Mathematics for Finance, RVU Dep’t of ACC &Fin

Unit Two
Matrix Algebra and its Application in Business
Definition 2.1 A matrix is a rectangular array of real numbers arranged in m-rows and n-
columns.

It is symbolized by a bold face capital letter with its elements enclosed within a parentheses or
bracket as shown below.

A =¿ ( a11 a12 ⋯a1n ¿) (a21 a22 ⋯a2n ¿) (⋮ ⋮ ⋮¿ )¿

¿¿
¿ in which aij are real numbers
Each number appearing in the array is said to be an element or component of the matrix.
Element of a matrix are designated using a lower case form of the same letter used to symbolize
the matrix itself. These letters are subscripted as a ij, to give the row and column location of the
element within the array. The first subscript always refers to the row location of the element; the
second subscript always refers to its column location. Thus, component a ij is the component
located at the intersection of the ith raw and jth column of the arrangements of the matrix A .
The number of rows (m) and the number of columns (n) of the array give its order or its
dimension and denoted by “m x n” and read as “m by n”.
The following are examples of matrices

A=¿ ( 1 7 ¿) ( 5 3 ¿) ¿ ¿¿
a) ¿
Row poison
This is 3 x 2 matrix where element
a 12 =7 , a21=5 , a 32=2 , etc .
Column poison
Indicator indicator
x 44 =45

X=¿( 1 5 9 15 ¿)( 2 6 10 20 ¿)( 3 7 1 30 ¿)¿¿¿

x 34=30
x 42=8
b) ¿
Row poison
This is 4¿ 4matrix where some elements are: x 32=7
Column poison
indicator
2.2 Types of Matrices
There are deferent types of matrices. These are
1. Vector matrices – are matrices which consist of just one row or just one column. The
dimension of the former is’ 1xn’ matrix and the latter is ‘m x 1’ matrix.
1.1 Row vector or matrix is a row matrix with dimension 1 x n.

For example W =( −1 0 6 )1 x 3 is a row matrix.

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1.2. Column vector or matrix is a column a matrix with dimension m x 1.

Z=¿ ( 0¿) (20¿) ¿¿¿

For example ¿ is a column matrix.
2. Square matrix is a matrix that has equal number of rows and columns. It is also called nth
order matrix or a square matrix of order n. If a matrix is not square then it is
called rectangular matrix.

X=¿ ( 1 2 ¿ ) ¿ ¿¿
For example ¿ is a square matrix of order 2 and

Y=¿ ( −2 5 −7 ¿) ( 3 −9 12 ¿) ¿ ¿¿
¿ is a square matrix of order 3.
3. Null or zero-matrix is a matrix that has zero for every entry. It is generally denoted by capital
letter O.

O=¿ ( 0 0 ¿) ( 0 0¿ )¿ ¿¿
For example ¿ is a zero matrix of dimension 3 ¿2 but

O=¿ ( 0 0 ¿ ) ¿ ¿¿
¿ is a zero matrix of order 2.
For square matrix, the diagonal from the top left to the bottom right corner is called the principal
diagonal or main diagonal or primary diagonal.

(A=¿ a1 a12 ⋯a1n¿)(a21 a2 ⋯a2n¿)(⋮ ⋮ ⋮¿)¿¿

¿ is square matrix of order n and the principal diagonal is the diagonal
that contain the elements 11 22 33
a , a , a ,⋯, a
nn .
4. Identity or unit matrix a square matrix in which all of the primary diagonal entries are ones
and all of the off diagonal entries are zeros. Identity matrix of order n is
denoted by In.

( 1 0 0¿ ) ( 0 1 0¿ ) ¿ I =¿ ( 1 000¿)( 0 100¿)( 0 010¿)¿¿

I 2=¿ ( 1 0 ¿ ) ¿ ¿¿ I3=¿ ¿¿ 4
For example ¿ ,
of order 2, 3, and 4, respectively
¿ , ¿ are identity matrices
5. Scalar matrix is a square matrix where elements on the primary diagonal are the same.

