MATH F112 (MATHEMATICS-II)

Gaurav Dwivedi
Department of Mathematics
BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus.
 Module 1
System of linear equations
Announcements

Instructor-In-Charge: Dr. Rahul Kumar

Lecturers: Jitender Kumar, Krishnendra Shekhawat,
Gaurav Dwivedi, Bhupendra Kumar Sharma, Trilok
Mathur, Balram Dubey
Quizzes: There will be four quizzes of 20 marks each in
tutorials. Best 3 quiz scores will be considered for
grading.

Gaurav Dwivedi (BITS Pilani) MATH F112 (MATHEMATICS-II) January 18, 2024 3 / 80
Text Book for Linear Algebra

Gaurav Dwivedi (BITS Pilani) MATH F112 (MATHEMATICS-II) January 18, 2024 4 / 80
Recordings and Notes
Recordings by Prof. Krishnendra Shekhawat:
https://sites.google.com/pilani.bits-pilani.
ac.in/krishnendra-shekhawat/teaching/
LAlgebra?authuser=0

Lecture Notes:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/
1sPglTH13o7j0Z4sMISD4pjap6RqZR9bK?usp=sharing

Gaurav Dwivedi (BITS Pilani) MATH F112 (MATHEMATICS-II) January 18, 2024 5 / 80
 Module 1

1 Introduction to System of Linear equations

2 Row Echelon Form (REF)
3 Reduced Row Echelon Form (RREF)
4 Elementary Row Operations
5 Gaussian Elimination Method
6 Gauss-Jordan Row Reduction Method

Gaurav Dwivedi (BITS Pilani) MATH F112 (MATHEMATICS-II) January 18, 2024 6 / 80
 Introduction to System of
Linear Equations

Gaurav Dwivedi (BITS Pilani) MATH F112 (MATHEMATICS-II) January 18, 2024 7 / 80
Why?

To solve problems which can be modelled using the

System of Equations
To use it as a tool for solving some other problems.

Gaurav Dwivedi (BITS Pilani) MATH F112 (MATHEMATICS-II) January 18, 2024 8 / 80
Example to Begin with

Q: For a 50 marks exam, 13 questions are given. The

exam consists of true/false type questions of 2 marks
each and multiple-choice questions of 5 marks each. How
many true/false type questions are there in the exam?

Sol.

x + y = 13
2x + 5y = 50

(x = 5, y = 8).

Gaurav Dwivedi (BITS Pilani) MATH F112 (MATHEMATICS-II) January 18, 2024 9 / 80
Example to Begin with
The accompanying figure shows known flow rates of
hydrocarbons into and out of a network of pipes at an oil
refinery. Set up a linear system whose solution provides
the unknown flow rates.

Gaurav Dwivedi (BITS Pilani) MATH F112 (MATHEMATICS-II) January 18, 2024 10 / 80
Q: Let us try to solve the following system of equations
and see what they geometrically represent?

5x + y = 3
2x − y = 4

x+y =1
2x + 2y = 6

4x − y = 1
16x − 4y = 4

Gaurav Dwivedi (BITS Pilani) MATH F112 (MATHEMATICS-II) January 18, 2024 11 / 80
Geometry

5x +y = 3
2x - y = 4

Gaurav Dwivedi (BITS Pilani) MATH F112 (MATHEMATICS-II) January 18, 2024 12 / 80
Geometry

x+y=1
x+y=3

Gaurav Dwivedi (BITS Pilani) MATH F112 (MATHEMATICS-II) January 18, 2024 13 / 80
Geometry

4x - y = 1
16x - 4y = 4

Gaurav Dwivedi (BITS Pilani) MATH F112 (MATHEMATICS-II) January 18, 2024 14 / 80
 5x + y = 3
2x − y = 4

(x = 1, y = −2) (Unique solution). Geometrically,

there are two lines intersecting only at (1, −2).

x+y =1
2x + 2y = 6

No solution. Geometrically, the lines are parallel and

distinct. Thus, they do not intersect at any point.

