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Matrices As Linear Trasformations

Matrices can represent linear transformations of a plane by encoding how they affect position vectors. The columns of a matrix correspond to the images of the standard basis vectors under the transformation. For example, the matrix [[3,0],[0,1]] stretches the plane horizontally by a factor of 3, while leaving everything else fixed. Common transformations include stretching, shearing, and rotations. Understanding matrices in terms of linear transformations provides intuitive insight into otherwise abstract matrix operations and properties.

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Varun Ambadi
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23 views3 pages

Matrices As Linear Trasformations

Matrices can represent linear transformations of a plane by encoding how they affect position vectors. The columns of a matrix correspond to the images of the standard basis vectors under the transformation. For example, the matrix [[3,0],[0,1]] stretches the plane horizontally by a factor of 3, while leaving everything else fixed. Common transformations include stretching, shearing, and rotations. Understanding matrices in terms of linear transformations provides intuitive insight into otherwise abstract matrix operations and properties.

Uploaded by

Varun Ambadi
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Matrices as Linear Transformations

Matrices, or arrays, as they are commonly called, have a very long history, dating back to almost
1000 BCE, with their first ever appearance in the Chinese text "The Nine Chapters on the
Mathematical Art". Arranging numbers and names in organized arrays has been an undeniably
important part of human civilization. Even today, matrices are used extensively in data science
and graphic design. One very interesting property of matrices is to view them as transformations
of a plane.
When referring to a region in space, the word ‘transformation’ is just a very fancy term for some
sort of stretching, squishing, or rotation of the plane. The word ‘linear transformation’ simply
refers to all transformations that keep the origin fixed, and do not curve any straight vectors in
the field.
Matrices as we know them have the wonderful ability to encode any linear transformation.
Consider the identity matrix

[ 10 01]
Each column can be interpreted as separate vectors with coordinates [ xy ].This implies that the
first column is the position of the (0,1) vector i.e. î unit vector. Similarly, the second column is
the position of the ȷ̂ unit vector
Now, if we were to talk about the linear transformation matrix

[ 30 01]
The first column of the vector tells us where [ 01] i.e., î goes; in this case it is [ 30], while the second
column tells us where ȷ̂ goes: in this case, it stays in the same place. You can visualize this
transformation as stretching the plane so the î vector moves to (3,0), while leaving everything
else in its original place.
Visually this has the effect of stretching the plane in the horizontal direction:

1
Another simple transformation is the so called ‘shear transform’
For example,

[ 10 1.51 ]
produces a transformation of the plane visually similar to:

These are just a couple of simple ideas. In


reality, simple matrices can encode all sorts of exotic transformations of space with just a few
numbers.
Understanding matrices in this way lies at the very heart of linear algebra. It also gives an
extremely intuitive understanding of several matrix operations, a very good example being the
infamously convoluted process of matrix multiplication:
When we multiply a column matrix ‘A’ with another matrix ‘B’, we are essentially asking "what
if vector represented by ‘A’ in the xy plane were to undergo the transformation given by ‘B’?"

2
For example,

[ 20 11] ×[ 12]=[ 42 ]
The vector (1,2) is basically 1 ⋅ [ ] + 2⋅ [ ]. If you replace [ ]with [ ]and [ ]with [ ]You have
1 0 1 2 0 1
0 1 0 0 1 1

[ 0] [1] [(1)( 0)+(2)(1)] [ 2]


1 ⋅ 2 + 2⋅ 1 = (1 )( 2 ) + ( 2 ) ( 0 ) = 4

Does that operation look familiar? What we just did was matrix multiplication!
It also makes perfect sense that matrix multiplication is not commutative i.e., AB≠ BA , when you
keep in mind the fact that multiplying two transformation matrices gives the same result of
applying each transform, one after the other. Think about it - stretching a shape and then rotating
it clearly does not give the same outcome as rotating the shape before stretching.
Very often, when doing math, we tend to get lost in the calculations and lose sight of what the
numbers really mean. Most linear algebra students completely skip linear transformations and
move directly onto matrix operations. They ‘learn’ the properties of matrices by memorizing
paragraphs of formulas. However, allowing yourself to visualize this kind of ‘stretching and
squishing’ motion early on while studying matrices makes many other advanced linear algebra
topics ‘click’ much easier.

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