If A and B are both m n matrices then the sum of A and B,

denoted A + B, is a matrix obtained by adding corresponding

elements of A and B.

(

=
3 1 0
2 2 1
A
(

=
4 1 2
4 0 3
B
(

= +
2
B A
If A and B are both m n matrices then the sum of A and B,
denoted A + B, is a matrix obtained by adding corresponding
elements of A and B.

add these
(

=
3 1 0
2 2 1
A
(

=
4 1 2
4 0 3
B
(

= +
2 2
B A
add these
(

=
3 1 0
2 2 1
A
(

=
4 1 2
4 0 3
B
(

= +
6 2 2
B A
add these
(

=
3 1 0
2 2 1
A
(

=
4 1 2
4 0 3
B
(

= +
2
6 2 2
B A
add these
(

=
3 1 0
2 2 1
A
(

=
4 1 2
4 0 3
B
(

= +
0 2
6 2 2
B A
add these
(

=
3 1 0
2 2 1
A
(

=
4 1 2
4 0 3
B
(

= +
1 0 2
6 2 2
B A
add these
A B B A + = +
C B A C B A + + = + + ) ( ) (
If A is an m n matrix and s is a scalar, then we let kA denote the
matrix obtained by multiplying every element of A by k. This
procedure is called scalar multiplication.

( ) ( )
( )
( )
k hA kh A
k h A kA hA
k A B kA kB
=
+ = +
+ = +
(

=
3 1 0
2 2 1
A
( ) ( ) ( )
( ) ( ) ( )
(

=
(

=
9 3 0
6 6 3
3 3 1 3 0 3
2 3 2 3 1 3
3A
PROPERTIES OF SCALAR MULTIPLICATION
The m n zero matrix, denoted 0, is the m n
matrix whose elements are all zeros.
( ) 0 0
0 ) (
0
=
= +
= +
A
A A
A A
(

0 0
0 0
| | 0 0 0
2 2
1 3
The multiplication of matrices is easier shown than put
into words. You multiply the rows of the first matrix
with the columns of the second adding products
(

=
1 4 0
1 2 3
A
(
(
(

=
1 3
3 1
4 2
B
Find AB
First we multiply across the first row and down the
first column adding products. We put the answer in
the first row, first column of the answer.
( ) 2 3( ) ( )( ) 1 2 2 3 + ( )( ) ( )( ) ( )( ) 5 3 1 1 2 2 3 = + +
(

=
1 4 0
1 2 3
A
(
(
(

=
1 3
3 1
4 2
B
Find AB
We multiplied across first row and down first column
so we put the answer in the first row, first column.
(

=
5
AB
Now we multiply across the first row and down the second
column and well put the answer in the first row, second
column.
( )( ) 4 3 ( )( ) ( )( ) 3 2 4 3 + ( )( ) ( )( ) ( )( ) 7 1 1 3 2 4 3 = + + (

=
7 5
AB
Now we multiply across the second row and down the first
column and well put the answer in the second row, first
column.
( )( ) 2 0 ( )( ) ( )( ) 1 4 2 0 + ( )( ) ( )( ) ( )( ) 1 3 1 1 4 2 0 = + +
(

=
1
7 5
AB
Now we multiply across the second row and down the
second column and well put the answer in the second row,
second column.
( )( ) 4 0 ( )( ) ( )( ) 3 4 4 0 + ( )( ) ( )( ) ( )( ) 11 1 1 3 4 4 0 = + +
(

=
11 1
7 5
AB
Notice the sizes of A and B and the size of the product AB.
To multiply matrices A and B
look at their dimensions
p n n m
MUST BE SAME
SIZE OF PRODUCT
If the number of columns of A does not
equal the number of rows of B then the
product AB is undefined.
(
(
(