Gaurav Dwivedi (BITS Pilani) MATH F112 (MATHEMATICS-II) January 18, 2024 15 / 80
 4x − y = 1
16x − 4y = 4

Sol. The given lines coincide, i.e., every point on

4x − y = 1 is a solution of the given system. Hence, the
system has infinitely many solutions. The solution set is
  
1 1
+ t, t | t ∈ R
4 4

Gaurav Dwivedi (BITS Pilani) MATH F112 (MATHEMATICS-II) January 18, 2024 16 / 80
3 variables

Gaurav Dwivedi (BITS Pilani) MATH F112 (MATHEMATICS-II) January 18, 2024 17 / 80
3 variables

Gaurav Dwivedi (BITS Pilani) MATH F112 (MATHEMATICS-II) January 18, 2024 18 / 80
3 variables

Gaurav Dwivedi (BITS Pilani) MATH F112 (MATHEMATICS-II) January 18, 2024 19 / 80
3 variables

Gaurav Dwivedi (BITS Pilani) MATH F112 (MATHEMATICS-II) January 18, 2024 20 / 80
Q: What is common in all these equations?

Sol. Linearity
A linear equation in the n variables x1 , x2 , . . . , xn is an
equation that can be written in the form

a1 x 1 + a2 x 2 + · · · + an x n = b

where the coefficients a1 , a2 , . . . , an and b are (real)

constants.

Gaurav Dwivedi (BITS Pilani) MATH F112 (MATHEMATICS-II) January 18, 2024 21 / 80
Q: Which of the following equations are linear?
1 xy − 2z = 9
√
2 2x + π4 y − (sin π5 )z = 1
x
y +z = 1
3

4 sin x − 0.01y + 2z = 0
5 x − 12 y − 15
3z = 9
√
6 2x + π4 y − (sin π5 )z = 1
7 3.2x − 0.01y = 4.6
8 x1 + x2 + · · · + xn = 1

Gaurav Dwivedi (BITS Pilani) MATH F112 (MATHEMATICS-II) January 18, 2024 22 / 80
Remark.

Thus, linear equations do not contain products,

reciprocals, or other functions of the variables; the
variables occur only to the first power and are
multiplied only by constants.

Gaurav Dwivedi (BITS Pilani) MATH F112 (MATHEMATICS-II) January 18, 2024 23 / 80
Solution of a linear equation

A solution of a linear equation

a1 x 1 + a2 x 2 + · · · + an x n = b

is a vector (s1 , s2 , . . . , sn ) whose components satisfy the

equation.

Gaurav Dwivedi (BITS Pilani) MATH F112 (MATHEMATICS-II) January 18, 2024 24 / 80
System of Linear Equations
A system of m linear equations in n unknown variables
x1 , x2 , . . . , xn is given by

a11 x1 + a12 x2 + · · · + a1n xn = b1

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

where aij , bi ∈ R and 1 ⩽ i ⩽ m, 1 ⩽ j ⩽ n.

Gaurav Dwivedi (BITS Pilani) MATH F112 (MATHEMATICS-II) January 18, 2024 25 / 80
This system can be written in the form Ax = b, where
     
a11 a12 . . . a1n x1 b1
 a21 a22 . . . a2n   x2 
 .  and b =  b.2 
 
A=  ... .. .. ..  ,, x =  ..   .. 
. . . 
am1 am2 . . . amn xn bm
The matrix A is called the coefficient matrix.

Gaurav Dwivedi (BITS Pilani) MATH F112 (MATHEMATICS-II) January 18, 2024 26 / 80
System of Linear Equations

The matrix
 
a11 a12 . . . a1n b1
 a21 a22 . . . a2n b2 
 . .. .. .. .. 
 .. . . . .
am1 am2 . . . amn bm
is called the augmented matrix for the system.

Gaurav Dwivedi (BITS Pilani) MATH F112 (MATHEMATICS-II) January 18, 2024 27 / 80
System of Linear Equations
A solution of the linear system is an ordered n-tuple
(s1 , s2 , . . . , sn ) such that each equation of the system is
satisfied on substituting si in place of xi .
We say that a linear system is consistent if it has at
least one solution and inconsistent if it has no solution.
When all bi = 0, the above system of linear equations is
called homogenous linear system.
Q: Is every homogeneous linear system consistent?
Yes, because (0, 0, . . . , 0) is a solution. This solution is
called a trivial solution. If there are other solutions,
they are called nontrivial solutions.