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( 2 1 0 ¿) ( 0 2 1 ¿) ¿ ¿¿
For example ¿ is a scalar matrix.
“An identity matrix is a scalar matrix but a scalar matrix may not be an identity matrix”.

2.3 Matrix operations and Properties

Definition 2.2 If A and B are two matrices, each of dimension m x n, then the sum of A and B is
the m x n matrix whose elements are obtained by adding the corresponding
elements:

A+B=¿ ( a 11 a 12 ⋯ a1n ¿ )( a 21 a22 ⋯ a 2n ¿ ) ( ⋮ ⋮ ⋮¿ ) ¿

¿¿
¿
A =¿ ( 1 3 ¿ ) ¿ ¿ ¿
Example 2.1 a) If ¿ , then

A + B= ¿ ( 1 3 ¿) ¿ ¿ ¿
¿
C=¿ ( −2 7 2 ¿ ) ¿ ¿ ¿
b) ¿ then

C+ D=¿ ( −2 7 2 ¿ ) ¿ ¿ ¿
¿ is not defined.
Since the two matricesC and D aren’t conformable for addition because they aren’t of the same
dimension since the former is 2×3 and the later is 2×2 matrix.

Properties of matrix addition

The operation of adding two matrices that are conformable for addition has these two basic
properties.
1. A + B = B + A (Commutative law of matrix addition)
2. (A + B) + C = A + (B + C) (Associative law of matrix addition)

Definition 2.3 If k is any real number and A is an m x n matrix, then the product kA is defined
to be the matrix whose components are given by k times the corresponding
component of A . That is

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kA=kalignl ( a11 a12 ⋯ a1n ¿) ( a21 a22 ⋯ a2n ¿ ) ( ⋮ ⋮ ⋮¿) ¿

¿¿
¿
Example 2.2 a) If A=( 6 5 7 ) and k =2 , then 2 A is
2 A=2(6 5 7 )=(2×6 2×5 2×7)=(12 10 14 )

B=¿ ( 1 −2 4¿ )( −3 2 3¿)¿ ¿¿ k =− 2 − 2 B
b) If ¿ and 3 , then 3 is

2 2
− B=− ¿ ( 1 −2 4 ¿ )( −3 2 3 ¿ ) ¿ ¿
3 3 ¿
Properties of scalar multiplication
The operation of multiplying a matrix by a constant (a scalar) has the following basic properties.
If x and y are real numbers and A and B are m x n matrices, conformable for addition, then

1. xA= Ax
2. ( x+ y ) A=xA + yA
3. x ( A + B)=xA+ xB
4. x ( yA )=( xy) A
Definition 2.4 If A and B are two matrices, of dimension m x n, then the difference of A and B
is the m x n matrix whose elements are obtained by subtracting the corresponding
elements:

A−B=¿ ( a11 a12 ⋯ a 1n ¿ )( a21 a22 ⋯ a 2n ¿ ) ( ⋮ ⋮ ⋮¿) ¿

¿¿
¿
The subtraction of two matrices can be defined in terms of addition of matrices and scalar
multiplication. If two matrices A and B each of dimension m x n, then the difference of A and
B is the m x n matrix such that
A−B= A+(−1 )B .

A=¿ ( 1 2 ¿ ) ¿ ¿ ¿
Example2.3 If ¿ , then find A−B and B− A ?

A −B =¿ ( 1 2 ¿ ) ¿ ¿ ¿
¿ , whereas

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B− A =¿ ( 0 1 ¿ )¿ ¿ ¿
¿
Note that: A – B  B – A
Exercise: Perform matrix addition, and scalar multiplication
In Each question compute the given operations

D= ¿ ( 4 1 3 ¿ ) ¿ ¿ ¿
1) Let ¿ , then find
2
D
a) D + E b) 3

A =¿ ( 2 −1 ¿ ) ¿ ¿ ¿
2) Let ¿ , then find
1 4
B+ A
a) 2 A−3 B b) 5 3

Matrix by matrix multiplication

Before you define the product of two matrices you need to observe carefully that
i) If A and B are two matrices, the product AB is defined if and only if the number of
columns in A is equal to the number of rows in B, i.e. if A is an m x n matrix, B
should be an n x p. If this requirement is met, A is said to be conformable to B for
multiplication.
ii) If i) is satisfied the matrix resulting from the multiplication has dimension equivalent to the
number of rows in A and the number columns in B . Hence if A is of dimension n x m and if
B is of dimension m x p, then the product C= AB is of dimension n x p.