=
6
BA
(
(
(

=
12 6
BA
(
(
(

=
2 12 6
BA
(
(
(

= 3
2 12 6
BA
(
(
(

= 14 3
2 12 6
BA
(
(
(

= 4 14 3
2 12 6
BA
(
(
(

=
9
4 14 3
2 12 6
BA
(
(
(

=
10 9
4 14 3
2 12 6
BA
(
(
(

=
4 10 9
4 14 3
2 12 6
BA
Now lets look at the product BA.
(
(
(

=
1 3
3 1
4 2
B
(

=
1 4 0
1 2 3
A
BA AB=
23
32
across first row as
we go down first
column:
( )( ) ( )( ) 6 0 4 3 2 = +
across first row as
we go down
second column:
( )( ) ( )( ) 12 4 4 2 2 = +
across first row as
we go down third
column:
( )( ) ( )( ) 2 1 4 1 2 = +
across second row
as we go down
first column:
( )( ) ( )( ) 3 0 3 3 1 = +
across second row
as we go down
second column:
( )( ) ( )( ) 14 4 3 2 1 = +
across second row
as we go down
third column:
( )( ) ( )( ) 4 1 3 1 1 = +
across third row
as we go down
first column:
( )( ) ( )( ) 9 0 1 3 3 = +
across third row
as we go down
second column:
( )( ) ( )( ) 10 4 1 2 3 = +
across third row
as we go down
third column:
( )( ) ( )( ) 4 1 1 1 3 = +
Completely different than AB!
Commuter's Beware!
( ) ( )
( )
( ) BC AC C B A
AC AB C B A
C AB BC A
+ = +
+ = +
=
PROPERTIES OF MATRIX
MULTIPLICATION
BA AB=
Is it possible for AB = BA ? ,yes it is possible.
an n n matrix with ones on the main diagonal
and zeros elsewhere
(
(
(

=
1 0 0
0 1 0
0 0 1
3
I
What is AI?
What is IA?
(
(
(

=
3 2 2
5 1 0
2 1 2
A
(
(
(

=
1 0 0
0 1 0
0 0 1
3
I
A =
(
(
(

3 2 2
5 1 0
2 1 2
A =
(
(
(

3 2 2
5 1 0
2 1 2
Multiplying a
matrix by the
identity gives the
matrix back again.
(

=
(
(
(

1 0
0 1
2 4
1 3
?
Let A be an n n matrix. If there exists a matrix B
such that AB = BA = I then we call this matrix the
inverse of A and denote it A
-1
.
(
(
(

2
3
2
2
1
1
(

=
(

(
(
(

1 0
0 1
2 4
1 3
2
3
2
2
1
1
Can we find a matrix to multiply the first matrix by to
get the identity?
If A has an inverse we say that A is nonsingular.
If A
-1
does not exist we say A is singular.
To find the inverse of a matrix we put the matrix A, a
line and then the identity matrix. We then perform row
operations on matrix A to turn it into the identity. We
carry the row operations across and the right hand side
will turn into the inverse.
To find the inverse of a matrix we put the matrix A, a
line and then the identity matrix. We then perform row
operations on matrix A to turn it into the identity. We
carry the row operations across and the right hand side
will turn into the inverse.
(

=
7 2
3 1
A
(

1 2 1 0
0 1 3 1
2r
1
+r
2
(

1 0 7 2
0 1 3 1
(

1 2 1 0
0 1 3 1
r
2
(

1 2 1 0
3 7 0 1
r
1
r
2
(

=
7 2
3 1
A
(

1 2
3 7
1
A
Check this answer by multiplying. We should
get the identity matrix if weve found the
inverse.
(

1 0
0 1
1
AA
We can use A
-1
to solve a system of equations
3 5 2
1 3
= +
= +
y x
y x
b x = A
To see how, we can re-write a
system of equations as matrices.
coefficient
matrix
variable
matrix
constant
matrix
(

5 2
3 1
(

y
x
(

=
3
1
b x
1
= A
b x
1 1
= A A A
b x = A
left multiply both sides
by the inverse of A
This is just the identity
b x
1
= A I
but the identity times a
matrix just gives us
back the matrix so we
have:
This then gives us a formula
for finding the variable
matrix: Multiply A inverse
by the constants.
3 5 2
1 3
= +
= +
y x
y x
(

=
5 2
3 1
A
find the inverse
(

1 0 5 2
0 1 3 1
(

1 2 1 0
0 1 3 1
-2r
1
+r
2
(

1 2 1 0
0 1 3 1
-r
2
(

1 2 1 0
3 5 0 1
r
1
-3r
2
(

=
(

1
4
3
1
1 2
3 5
1
b A
This is the
answer to
the system
x
y
Your calculator can compute inverses and
determinants of matrices. To find out how, refer to
the manual or click here to check out the website.
Acknowledgement

I wish to thank Shawna Haider from Salt Lake Community College, Utah
USA for her hard work in creating this PowerPoint.

www.slcc.edu

Shawna has kindly given permission for this resource to be downloaded
from www.mathxtc.com and for it to be modified to suit the Western
Australian Mathematics Curriculum.



Stephen Corcoran
Head of Mathematics
St Stephens School Carramar
www.ststephens.wa.edu.au