations on them,

• ﬁnd the inverse of a matrix,

• perform simple calculations with vectors including scalar and vector

• use matrices in discrete models of population growth (Leslie matrix).

9.1 Linear Systems

To solve such a problem, we will set up a system of equations. If

x = number of individuals of species 1

We refer to these two equations as a system of two linear equations in

Graphical solution Figure 9.1: The graph of a linear equation in

Figure 9.4: The two lines are identical.

Example 9.1 (Exactly One Solution) Find the solution of

and this is the unique solution of system (9.2). 1

Example 9.2 (No Solution.) Find the solution of x

Solution. If we divide the second equation by 2, we get the ﬁrst equation,

The solution can then be written as the set of points

(t, 4 − 2t ) for any −∞ < t < ∞.

In the previous example we introduced the variable t to describe the set

Example 9.4 Solve

2. Add one equation to another

Through algebraic manipulations, we eliminated x from the second equation.

We therefore call a system that is written in this form upper triangular.

a11 x1 + a12 x2 + ··· +a1n xn = b1

The variables are now x1 , x2 , . . . , xn . The coefﬁcients ai j on the left-hand

1. Multiply an equation by a nonzero constant

2. Add one equation to another

3. Rearrange the order of the equations

This method is also called Gaussian elimination.

1. Exactly one solution

3. Inﬁnitely many solutions

When a system has no solutions, we say that the system is inconsistent.

Example 9.5 (Exactly one solution.) Solve

13y − 11z = −7.

In this new equation, the term involving x has been eliminated.

Again, the term involving x has been eliminated.

4(R5 ) 52y − 44z = −28

13 (−7 + 11z) 13 (−7 + (11)(3))

Example 9.6 (No Solution.) Solve

Example 9.7 (Inﬁnitely Many Solutions.) Solve

If we solve (R4 ) for x and substitute y = 2 − 2t and z = t into the resulting

So for any possible value of t we can set z = t and y = 2 − 2t and x = 10 − 7t

Shorthand matrix notation

Deﬁnition 9.1 A matrix is a rectangular array of numbers:

We can think of the matrix A in the deﬁnition as the coefﬁcient matrix of

Solution. The augmented matrix is given by

Example 9.9 Solve the following underdetermined system:

Translating this matrix back into a system of equations, we obtain

It then follows that

( 56 − 16 t, − 13 + 23 t,t ) for any t.

Example 9.10 Solve the following overdetermined system:

intersect in one point (or be identical). They don’t, so there is no solution. −4

To write the solution, we introduce a dummy variable t and set z = t. To solve

(3 + s − 2t, s,t ) where s,t are any real numbers.

We introduced matrices in the previous section; in this section, we will learn

Basic matrix operations

am1 am2 · · · amn

We can also multiply matrices by numbers. In this context we frequently call

Deﬁnition 9.4 Suppose that A = [ai j ] is an m × n matrix and c is a scalar.

Example 9.12 Find A + 2B − 3C if

Example 9.13 Let

Deﬁnition 9.5 Suppose that A = [ai j ] is an m × matrix and B = [bi j ] is an