System of Linear equations

Prof. Dr. Shailendra Bandewar

 Classification Of System of linear equations
A system of equations

𝑎11 𝑥1 + 𝑎12 𝑥2 +. . . +𝑎1𝑛 𝑥𝑛 = 𝑏1

𝑎21 𝑥1 + 𝑎22 𝑥2 +. .. . +𝑎2𝑛 𝑥𝑛 = 𝑏2
.
𝑎𝑚1 𝑥1 + 𝑎𝑚2 𝑥2 +. . . +𝑎𝑚𝑛 𝑥𝑛 = 𝑏𝑚

𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑣𝑒 𝑠𝑦𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑚 𝑜𝑓 𝑒𝑞𝑢𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑏𝑒 𝑤𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑛 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑎𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑥 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑚 𝑎𝑠

𝑥1 𝑏1
𝑥2 𝑏2
𝐴𝑥 = 𝑏, 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝐴 = 𝑎𝑖𝑗 ,𝑥 = . ,𝑏 =
𝑚×𝑛 .
𝑥𝑛 𝑏𝑚
If 𝑏 = 0, then the system is called homogeneous.

If 𝑏 ≠ 0, then the system is called nonhomogeneous.

𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐦: Homogeneous system of linear equation is always consistent

as one of the solution is 𝑥1 = 𝑥2 = ⋯ = 𝑥𝑛 = 0 called as trivial solution.

Question is when homogeneous system will have a non−trivial solution ?

Consider the homogeneous system 𝐴𝑥 = 0

𝑎11 𝑎12 . 𝑎1𝑛

𝑎21 𝑎22 . 𝑎2𝑛
𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝐴 = . . . .
𝑎𝑚1 𝑎𝑚2 . 𝑎𝑚𝑛

𝐼𝑓𝜌 𝐴 = 𝑛, 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑠𝑦𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑚 ℎ𝑎𝑠 𝑎 𝑢𝑛𝑖𝑞𝑢𝑒 𝑠𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑜𝑛𝑙𝑦

−𝑇𝑟𝑖𝑣𝑖𝑎𝑙 𝑠𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑜𝑛𝑙𝑦.

𝐼𝑓𝜌 𝐴 < 𝑛, 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑠𝑦𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑚 ℎ𝑎𝑠 𝑛𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑣𝑖𝑎𝑙 𝑠𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑎𝑙𝑠𝑜

−infinite number 𝑜𝑓 𝑠𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠
𝐍𝐮𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐅𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝐯𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑎𝑚𝑒𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧:
If 𝜌 𝐴 = 𝑟 < 𝑛, 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑛 ′𝑛 − 𝑟′ varables are free.

➢How to choose free variables?

non−pivote variables are free variables.
➢ For example 𝑖𝑓 𝑒𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑙𝑜𝑛 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑚 𝑜𝑓 𝐴 𝑖𝑠

1 22 −1 3 𝑥1
0 0 1 11 𝑥2
𝐴𝑥 ∼ 𝑥3
0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 𝑥4

𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑥2 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑥4 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑛𝑜𝑛 − 𝑝𝑖𝑣𝑜𝑡𝑒 𝑣𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑒𝑠 𝑎𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒
𝑚𝑢𝑙𝑡𝑖𝑝𝑙𝑒𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑝𝑖𝑣𝑜𝑡𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑛𝑠
𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐱 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐭 𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐋𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐛𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐦𝐧𝐬 𝐴
𝑎11 𝑎12 − − 𝑎1𝑛 𝑥1
𝑎21 𝑎22 − − 𝑎2𝑛 𝑥2
𝐼𝑓 𝐴 = − − − − − 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑋 = −
− − − − − −
𝑎𝑚1 𝑎𝑚2 − − 𝑎𝑚𝑛 𝑚×𝑛 𝑥𝑛

𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑛

𝑎11 𝑎12 𝑎1𝑛

𝑎21 𝑎22 𝑎2𝑛
𝐴𝑋 = 𝑥1 − + 𝑥2 − +. . . +𝑥𝑛 −
− − −
𝑎𝑚1 𝑎𝑚2 𝑎𝑚𝑛
𝐎𝐛𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬:

1. 𝐼𝑓 𝐴𝑥 = 0, 𝑖𝑠 𝑠𝑢𝑐ℎ 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝐴 𝑖𝑠 𝑛 × 𝑛 𝑚𝑎𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑥, 𝑖. 𝑒. 𝑤𝑒 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑛

𝑒𝑞𝑢𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠 𝑖𝑛 𝑛 𝑢𝑛𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤𝑛𝑠, 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑠𝑦𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑚 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑛𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑣𝑖𝑎𝑙
𝑠𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑎𝑙𝑠𝑜 𝑖𝑓 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑜𝑛𝑙𝑦 𝑖𝑓 𝐴 = det( 𝐴) = 0.