iii) If i) and ii) are satisfied in multiplying two matrices A and B , to obtain the element of the
resulting matrix in the ith row and jth column ofC= AB , we take the sum of the product of the
corresponding elements of the ith row of matrix A and jth column of matrix B as shown below:
In order to define a product matrix i.e. matrix C the corresponding elements of A and B as per
the requirement will be defined, and the element for matrix C will be defined in the following
manner:

AB=¿ ( a1 a12 ⋯a1n ¿)( a21 a22 ⋯a2n ¿)( ⋮ ⋮ ⋮¿)( ai1 ai2 ⋯ain ¿)( ⋮ ⋮ ⋮¿) ¿
¿
Where
¿
c ij =ai1 b1 j + ai2 b 2 j + ⋯ +aik b kj with i=1, 2, 3, ⋯, m ,k=1, 2, 3, ⋯, n and j=1, 2, 3, ⋯, p .

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You can observe that the element in the first row and first column c 11 is obtained by adding the
product of the corresponding elements of the first row of A and the first column of B resulting:
c 11 =a11 b 11 + a 12 b 21+ ⋯ +a1 n bn 1

A=¿ ( 2 3 4 ¿ ) ¿ ¿ ¿
Example 2.4 If ¿ then find AB and BA ?
,
Solution Now to find AB , the product is defined as the number of columns of A and number of
rows of B are equal to 3. Furthermore, you can observe that the resulting matrix is 2 ¿ 2 matrix,
which is the number of rows of A and the number of columns of B . Therefore, the product is
performed as follows.

AB=¿ ( 2 3 4 ¿ )¿ ¿ ¿
¿
Similarly, BA is defined and the resulting matrix has dimension 3¿ 3.

AB=¿ ( −1 7¿ )( 0 8¿ ) ¿ ¿¿
¿
=¿ ( −1(2)+7(6) −1(3)+7(9) −1(4)+7(7)¿ )( 0(2)+8(6) 0(3)+8(9) 0(4)+8(7)¿) ¿ ¿¿
¿
Note that from the above example AB≠BA
Some Properties of Matrix Application
1. The associative and distributive laws of ordinary algebra apply to matrix multiplication.
Given three matrices A , B , and C which are conformable for multiplication and addition, then
i) A( BC )=( AB )C (Associative properties of matrix multiplication)
ii) A( B+C )= AB+ AC (Left distributive property)
i) ( A+ B)C= AC+ BC (Right distributive property)

2. On the other hand, the commutative law of multiplication doesn’t apply to matrix
multiplication. That is, for two matrices A and B , it is not generally true that AB equals BA .
3. In many instances for two matrices, A and B , the product AB may be defined while the
product BA is not and vice versa.
In some cases, AB≠BA . In such cases A and B are said to be commute. For example if

A=¿ ( 1 1¿) ¿ ¿¿ B=¿ ( 2 2¿ ) ¿ ¿¿

¿ and ¿ , then

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AB=¿ ( 1 1 ¿ ) ¿ ¿ ¿ BA=¿ (2 2 ¿ ) ¿ ¿¿
¿ and ¿
1. Another unusual property of matrix multiplication is that the product of two matrices can be
zero even though neither of the two matrices themselves is zero. For example if

A=¿(3 0 0¿)(3 0 0¿) ¿¿¿ B=¿ (0 0 0¿ )(7 −10 4¿) ¿ ¿¿

¿ and ¿ , then

AB=¿ ( 3 0 0 ¿ )(3 0 0 ¿ ) ¿ ¿¿
¿ .
You can’t conclude from the result AB=0 that at least one of the matrices A or B is a zero
matrix.

2. Also you cannot in matrix multiplication, necessarily conclude from the result AB = AC
imply that B= C even if A  0. Thus the cancellation law doesn’t hold, in general, in matrix
multiplication.