Gaurav Dwivedi (BITS Pilani) MATH F112 (MATHEMATICS-II) January 18, 2024 28 / 80
System of Linear Equations
For example, the augmented matrix for the system of
equations

x−y−z =2
3x − 3y + 2z = 16
2x − y + z = 9

is given by
 
1 −1 −1 2
 3 −3 2 16 
2 −1 1 9

Gaurav Dwivedi (BITS Pilani) MATH F112 (MATHEMATICS-II) January 18, 2024 29 / 80
Towards Solving a System

The following operations when applied to a system of

equations do no change the solution:
1 Interchange any pair of equations.
2 Multiply any equation by a nonzero real number.
3 Replace any equation by its sum with a multiple of
any other equation.
We will call these operations, elementary operations.

Gaurav Dwivedi (BITS Pilani) MATH F112 (MATHEMATICS-II) January 18, 2024 30 / 80
Towards Solving a System
Q: Write down the augmented matrix for the solution of
the following system

x − y − z = 2, 3x − 3y + 2z = 16, 2x − y + z = 9.

Here problem is to reduce the augmented matrix of given

system into a simplified augmented matrix.
   
1 −1 −1 2 1 0 0 3
 3 −3 2 16  →  0 1 0 −1 
2 −1 1 9 0 0 1 2
This simplified matrix is known as row echelon form.
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A Few Questions
Q:1 How to define and compute row echelon form?
Q:2 Why are we introducing row echelon form, not
column echelon form ?
Q:3 Based on row echelon form, what can we say about
the nature of the solutions?

Gaurav Dwivedi (BITS Pilani) MATH F112 (MATHEMATICS-II) January 18, 2024 32 / 80
 Row Echelon Form (REF)
and
Reduced Row Echelon Form
(RREF)

Gaurav Dwivedi (BITS Pilani) MATH F112 (MATHEMATICS-II) January 18, 2024 33 / 80
Row Echelon Form (REF)
A matrix A is said to be in row echelon form if it satisfies
the following properties:
1 In each nonzero row, the first nonzero entry (called
the leading entry or pivot) is 1 and it is in a column
to the left (strictly) of any leading entry below it.
(The column containing a pivot element is called a
pivot column).
2 Any rows consisting entirely of 0’s are at the
bottom.

Gaurav Dwivedi (BITS Pilani) MATH F112 (MATHEMATICS-II) January 18, 2024 34 / 80
Row Echelon Form (REF)
Q: Which of the following matrices are in row echelon
form:
   
  1 −1 −1 0 1 −1 2 1
1 2 
, 0 −1 3 , 0 0 1
  4 8 ,
0 1
0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0
   
  1 −1 −1 0 0 0 0 0
1 2 
, 0 0 1 , 1 1 −1
  2 1
2 1
0 1 3 0 1 5 10 8

Gaurav Dwivedi (BITS Pilani) MATH F112 (MATHEMATICS-II) January 18, 2024 35 / 80
Row Echelon Form (REF)
If a matrix A is in row echelon form, then in each
column of A containing a leading entry, the entries below
that leading entry are zero.

 
0 1 −1 2 1
0 0 1 4 8
0 0 0 0 0

Gaurav Dwivedi (BITS Pilani) MATH F112 (MATHEMATICS-II) January 18, 2024 36 / 80
Reduced Row Echelon Form
(RREF)

A matrix A is said to be in reduced row echelon form if it

satisfies the following properties:
1 Property 1
2 Property 2
3 If a column contains a leading 1 then all other
entries in that column must be zero.

Gaurav Dwivedi (BITS Pilani) MATH F112 (MATHEMATICS-II) January 18, 2024 37 / 80
Questions
Q: Which one of the following matrices are in reduced
row echelon form
   
  1 0 0 1 0 0 2 1  
1 0  1 2 4 0 1
, 0 0 1 , 0 0 1 4 8 ,
0 1 0 0 0 1 2
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
   
  1 0 0 1 0 0 2 1
1 0 
, 0 0 1  ,  0 0 1 4 8 ,
0 1
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
 
1 2 4 0 1
0 0 0 1 2
Gaurav Dwivedi (BITS Pilani) MATH F112 (MATHEMATICS-II) January 18, 2024 38 / 80
Some facts about Echelon forms
Reduced row echelon form of a matrix is unique.
Row echelon form of a matrix is not unique.
Although row echelon forms are not unique, the
reduced row echelon form and all row echelon forms
of a matrix A have the same number of zero rows,
and the leading 1’s always occur in the same
positions in the row echelon forms of A.