2. 𝑇𝑟𝑖𝑣𝑖𝑎𝑙 𝑠𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑜𝑛𝑙𝑦 𝑖𝑓 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑜𝑛𝑙𝑦 𝑖𝑓 𝐴 = det( 𝐴) ≠ 0.

3. 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝐴𝑚×𝑛 𝑥 = 0, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐼𝑓 𝑚 < 𝑛, 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑎𝑙𝑤𝑎𝑦𝑠 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒

𝑛𝑜𝑛 𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑣𝑖𝑎𝑙 𝑠𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑎𝑙𝑠𝑜.
Illustrative Examples (homogeneous System of linear equations)
𝐄𝐱𝐚𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞𝟏: 𝐼𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑦𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑚 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑛𝑜𝑛 𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑣𝑖𝑎𝑙 𝑠𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛? 𝐼𝑓 𝑖𝑡 ℎ𝑎𝑠 𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑑.
3𝑥 + 4𝑦 − 𝑧 − 6𝑤 = 0; 2𝑥 − 3𝑦 + 2𝑧 − 3𝑤 = 0;
2𝑥 + 𝑦 − 14𝑧 − 9𝑤 = 0; 𝑥 + 3𝑦 + 13𝑧 + 3𝑤 = 0.
𝑺𝒐𝒍𝒖𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏: This is a homogeneous system of equation.
∴ it is always consistent.
∴ 𝑇𝑜 𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑐𝑘 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑖𝑡 ℎ𝑎𝑠 𝑎 𝑛𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑣𝑖𝑎𝑙 𝑠𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑜𝑟 𝑛𝑜𝑡
𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑟 𝐴𝑥 = 0
3 4 −1 −6
2 −3 2 −3
𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝐴 =
2 1 −14 −9
1 3 13 3
𝑆𝑡𝑒𝑝1: ​𝑟𝑒𝑑𝑢𝑐𝑒 𝐴 𝑡𝑜 𝑒𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑙𝑜𝑛 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑚
 3 4 −1 −6
2 −3 2 −3
𝐴=
2 1 −14 −9
1 3 13 3
𝑆𝑡𝑒𝑝1: ​𝑟𝑒𝑑𝑢𝑐𝑒 𝐴 𝑡𝑜 𝑒𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑙𝑜𝑛 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑚:
1 3 13 3
2 −3 2 −3
𝑅1 − 𝑅3 ⇒ 𝐴 ∼
2 1 −14 −9
1 3 13 3

𝑅2 − 2𝑅1 , 𝑅3 − 2𝑅1 , 𝑅4 − 𝑅1 ⇒
1 3 13 3
0 −9 −24 −9
A∼
0 −5 −40 −15
0 0 0 0
 1 1
𝑅2 − , 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑅3 − ⇒
3 5

1 3 13 3 1 3 13 3
0 3 8 3 𝑅2 ↔𝑅3 0 1 8 3
𝐴∼ ⇒𝐴∼
0 1 8 3 0 3 8 3
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