A=¿ ( 1 3 ¿ ) ¿ ¿¿ B=¿ ( 4 3¿ ) ¿ ¿¿ C=¿ ( 1 0 ¿ ) ¿ ¿¿

For example if ¿ , ¿ and ¿ , then

AB=AC=¿ ( 10 18 ¿ ) ¿ ¿¿
¿ . However, B≠C .

Exercise: Computation of matrix multiplication

In computation of matrix multiplication take care on the dimensions

A=¿ ( 2 −1 ¿ ) ¿ ¿¿
1) Let ¿ then find ,
a) BA b) AB , whenever possible.
Inverse of a Matrix
As in the case of the real number system, you are not to have the multiplicative inverse of any
matrix directly. However, you can have the inverse of some square matrices. In this section,
before you directly move to finding the inverse of a matrix you have to consider how to develop
the equivalence of two matrices using the elementary row operation techniques. Finally, you will
consider the procedures how to find the inverse of a matrix if it exists.
Elementary Row Operations
In solving a system of linear equation by elimination or addition method, you can transform the
given system to an equivalent system by:
a) interchanging the two equations or

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b) multiplying any equation by a non-zero real number.

Procedure in finding the inverse of a square matrix
One can directly use the definition to find the inverse of a matrix; however you are required to
solve n linear equations with n unknowns. Hence, using the definition is not a wise method to
find the inverse of a matrix especially if the order of the matrix is three or more.

Let’s begin by considering a tabular format where the square matrix A of order n is augmented
with an identity matrix of the same order n as 
A|I
n , where the two matrices are separated by a
vertical line.
Now if the inverse matrix A -1 were known, we could multiply the matrices on each side of the
vertical line by A-1 as
−1 −1
 AA |A I n 
−1 −1 −1
Then because AA = I and A I n = A then, we would have  I n| A . We don’t follow this
−1

procedure, because the inverse is not known at this point; we are trying to determine the inverse.
We instead employ a set of permissible elementary row operations on the augmented matrix
[ A|I n ] , to transform A on the left of the vertical line in to an identity matrix ( I n ). As the
identity matrix is formed on the left of the vertical line, the inverse of A is formed on the right
side whenever A has an inverse.

A=¿ ( 3 2¿) ¿ ¿¿
Example 2.7 Find the inverse of the following matrix ¿ .
A=¿ ( 3 2¿) ¿ ¿¿
Example 2.8 Find the inverse of the following matrix ¿ .
Solution: First augment the given matrix A with the same dimensional unit matrix of order two.
⃗R1 −2 R 2
( 2)
A|I =¿ ( 3 2 1 0 ¿ ) ¿ ¿¿
¿ R2
Change the first row by adding to it –2 multiplied the second row (i.e. R1 −2 R 2 ) and do not
change the second row:
( 1 0 1 −2 ¿ ) ¿ ¿¿⃗
R1
¿ R2 −R1
Do not change the first row but change the second row by adding to it –1 multiplied by the first
row (i.e. R2 −R1 ).
( 1 0 1 −2¿ ) ¿ ¿¿
¿
A−1=¿ ( 1 −2 ¿ ) ¿ ¿¿
Again the inverse of A is ¿
Exercise: Finding the inverse of a matrix
1. Find the inverse of the following matrices if they exist?

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A=¿ (−2 2 3¿ )( 1 −1 0¿) ¿ ¿¿ B=¿( 2 −17 11¿) (−1 11 −7¿) ¿¿¿ C=¿ (1 1 2¿)(2 4 −3¿) ¿¿¿
a) ¿ b) ¿ c) ¿
2. What do you conclude from question 1-b and 1-c?

