CHAPTER 02: LINEAR AND MATRIX ALGEBRA

by
Dr R. Netshikweta

University Of Venda
MAT 1249/1649

Second Semester 2024

[Link]@[Link]
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 Topic: Linear and Matrix Algebra

Objectives:
z Explains what is meant by a Matrix
z Shows how Matrices can be added, subtracted and
multiplied
z Explains what is meant by the Determinant and the Inverse
of a Matrix, and further shows how to calculate them
z Shows how Matrices can be used to solve system of linear
equations

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 What is a matrix?

Defn:
z A matrix is a set of numbers arranged in the form of a
rectangle and enclosed in brackets.

z The plural of matrix is matrices. For example,

A = 5 −3 −7 ,

 
  1 2 3
1 −4 5
B= , and C =  2 4 6  .
7 0 −2
2 6 9

are all matrices

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 Terminologies

z Each number in a matrix is known as an element (or an

entry) of a matrix.
z A matrix whose elements are all zeros is called a zero
matrix. e.g
 
0 0
H=
0 0

z If a matrix has m rows and n columns, it is called an

m × n matrix (read as ”m by n matrix”).
e.g. Matrix A is a 1 × 3, B has size 2 × 3 and C has size 3 × 3.
z NB!! We refer to the size of a matrix by giving its
number of rows and number of columns, in that order.

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 Terminologies Cont...

z A matrix in which the number of rows equal to the

number of columns is called a square matrix.
e.g. Matrix C is a square matrix.
z A square matrix whose elements off the main diagonal are
zeros is called a diagonal matrix. For example,
 
    −1 0 0
1 0 9 0
M= T = D= 0 8 0 .
0 1 0 0
0 0 −17

are all examples of diagonal matrices.

z A square matrix with 1’s on the main diagonal and zero’s
everywhere is called a Identity matrix.
e.g. Matrix M is an identity matrix.
z NB!! An identity matrix is often denoted by a capital
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letter I.
 Position of an Element in a Matrix

z The position of an element in a matrix is given by the row

and column containing the element.
z This is equally denoted using double subscript notation
aij where i is the row and j the element aij . For example,
recall matrix A, we have

a11 = 1, a12 = −4, a13 = 5,

a21 = 7, a22 = 0, a23 = −2,

z Two matrices are said to be equal if they have the same

size and their corresponding elements are equal, i.e, if
   
a11 a12 b11 b12
A= and B =
a21 a22 b21 b22
then A = B if a11 = b11 , a12 = b12 , a21 = b21 , and
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a22 = b22 .
 Matrix Manipulation

Addition and Subtraction of Matrices:

> Matrices may be added or subtracted only if they have the
same size.

> Two matrices having the same size can be added or

subtracted by simply adding or subtracting the
corresponding elements.
       
1 2 5 2 1+5 2+2 6 4
+ = = .
3 4 1 0 3+1 4+0 4 4

Similarly,
       
1 2 5 2 1−5 2−2 −4 0
− = =
3 4 1 0 3−1 4−0 2 4
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 Matrix Manipulation Cont...

Scalar multiplication or division:

> A matrix is multiplied (divided) by a number (or scalar) by
multiplying (dividing) each element by that number.

> For example:

     
1 2 4×1 4×2 4 8
4 = = ,
3 −9 4 × 3 4 × (−9) 12 −36

and
− 31 × 1 − 13 × 2
   
1 1 2
− =
3 3 −9 − 3 × 3 − 13 × (−9)
1

 1
− 3 − 23

=
−1 −3
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 Matrix Manipulation Cont...

Multiplying two matrices together:

> Two matrices can only be multiplied together if the
number of columns in the first is the same as the number
of rows in the second.

> Here, the corresponding entries from a ro and a column in

the respective matrices are multiplied together and the
resulting products are added. For example, given
   
2 −1 2 −3
A= and B =
3 4 5 1

> The number of columns in the first matrix is 2 and this is

the same as the number of rows in the second.
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 Matrix Manipulation Cont...

> We can therefore perform the multiplication and the

answer will have size 2 × 2.
> Thus,
  
2 −1 2 −3
AB =
3 4 5 1
 
(2)(2) + (−1)(5) (2)(−3) + (−1)(1)
=  
(3)(2) + (4)(5) (3)(−3) + (4)(1)
 
−1 −7
=
26 −5

> Similarly, we can also perform the multiplication of BA

and the answer will still have size 2 × 2 but with different
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entries compared to AB.
 Matrix Manipulation Cont...