1 3 13 3
𝑅3 −3𝑅2 0 1 8 3
⇒𝐴∼
0 0 −16 −6
0 0 0 0
 1 3 13 3 1 1 3 13 3
𝑅3 −
0 1 8 3 16 0 1 8 3
𝐴∼ 𝐴∼
0 0 −16 −6 0 0 1 3/8
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
𝜌(𝐴) = 3
∴ 𝑆𝑦𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑚 ℎ𝑎𝑠 𝑛𝑜𝑛 𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑣𝑖𝑎𝑙 𝑠𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑎𝑠 𝜌 𝐴 = 3 < 𝑛𝑜 𝑜𝑓 𝑢𝑛𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤𝑛𝑠
∴ 𝑛𝑢𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝑒 var 𝑖 𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑒 𝑖𝑠 1.
𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑤 being non−pivote variable is a free variable
Equivalent system 𝑖𝑠
𝑥 + 3𝑦 + 13𝑧 + 3𝑤 = 0
𝑦 + 8𝑧 + 3𝑤 = 0
3
𝑧+ 𝑤=0
8
 3
𝐿𝑒𝑡 𝑤 = 𝑘 ∴ 𝑧 = − 𝑘,
8
3
𝑦 = −8𝑧 − 3𝑤 = −8 − − 3𝑘 = 3𝑘 − 3𝑘 = 0
8

39 15
𝑥 = −3𝑦 − 13𝑧 − 3𝑤 = −3(0) + 𝑘 − 3𝑘 = 𝑘
8 8
15
𝑘 15
8
0 𝑘 0
𝑆𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑖𝑠 𝑥 = = , 𝑘 ∈ ℝ.
3 8 −3
− 𝑘
8 8
𝑘
Example 2: determine for real values of a so that the system of
equations have non-trivial solution
x+2y+3z=ax, 3x+y+2z=ay, and 2x+3y+z=az,
𝐒𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧: 𝐶𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑦𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑚
(1 − 𝑎)𝑥 + 2𝑦 + 3𝑧 = 0
3𝑥 + (1 − 𝑎)𝑦 + 2𝑧 = 0
2𝑥 + 3𝑦 + (1 − 𝑎)𝑧 = 0
𝐴𝑥 = 0
𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑖𝑠 𝑎 ℎ𝑜𝑚𝑜𝑔𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑜𝑢𝑠 𝑠𝑦𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑚 𝑜𝑓 𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑎𝑟 𝑒𝑞𝑢𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛
∴ ℎ𝑎𝑠 𝑎 𝑛𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑣𝑖𝑎𝑙 𝑠𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑖𝑓 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑜𝑛𝑙𝑦 𝑖𝑓
det( 𝐴) = 𝐴 = 0
 1−𝑎 2 3
𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑟 det(𝐴) = 3 1−𝑎 2 =0
2 3 1−𝑎
𝑜𝑛 expanding the determinent, we get

𝑎3 − 3𝑎2 − 15𝑎 − 18 = 0

∴ 𝑎 = 6 𝑜𝑛𝑙𝑦 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑙 𝑟𝑜𝑜𝑡

𝐹𝑜𝑟 𝑎 = 6, 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑒𝑞𝑢𝑖𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑠𝑦𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑚 𝑖𝑠

−5 2 3 𝑥
𝐴𝑥 = 0 ∼ 3 −5 2 𝑦 = 0
2 3 −5 𝑧
 −5 2 3 𝑅1 +2𝑅2 1 −8 7
𝐴 = 3 −5 2 𝐴∼ 3 −5 2
2 3 −5 2 3 −5

𝑅2 −3𝑅1 ,𝑅3 −2𝑅1 1 −8 7

𝐴 ∼ 0 19 −19
0 19 −19

𝑅3 −𝑅2 1 −8 7
𝐴∼ 0 19 −19
0 0 0
1
𝑅2 1 −8 7
19
𝐴∼ 0 1 −1
0 0 0
𝑎𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝜌 𝐴 = 2 < 3​ 𝑁𝑢𝑚𝑏𝑟 𝑜𝑓 var 𝑖 𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑒𝑠 𝐸𝑞𝑢𝑖𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑠𝑦𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑚 𝑖𝑠

𝑥 − 8𝑦 + 7𝑧 = 0
𝑦−𝑧 =0
𝐿𝑒𝑡 𝑧 = 𝑘, 𝑦 = 𝑘, 𝑥 = 𝑘
𝑘 1
∴ 𝑆𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑖𝑠 𝑋 = 𝑘 = 𝑘 1 .
𝑘 1

Or by using Crammer′s rule

𝑥 𝑦 𝑧
=− = = 𝑘(𝑠𝑎𝑦)
1 −1 1
∴𝑥=𝑦=𝑧=𝑘
Example 3: show that the system of equations ax + by + cz = 0,
bx + cy + az = 0 and cx + ay + bz = 0 have a non trivial solution if
( i) a + b + c = 0 (ii) a = b = c and solve them completely.