Gaurav Dwivedi (BITS Pilani) MATH F112 (MATHEMATICS-II) January 18, 2024 39 / 80
Elementary Row Operations
Q: How to obtain a RREF?
The following row operations are called elementary row
operations of a matrix:
Interchange of two rows (Ri ↔ Rj )
Multiply a row Ri by a nonzero constant c
(Ri → cRi )
Add a multiple of a row Rj to another row Ri
(Ri → Ri + cRj )

Gaurav Dwivedi (BITS Pilani) MATH F112 (MATHEMATICS-II) January 18, 2024 40 / 80
Q: Can we use column operations to obtain a REF?
   
1 0 1 1 0 1
A= ,
0 1 2 0 200 2
Yes you can obtain REF using column operations but the
two systems may not be equivalent. Here second column
is multiple by 100 and you can observe that both the
systems have different solutions.

Gaurav Dwivedi (BITS Pilani) MATH F112 (MATHEMATICS-II) January 18, 2024 41 / 80
Example

Using elementary row operations, transform the following

matrix A into row echelon form and reduced row echelon
form
 
1 1 1 3
A = 1 2 2 5 
3 4 4 12

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Gaurav Dwivedi (BITS Pilani) MATH F112 (MATHEMATICS-II) January 18, 2024 43 / 80
Exercise.
Using elementary row operations, transform the following
matrix A into row echelon form and reduced row echelon
form
 
1 1 1 3
A = 2 0 3 5
0 1 1 2

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 Solving System of Linear
Equations using RREF/REF

Gaurav Dwivedi (BITS Pilani) MATH F112 (MATHEMATICS-II) January 18, 2024 45 / 80
Gaussian Elimination Method
Use these steps to solve a system of equations Ax = b
Step 1 Write the augmented matrix of Ax = b.
Step 2 Find a row echelon form of the augmented
matrix written in Step-1, using elementary
row operations.
Step 3 Use back substitution to solve the equivalent
system that corresponds to row echelon form.

Gaurav Dwivedi (BITS Pilani) MATH F112 (MATHEMATICS-II) January 18, 2024 46 / 80
Example
Solve the system of linear equations

x + y + z = 3, x + 2y + 2z = 5, 3x + 4y + 4z = 11

by Gaussian elimination method.  

1 1 1 3
Sol. A REF of augmented matrix 1 2 2 5  is
  3 4 4 11
1 1 1 3
0 1 1 2 .
0 0 0 0

Gaurav Dwivedi (BITS Pilani) MATH F112 (MATHEMATICS-II) January 18, 2024 47 / 80
Apply R2 → R2 − R1 , R3 → R3 − 3R1 to obtain
 
1 1 1 3
0 1 1 2
0 1 1 2
Apply R3 → R3 − R2 to obtain
 
1 1 1 3
0 1 1 2
0 0 0 0
Exercise

Solve the linear system of equations

3x + 4y + 4z = 12, x + y + z = 3, x + 2y + 2z = 5,

by Gaussian elimination method.

Sol. No Solution.

Gaurav Dwivedi (BITS Pilani) MATH F112 (MATHEMATICS-II) January 18, 2024 49 / 80
Gauss-Jordan Row Reduction
Use the following steps to solve a system of equations
Ax = b

Step 1 Write the augmented matrix [A b].

Step 2 Find the reduced row echelon form of the

matrix [A b].

Step 3 Use back substitution to solve the equivalent

system that corresponds to the reduced row
echelon form.

Gaurav Dwivedi (BITS Pilani) MATH F112 (MATHEMATICS-II) January 18, 2024 50 / 80
Example
Solve the system of linear equations

x + y + z = 3, x + 2y + 2z = 5, 3x + 4y + 4z = 11

by Gauss-Jordan Method.  
1 1 1 3
Sol. The RREF of augmented matrix 1 2 2 5  is
  3 4 4 11
1 0 0 1
0 1 1 2 .
0 0 0 0

Gaurav Dwivedi (BITS Pilani) MATH F112 (MATHEMATICS-II) January 18, 2024 51 / 80
Example
Solve the system of linear equations

x + 2y − 3z = 2, 6x + 3y − 9z = 6, 7x + 14y − 21z = 13

by Gauss-Jordan method.  
1 2 −3 2
Sol. The RREF of augmented matrix 6 3 −9 6 
  7 14 −21 13
1 0 −1 0
is 0 1
 −1 0 .
0 0 0 1

Gaurav Dwivedi (BITS Pilani) MATH F112 (MATHEMATICS-II) January 18, 2024 52 / 80
Exercise.
Solve the linear system of equations by Gaussian-Jordan
method

x+y+z =3
2x + 3z = 5
y+z =2

Sol. x = 1, y = 1 and z = 1.