> Thus,
  
2 −3 2 −1
BA =
5 1 3 4
 
(2)(2) + (−3)(3) (2)(−1) + (−3)(4)
=  
(5)(2) + (4)(5) (5)(−1) + (1)(4)
 
−5 −14
=
13 −1

> This shows that AB 6= BA, hence, in general, matrix

multiplication is commutative.

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 Exercise: Matrix Manipulations

> Exercise: consider the following matrices,

     
1 2 1 1 8 4
A= , B= and C =
3 5 −2 0 6 3

> Find:

(a) A + B (b)B + A (c)B − C

(d) C − B (e)AB (f )BA

(g) BC (h)CB (f ) − 4A

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 Determinant of a 2 × 2 Matrix

> Given a matrix

 
a b
A= ,
c d
we define the determinant of A to be ad − bc.

> We denote the determinant of A by |A|, det(A) or

2 −1
.
3 4
> Example: If
   
2 −1 1 −4
A= and B =
3 4 7 3
then det(A) = (2)(4) − (−1)(3) = 8 + 3 = 11 and

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det(B) = (1)(2) − (−4)(7) = 2 + 28 = 30
 Inversion of a 2 × 2 Matrix

> Definition: Let A be a 2 × 2 matrix. If there exists a 2 × 2

matrix B such that AB = BA = I, then B is called the
inverse of A.
> The inverse of A is always denoted by A−1 .
> Note that not all square matrices have inverse. A square
matrix has an inverse if and only if its determinant is not
zero.
> Example: Show that the inverse of
   
1 1 −1 −2 1
A= is A =
3 2 3 −1
   
1 −1 3 1
B= is B −1 =
−2 3 2 1
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 Inversion of a 2 × 2 Matrix Cont...

> Soln: We have to show that AA−1 = I and BB −1 = I:

  
−1 1 1 −2 1
AA =
3 2 3 −1
 
(1)(−2) + (1)(3) (1)(1) + (1)(−1)
=  
(3)(−2) + (2)(3) (3)(1) + (2)(−1)
 
1 0
=
0 1

> Similarly,
    
−1 1 −1 3 1 1 0
BB = =
−2 3 2 1 0 1
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 Exercise: Matrix Inversion

> Show that the inverse of

   
1 2 −1 −7 2
A= is A =
4 7 4 −1
   
−3 1 −1 −1 1
B= is B =
−2 1 −2 3

> Determine B −1 if:

   
1 2 1 1
(i) B = (ii) B =
3 5 −2 0
   
8 4 −1 −1
(iii) B = (iv) B =
6 3 2 1

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 Application of matrices to solving simultaneous
equations

z Matrices are used in a variety of application, including

solving systems of linear equations
z A linear system can be written as an equation of the form
AX = B, where A, X and B are matrices.
z If the matrix A has an inverse A−1 , then the matrix
equation may be solved as follows:

AX = B
−1
A (AX) = A−1 B
(A−1 A)X = A−1 B
IX = A−1 B
X = A−1 B

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 Example: Application of matrices to solving
simultaneous equations

z Example: Use the inverse matrix to solve the following

system of linear equations:

2x + y = 6
−4x + 2y = 12

z Soln: We write the system in the form AX = B. Thus,

    
2 1 x 6
=
−4 2 y 12

where
     
2 1 x 6
A= ; X= ; and B =
−4 2 y 12
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 Example: Application of matrices to solving
simultaneous equations Cont...
z The solution to our given system of quations is:
X = A−1 B
z Now, given
 
2 1
.
−4 2
z Then
 
1 2 −1
A−1 =
(2)(2) − (−4)(1) 4 1
 
1 2 −1
=
8 4 2
 1
− 18

= 4
1 1
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 Example: Application of matrices to solving
simultaneous equations Cont...

z Finally,
1
− 81
    
x 4 6
X= = 1 1
y 2 4 12
 1 1 
(6) − (12)
 4 8 
= 
 
1 1

(6) + (12)
2 4
 
0
=
6

z Therefore, the solution to the system is x = 0 and y = 6.

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 Exercise: Application of matrices to solving
simultaneous equations

> Use matrices to solve the following simultaneous

equations:

(a) 2x + 3y = −2; 3x + 5y = 6

(b) 2x + 3y = 12; 3x + 5y = 15

(c) 2x + 3y = 6; 4x + 6y = 12

(d) 2x − 3y = 1; x + 2y = −3

(e) 3x + y = −2; 3x + y = 3.

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