𝐒𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧: Expressing 𝑖𝑛 𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑚𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑚𝑎𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑥

𝑎 𝑏 𝑐
𝐴𝑥 = 0, 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒𝐴 = 𝑏 𝑐 𝑎
𝑐 𝑎 𝑏
Reducing A into echelon form
𝑅1 + 𝑅2 + 𝑅3 ⇒
 𝑎+𝑏+𝑐 𝑎+𝑏+𝑐 𝑎+𝑏+𝑐
𝐴∼ 𝑏 𝑐 𝑎
𝑐 𝑎 𝑏
𝐻𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑤𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑎𝑐𝑟𝑜𝑠𝑠 𝑡𝑤𝑜 𝑐𝑎𝑠𝑒𝑠 𝑎 + 𝑏 + 𝑐 ≠ 0

𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑎 + 𝑏 + 𝑐 = 0

𝑤𝑒 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑐𝑢𝑠𝑠 𝑒𝑎𝑐ℎ 𝑐𝑎𝑠𝑒 𝑠𝑒𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑙𝑦.

𝑪𝒂𝒔𝒆𝑰: 𝐿𝑒𝑡 𝑎 + 𝑏 + 𝑐 ≠ 0
1 1 1 1
𝑅1 ⇒ 𝐴 ∼ 𝑏 𝑐 𝑎
𝑎+𝑏+𝑐
𝑐 𝑎 𝑏
 1 1 1
𝑅2 − 𝑏𝑅1 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑅3 − 𝑐𝑅1 ⇒ 𝐴 ∼ 0 𝑐 − 𝑏 𝑎−𝑏
0 𝑎−𝑐 𝑏−𝑐

𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑠𝑦𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑚 𝑡𝑜 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑛𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑣𝑖𝑎𝑙 𝑠𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑎𝑡 𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑡 𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑟𝑜𝑤 ℎ𝑎𝑠

𝑡𝑜 𝑏𝑒 𝑧𝑒𝑟𝑜 𝑖. 𝑒 𝑎 − 𝑐 = 0 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑏 − 𝑐 = 0 ⇒ 𝑎 = 𝑏 = 𝑐

1 1 1
∴𝐴∼ 0 0 0
0 0 0

∴ 𝜌 𝐴 = 1 < 3 = 𝑛𝑢𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝑢𝑛𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤𝑛𝑠

∴ 𝑠𝑦𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑚 ℎ𝑎𝑠 𝑛𝑜𝑛 − 𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑣𝑖𝑎𝑙 𝑠𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑎𝑛𝑑 2 variables are free

𝐸𝑞𝑢𝑖𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑠𝑦𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑚 𝑖𝑠

𝑥+𝑦+𝑧 =0

let 𝑦 = 𝑠, 𝑧 = 𝑡 are free variables

∴ 𝑥 = −𝑠 − 𝑡, 𝑦 = 𝑠, 𝑧 = 𝑡

−𝑠 − 𝑡 −1 −1
𝑥= 𝑠 =𝑠 1 +𝑡 0
𝑡 0 1
𝑪𝒂𝒔𝒆𝑰𝑰: 𝐿𝑒𝑡 𝑎 + 𝑏 + 𝑐 = 0

0 0 0
∴𝐴∼ 𝑏 𝑐 𝑎
𝑐 𝑎 𝑏

𝑐 𝑎 𝑏
𝑅1 ↔ 𝑅3 ⇒ 𝐴 ∼ 𝑏 𝑐 𝑎
0 0 0

𝑎 𝑏
1 1
𝑙𝑒𝑡 𝑐 ≠ 0, 𝑅1 ⇒ 𝐴 ∼ 𝑐 𝑐
𝑐 𝑏 𝑐 𝑎
0 0 0
𝑅2 − 𝑏𝑅1 ⇒
𝑎 𝑏
1
𝑐 𝑐
𝐴∼ 𝑎𝑏 𝑏2
0 𝑐− 𝑎−
𝑐 𝑐
0 0 0