D=¿ ( 2 7 1 ¿ ) ¿ ¿¿
3. Is it possible to find the inverse of the matrix ¿ ? Why
Matrix Representation of System of Linear Equations in Matrix Form

In this section you will consider how to represent system of linear equations using the matrix
notation. Let’s consider a general linear system of m-linear equations with n-unknowns, given
by:

{a1 x1+a12x2+⋯+a1nxn=b1¿{a21x1+a2 x2+⋯+a2nxn=b2¿{⋮+ ⋮ +⋯+⋮ =⋮¿ ¿

a ij ,b i are given real numbers and x j are the unknowns or variables for i=1,2,3,⋯,m and
……… (2.1)
where
j=1,2,3,⋯,n .
A solution of the system of linear equation (2.1) is an n-tuple of real numbers ( x 1 , x 2 ,⋯, x n ) ,
which satisfies each of the m-equations.
The above system of linear equation can be described using the matrix method, as matrices are a
compact and convenient way of writing down system of linear equations. Let

(A=¿ a1 a12 ⋯a1n¿)( a21 a2 ⋯a2n¿)(⋮ ⋮ ⋮¿)¿¿

¿ called the coefficient matrix,

(X=¿ x1¿)(x2¿)(⋮¿)¿¿
¿ called the variable matrix and

(B=¿ b1¿)(b2¿)(⋮¿)¿¿
¿
called the constant term matrix, then (2.1) can be written using these matrices as:
AX =B ………(2.2)
Equation (2.2) is called the matrix representation of the system of linear equation (2.1).
Example: Express the following system of linear equation using matrix notation.

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3 x+2 y +z=5
4 x+2 y =1
x − z =4
Solution First we need to attach zero as a coefficient of the missing variable in each equations in
the system.
3 x+2 y+z=5
4 x+2 y+0 z=1
x +0 y −z =4
Then the matrix representation will be

( 3 2 1¿)( 4 2 0¿ ) ¿ ¿¿
¿
Exercise: Please represent the following system of linear equation using matrix notion

1. Find the matrix representation of

{2x−4z=27¿{3z+4 x−y+2=0¿ ¿
Solving System of Linear Equation Systems using Matrix
From your high school knowledge, you know how to solve a system of linear equations with two
or three variables, which have the form of

{a1 x+a2 y=d1 ¿ ¿¿¿ and

{ a1 x + a2 y + a3 z = d 1 ¿ { b 1 x + b 2 y + b3 z = d 2 ¿ ¿
, respectively using either the substitution
method or elimination (or addition) method. Obviously as the number of variables (or unknowns)
increases, these methods are not applicable. In this section you will deal with ways of solving
system of linear equations using the matrix method: inverse method and Gaussian elimination
method.
Inverse method
The inverse method is one of the methods used to solve a system of linear equation if the number
of equations and numbers of variables are equal (m=n ) and the inverse of the coefficient matrix
exists. Therefore for n×n system of linear equations

{a1 x1+a12x2+⋯+a1nxn=b1¿{a21x1+a2 x2+⋯+a2nxn=b2¿{⋮+ ⋮ +⋯+⋮ =⋮¿ ¿

Their matrix representation will be:
……… (2.3)

AX =B ……… (2.4)
Where A the coefficient matrix is square matrix of order n , X is the variable matrix and B is the
constant term matrix.
The procedure in finding the solution of (2.3) or (2.4) using the inverse method is:
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Step-1 Change the system of linear equation into matrix form (i.e. AX =B ).
−1
Step-2 Find the inverse of the coefficient matrix (i.e. A ) , and finally
Step-3 Multiply the inverse of coefficient matrix with the constant term matrix, and the resulting
−1
values are the values of the unknown matrix (i.e. X =A B ).
These three steps are handled as follows.
Given AX = B (You can multiply both sides of the equation from the left-
−1
hand side by A )
A−1 ( AX )= A−1 B (Using associative property)
−1
( A A ) X= A B
−1 −1
(Since A A=I n )
I n X =A−1 B (Since
I n X =X )
X =A−1 B
Example: Given this system of linear equation applying inverse method we can find the
unknown values.

{2 x+3y=4¿¿¿¿
Solution
Step-1 Change it into matrix form
( 2 3¿ ) ¿ ¿¿ ¿ ( x¿ ) ¿ ¿ (4 ¿) ¿ ¿¿
¿ the coefficient matrix, ¿ the variable matrix and ¿ the constant term matrix. Hence
the matrix form is:
(2 3 ¿ )¿ ¿ ¿
¿
Step 2 Find inverse of the coefficient matrix, augment identity matrix order of two on the right
hand side of the coefficient matrix and apply elementary row operation on it to get the inverse.
( 2 3 1 0 ¿ ) ¿ ¿¿⃗
(1/2)R 1 ( 1 3/2 1/2 0 ¿ ) ¿ ¿¿⃗
R1 −3 R2 ( 1 0 2 −3 ¿ ) ¿
¿¿
¿ R2 −(1 /2)R 1 ¿ 2 R2 ¿
A−1=¿ ( 2 −3 ¿ ) ¿ ¿¿
Hence the inverse is ¿ .
Step 3 Multiply the inverse of the coefficient matrix with the constant term matrix to obtain the
solution.

X =¿ ( x ¿ ) ¿ ¿ ¿
¿
The value for the unknown variables is x=2 and y=0 .
Limitations of inverse method
- It is only used whenever the coefficient matrix is square matrix
- In addition to apply the method the coefficient matrix needs to have an inverse
- It doesn’t differentiate between no solution and infinite solution cases.

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The Gaussian elimination method

If a system of linear equations involves m equations and n variable the corresponding matrix
representation will involve m rows and n columns. The Gaussian elimination method developed
by Mathematician Karl F. Gauss (1777-1855) can help to solve such system of linear equations
such as (2.3) or (2.5) which can be either;
a) the number of equations is equal to the number of variables( m = n),
b) the number of equations is greater than the number of variables( m> n), or
c) The number of equations is less than the number of variables (m< n).
Furthermore, you can identify that the system has a unique solution, infinitely many solution or
no solution. Each case will be handled as follows.
a) If the number of equations is equal to the number of variables (“n” by “n” systems)
In solving a system of linear equation the Gaussian elimination method involves the following
steps.
Step-1 Write the system of linear equation into a matrix form ( AX = B )
Step-2 Augments the coefficient matrix with the constant term matrix. ( A|B )
Step-3 Apply elementary row operation on the augmented matrix and transform it to row-
echelon form.
Step-4 Write the equivalent system of the equation and use back substitution to solve for the
unknowns.

Example 2.10 Solve the following system of linear equation

{2 x+3y=4¿¿¿¿
Solution
Step-1 The matrix representation of the system of linear equation is:
(2 3 ¿ )¿ ¿ ¿
¿
2 3 4
(¿|1 2  ¿ )2 )¿
Step-2 Augment the coefficient matrix with the constant term matrix is ¿ ¿ .
Step-3 Apply elementary row operation on the augmented matrix and transform it to row-
echelon form.
2 3 4 ⃗ (1/2)R 1 1 3/2 2 ⃗ R 1 3/2 2
(¿|1 2  ¿ )2 )¿ (¿|0 1/2  ¿ )0 )¿ 1 (¿ |0 1  ¿ )0 )¿
¿ ¿ R2 −(1 /2)R 1 ¿ ¿ 2 R2 ¿ ¿
Step -4 The equivalent system of equation is

{ 3
x+ y=2 ¿ ¿¿¿
2
From the last equation y=0 .
3
x + ( 0 )=2
Put y=0 in the first equation, and then you have 2 . Hence, x=2 .
Therefore, you have a unique solution x=2 and y=0 .

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Example 2.11 Solve the system of linear equation

{ x+y=2¿¿¿¿
Solution Step-1 The matrix representation of the system of linear equation is:
( 1 1 ¿) ¿ ¿ ¿
¿
1 1 2
(¿|2 2  ¿ )4 )¿
Step-2 Augment matrix is: ¿ ¿
Step-3 Apply elementary row operation on the augmented matrix and transform it to
1 1 2 ⃗ R 1 1 2
(¿|2 2  ¿ )4 )¿ 1 (¿|0 0  ¿ )0 )¿
row-echelon form. ¿ ¿ R 2−2 R1 ¿ ¿

Step-4 The equivalent system of equation is

{ x +y=2¿¿¿¿
Hence, you have only one equation with two unknowns. Therefore, there are infinitely many
solutions given by:
{ (x , y ) | y=2−x , for any real number x }
That is the set of points on the line x + y=2 are solutions for the system of linear equation
given.
Example 2.12 Solve the system of linear equation

