Match each matrix to its geometric transformation:
2 0 0 −1 1 0 1 1 0.5 0 1 0
𝑖) [ ] 𝑖𝑖) [ ] 𝑖𝑖𝑖) [ ] 𝑖𝑣) [ ] 𝑣) [ ] 𝑣𝑖) [ ]
0 2 1 0 0 −1 0 1 0 0.5 0 0
Transformations:
• (A) Projection onto x-axis (vi)
• (B) Rotation 90° counterclockwise (ii)
• (C) Reflection across x-axis (iii)
• (D) Uniform scaling by 2 (i)
• (E) Horizontal shear (iv)
• (F) Uniform scaling by 0.5 (v)
Computer Graphics: A game character is at position (3, 2).
(a) Write the matrix that rotates the character 90° counterclockwise about the origin.
(b) Apply this rotation to find the new position.
(c) Write the matrix that scales the character by 2× in x and 3× in y.
(d) If you want to first rotate, then scale, what single matrix accomplishes both?
Robot Arm: A simple 2D robot arm has two segments. The first rotates by angle θ₁, and the second
by angle θ₂ (relative to the first).
(a) Write the rotation matrix R₁ for the first joint rotating by 30°.
(b) Write the rotation matrix R₂ for the second joint rotating by 45°.
(c) What is the combined rotation matrix for the end effector's orientation?
(d) If the end of the first segment is at (1, 0) in local coordinates, where is it after
applying R₁?
Network/Graph Analysis: Consider a social network with 3 people: Lila, Mala, and Kala. The
adjacency matrix is:
𝐿 𝑀 𝐾
0 1 1
[ 1 0 1] where 1 means they are friends.
1 1 0
(a) Is this matrix symmetric? Why does this make sense for friendships?
(b) Compute A². What does the (i,j) entry of A² represent?
(c) How many paths of length 2 go from Lila to Kala?
Area Transformation:
A unit square has vertices at (0,0), (1,0), (1,1), and (0,1).
1 3
(a) Apply the following matrix to each vertex. Sketch the resulting parallelogram. [ ]
0 2
(b) Compute the determinant of this matrix.
(c) Verify that the area of your parallelogram equals |det(A)|.
Composition of Transformations: Let R be the 90° counterclockwise rotation matrix and S be a
2 0
horizontal stretch where 𝑆 = [ ]
0 1
(a) Write out R explicitly.
(b) Compute RS (stretch then rotate).
(c) Compute SR (rotate then stretch).
(d) Apply both RS and SR to the point (1, 0). Verify you get different results.
(e) Sketch what happens to the unit square under RS versus SR.
(f) Compute det(RS) and det(SR). Are they equal? Why or why not?
0 −1
Matrix Powers: Let A be the 90° rotation matrix given by 𝐴 = [ ]
1 0
(a) Compute A², A³, and A⁴.
(b) What transformation is A⁴? Does this make sense geometrically?
(c) Predict what A¹⁰⁰ is without computing all the intermediate powers.
2 0
(d) For the diagonal matrix 𝐷 = [ ], find a formula for Dⁿ.
0 3
0.5 0.5
Projection Deep Dive: The matrix P projects onto the line y = x: 𝑃 = [ ]
0.5 0.5
(a) Verify that P² = P (the defining property of projections).
(b) Apply P to the vectors (1, 0), (0, 1), and (1, 1). Interpret geometrically.
(c) What is det(P)? Is P invertible? Why does this make sense?