𝑎𝑏 𝑏2
Assuming 𝑐 − ≠ 0 𝑜𝑟 𝑎 − ≠0
𝑐 𝑐

𝑖. 𝑒. 𝑎𝑏 ≠ 𝑐 2 𝑜𝑟 𝑎𝑐 ≠ 𝑏 2

𝑖. 𝑒 𝑎, 𝑏, 𝑐 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑖𝑛 𝑔𝑒𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑐 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑔𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛

 𝑎 𝑏
𝐸𝑞𝑢𝑖𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑠𝑦𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑚 𝑖𝑠 𝑥 + 𝑦 + 𝑧 =0
𝑐 𝑐

𝑎𝑏 𝑏2
i,.e. 𝑐 − 𝑐
𝑦+ 𝑎−
𝑐
𝑧=0

𝑎𝑠 𝜌(𝐴) = 2

∴ only one variable is free

let 𝑧 = 𝑘

𝑏 2 − 𝑎𝑐 𝑎2 − 𝑏𝑐
∴ ​𝑦 = 2 𝑘, 𝑥= 2 𝑘.
𝑐 − 𝑎𝑏 𝑐 − 𝑎𝑏
Exercise

1. Does the system have a nontrivial solution? if yes determine

1. 4𝑥 − 𝑦 + 2𝑧 + 𝑡 = 0, 2𝑥 + 3𝑦 − 𝑧 − 2𝑡 = 0,
7𝑦 − 4𝑧 − 5𝑡 = 0, 2𝑥 − 11𝑦 + 7𝑧 + 8𝑡 = 0

1 1
Ans: 𝑥 = − 5𝑘 + 𝑠 , 𝑦 = 4𝑘 + 5𝑠 , 𝑧 = 𝑘, 𝑡 = 𝑠
4 7
2. 2𝑥 − 2𝑦5𝑧 + 3𝑤 = 0, 4𝑥 − 𝑦 + 𝑧 + 𝑤 = 0,
3𝑥 − 2𝑦 + 3𝑧 + 4𝑤 = 0, 𝑥 − 3𝑦 + 7𝑧 + 6𝑤 = 0

211 7
Ans: 𝑥 = 𝑘, 𝑦 = 4𝑘, 𝑧 = 𝑘, 𝑤 =𝑘
9 9
Example: Determine the values of 𝜆 for which the system may have a
non trivial solution, solve it completely for each value of 𝜆
3𝑥 + 𝑦 − 𝜆z=0; 4x-2y-3z=0; 2𝜆x+4y+ 𝜆z=0

Ans: 𝜆=-9, 1, For 𝜆=-9: 𝑥 = 3𝑘, 𝑦 = 9𝑘, 𝑧 = −2𝑘

Example: Show that the system do not have a non trivial solution for
any 𝑎, 𝑏, 𝑐.
𝑏𝑥 = 𝑎𝑚 − 𝑛, 𝑐𝑦 = 𝑏𝑧 − 𝑥, 𝑎𝑧 = 𝑐𝑥 − 𝑦
Example: Determine the value of 𝜆 for which the system has nontrivial
solution.
(𝜆+2)x-2y+3z=0, -2x+(𝜆-1)y+6z=0, x+2y+ 𝜆z=0
Example: Find the values of b for which the system has nontrivial
solutions. Find them.

2𝑥 + 3𝑏𝑦 + 3𝑏 + 4 𝑧 = 0
𝑥+(𝑏+4)𝑦+(4𝑏+2)z=0
𝑥 + 2 𝑏 + 1 𝑦 + 3𝑏 + 4 𝑧 = 0

5𝑘
Ans: for 𝑏 = 2, 𝑥 = 0, 𝑧 = 𝑘, 𝑦 = −
3
for 𝑏 = −2, 𝑥 = 4𝑘, 𝑦 = 𝑧 = 𝑘.
References
• Linear algebra and its applications, By Gilbert Strang,
Cengage Learning India Edition. (Fourth Edition)
• Linear algebra and its applications, By David C. lay,
Pearson (Third Edition).
• Advanced Engineering Mathematics, by Erwin Kreyszig,