Gaurav Dwivedi (BITS Pilani) MATH F112 (MATHEMATICS-II) January 18, 2024 53 / 80
Exercise.
Solve the linear system

3x − y + z + 7w = 13
−2x + y − z − 3w = −9
−2x + y − 7w = −8

by the Gauss-Jordan method.

Sol. Infinitely many solutions and the solution set is

{(4 − 4t, −t, 1 + 4t, t) | t ∈ R} .

Gaurav Dwivedi (BITS Pilani) MATH F112 (MATHEMATICS-II) January 18, 2024 54 / 80
 
3 −1 1 7 13 R → 1 R
−2 1 −1 −3 −9 −−1−−3−→ 1

−2 1 0 −7 −8

1 − 31 13 7 13
 
3 3 R2 →R2 +2R1
−2 1 −1 −3 −9 − −−−−−−→
R3 →R3 +2R1
−2 1 0 −7 −8

1 − 13 13 7 13
 
3 3 R3 →R3 −R2
0 1 − 1 5 − 1  − −−−−−→
3 3 3 3
1 2 7 2
0 3 3 −3 3

1 − 31 13 7 13
 
3 3 R1 →R1 + 13 R2
0 1 −1 5 −1 −− −−−−−→
0 0 1 −4 1
   
1 0 0 4 4 1 0 0 4 4
R2 →R2 +R3
0 1 −1 5 −1 −−−−−−→ 0 1 0 1 0
0 0 1 −4 1 0 0 1 −4 1
Exercise.
Solve the system of linear equations

x + y + z = 5, 2x + 3y + 5z = 8, 4x + 5z = 2

by the Gauss-Jordan method.

Gaurav Dwivedi (BITS Pilani) MATH F112 (MATHEMATICS-II) January 18, 2024 57 / 80
Leading and Free variables
Consider the linear system Ax = b in n variables
and m equations. Let B be a matrix which is REF
of the augmented matrix corresponding to the given
system.
The variables corresponding to the pivot columns in
the first n columns of B are called the leading (or
basic) variables. The remaining variables are called
free variables.

Gaurav Dwivedi (BITS Pilani) MATH F112 (MATHEMATICS-II) January 18, 2024 58 / 80
Theorem. A system of linear equations has zero, one
or infinitely many solutions. There are no other
possibilities (Why not finite number of solutions,
other than zero and one).

Hint: Let x1 , x2 be two solutions. Then, consider

λx1 + (1 − λ)x2 , λ ∈ R.

Gaurav Dwivedi (BITS Pilani) MATH F112 (MATHEMATICS-II) January 18, 2024 59 / 80
Theorem

Notation: ρ(M ) denotes the number of nonzero rows in

a row echelon form of the matrix M.
Theorem: Let Ax = b be a system of equations with n
variables
1 if ρ(A) = ρ([A b]) = n, then the system Ax = b
has a unique solution.
2 if ρ(A) = ρ([A b]) < n, then the system Ax = b
has infinitely many solutions.
3 If ρ(A) ̸= ρ([A b]), then the system Ax = b is
inconsistent.

Gaurav Dwivedi (BITS Pilani) MATH F112 (MATHEMATICS-II) January 18, 2024 60 / 80
Example
For what values of a ∈ R, the following system of
equations has (i) no solution (ii) a unique solution or
infinitely many solutions
2x − 2y + 3z = 1
x + 2y + z = 2
x + 2y − az = a.
 
2 −2 3 1
The augmented matrix is 1 2 1 2
1 2 −a a
Sol. No solution for a = −1 and unique solution for
a ̸= −1.
Gaurav Dwivedi (BITS Pilani) MATH F112 (MATHEMATICS-II) January 18, 2024 61 / 80
Exercise
For what values of a ∈ R, the following system of
equations has (i) no solution (ii) a unique solution or
infinitely many solutions

x + y + 7z = −7
2x + 3y + 17z = 11
x + 2y + (a2 + 1)z = 6a.

Sol. No solution for a = −3, infinitely many solutions for

a = 3, unique solution for a ̸= −3 and a ̸= 3.

Gaurav Dwivedi (BITS Pilani) MATH F112 (MATHEMATICS-II) January 18, 2024 62 / 80
Exercise
For what values of a, b ