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Linear equations are equations that involve only the first powers of the variables.
Exercise 1: Classify the following equations as linear or nonlinear:
x y y 2 10, xy x y 12 0, x 2 y 3 1, x 2 y 6 z 7, x y20
A system of linear equations (also called a linear system) is a finite collection of linear
equations.
Example 1:
x 2 y 6 z 7,
x y 2 z 10
x 2 y 3z 4
Note: If at least one of the constant terms in the linear system is nonzero, the linear
system is called nonhomogeneous, otherwise, the linear system is called homogeneous.
By a solution of a system is meant a set of values (normally real numbers) for the
variables that satisfy all the equations in the system simultaneously.
Example 2: The set of values x = 23, y = -11, and z = 1 constitute a solution of the
system
x 2 y 6 z 7,
x y 2 z 10
x 2 y 3z 4
because
23 2( 11) 6(1) 7,
23 ( 11) 2(1) 10
23 2( 11) 3(1) 4
Note: Every nonhomogeneous linear system with more variables than equations either
has no solution or infinitely many solutions.
Exercise 4: Determine whether the following system has a unique solution, no solution,
or an infinite solution set. If the system has an infinite solution set, express the solution
set in parametric form:
3 x 12 y 9,
2x 8 y 6
Exercise 5: Use the method of elimination to determine if the following linear system is
consistent or inconsistent. If the system is consistent, find the solution if it is unique,
otherwise, describe the infinite solution set in terms of arbitrary parameters.
x 2 y 6 z 7,
x y 2 z 10
x 2 y 3z 4
Exercise 6: Write the augmented coefficient matrix of the linear system in Exercise 5
Exercise 7: Let
2 1 3 1
A 3 4 7 6
1 7 4 6
Perform the following sequence of row operations on the matrix A:
R13 , 3R1 R2 , - 2 R1 R3
Exercise 8: Use EROs to transform the augmented coefficient matrix of the following
system to echelon form. Then solve the system by backward substitution.
3x1 6 x 2 2 x3 1
2 x1 4 x 2 x3 17
x1 2 x 2 2 x3 9
A reduced echelon matrix A is an echelon matrix that has the following two additional
properties:
3. Every leading entry of A is 1;
4. Each leading entry of A is the only nonzero element in its column.
Theorem: Every matrix is row equivalent to one and only one reduced echelon form.
Recall: If the constant terms in the linear system are all zero, then the linear system is
called homogeneous,
Example 8:
x 2y 3z 0
2x 5 y 2z 0
3x y 4z 0
Note:
1. The trivial solution x1 0, x 2 0, ..., x n 0 is a solution of every
homogeneous linear system (i.e., a homogeneous system is always consistent);
2. If a linear system has one nontrivial solution, then it must have infinitely many
solutions;
Theorem: Every homogeneous linear system with less equations than variables has
infinitely many solutions.
Exercise 10: Show that the homogeneous system in Example 8 has only the trivial
solution.
1
2
Example 9: a= is a 4-column vector which is sometimes written as
3
4
a = (1, - 2, 3, - 4).
A n-row vector is a 1 x n matrix (i.e. one having one row and n columns)
b
b2
.
A a a ... a and an n-column vector B is defined as follows:
1 2 n
.
.
bn
b1
b
2
.
A B = a a1 ...2a .
n = a b a b ... a b
1 1 2 2 n n
.
.
bn
Matrix Multiplication (General Case): Suppose A is an m x n matrix and B is an n x p
matrix ( i.e. the number of columns in A is equal to the number of rows in B). Then
the product AB is the m x p matrix whose ij-entry is obtained by multiplying the the ith
row of A by the jth column of B.
1 2 3 0 12 3 1324 1026 81 2
(a)
AB
1 3 4 6 123 -13 4 -1036 79 18
(b) BA is not defined.
The n x n identity matrix I n is the diagonal matrix with 1s on the main diagonal and 0s
elsewhere.
1 0 0
I3 0 1 0
0 0 1
Note: If AI n and I n B are defined, then AI n A and I n B B
AB = BA = I
a b
A
c d
is invertible if and only if ad bc 0. In this case
d -b
1
A
c a
The matrix obtained by performing a single ERO on the identity matrix I n is called an
elementary matrix.