{ x +y=5¿¿¿¿
Solution
Step-1 The matrix representation of the system of linear equation is:
( 1 1 ¿) ¿ ¿ ¿
¿
1 1 5
(¿|1 1  ¿ )9 )¿
Step-2 Augment matrix is: ¿ ¿
Step-3 Apply elementary row operation on the augmented matrix and transform it to row-
echelon form.
1 1 5 ⃗ R 1 1 2
(¿|1 1  ¿ )9 )¿ 1 (¿|0 0  ¿ )4 )¿
¿ ¿ R 2−R 1 ¿ ¿
There is no possible operation that we can apply in order to change the primary diagonal entry in
the 2nd column without affecting the first column structure. Hence stop the elementary row
operation.
Step -4 The equivalent system of the equation is

{ x +y=2¿¿¿¿
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Hence, you can observe that the second equation is always false. Therefore, the original system
of linear equation has no solution.
Therefore, Gaussian, unlike the inverse method, makes a distinction between unique solution, no
solution and infinite solutions.
Summarizing our results for solving an “n” by “n” system, we start with the augmented matrix (
A|B ), and attempt to transform it into the row-echelon form of the matrix of one of the
following will result:
1. If the row-echelon form of the augmented matrix is of the type shown below then the system
has a unique solution.
1 0 0 10
(¿|0 1 0 ) −5
¿ )¿
|0 0 1 ) 3
For example the row echelon form matrix ¿ ¿ has unique solution
2. If the row-echelon form of the augmented matrix is of the type shown below (all elements in a
given row are zero except the constant term column) then, the system has no solution.
1 0 0 3
(¿|0 1 0 ) −5
¿ )¿
|0 0 0 ) 1
For example the row echelon form matrix ¿ ¿ has no solution.
3. A matrix in a form different from (1) and (2), indicates that there are infinite number of
solutions. Note that for an “n” by “n” system, this case occurs when there is a row with all
zeros, including the constant column.
10 2 5
(¿|0 1 3 ¿ ) −3 )¿
|0 0 0 ) 0
For example the row echelon form matrix ¿ ¿ has infinitely many solutions.
Exercise: Solve the following system of linear equations applying the method specified.

1. Solve
{x+2y−3z=1 ¿{3x+2y+z=1¿ ¿ , using inverse method.

2. Solve
{x+y+z=4¿{5x−y+7z=25¿ ¿ , using the Gaussian elimination method.

3. Solve
{x+y+z=4¿{5x−y+7z=20¿ ¿
, using The Gaussian elimination method.
Word problems
In order to solve word problems the following four procedures are important to observe
1. Represent the unknown quantities using the English alphabet letters usually x , y , z ,⋯ or you
can choose the same letters with subscripts like
x 1 , x2 , x 3 ,⋯ and so on.

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2. Translate the quantities from the statement of the problem in to algebraic form and set up a
system of equations.
3. Solve the system of linear equations for the unknown represented by the letter.
4. Check the findings according to the statement in the problem
Example 2.14
1) A firm manufacturing office furniture finds that it has the following variable costs per unit in
dollar.
Desks

Material (50 20 15 25¿ )(30 15 12 15¿) ¿ ¿¿

Labor
Overhead
¿
Assume that an order for 5 desks, 6 chairs, 4 tables and 12 cabinets has just been received. What
is the total material, labor, and overhead cost associated with the production of the ordered
items?

Method of solutions to the word problems

1. You can use matrix multiplication to solve the problem.

V=¿(50 20 15 25¿) (30 15 12 15¿)¿¿¿

Let the variable cost per unit be ¿ and the number of order made in each

(R=¿ 5¿)( 6¿)( 4¿)¿¿ Desks

Chairs

¿
Tables

item to be Cabinets
Therefore, the total cost (TC ) will be:

TC=V .R=¿ ( 50 20 15 25¿)( 30 15 12 15¿ ) ¿ ¿¿

¿
Hence, the material cost is $730, the labour cost is $468, and the overhead cost is $512.

Compiled by Lemi.G Page 15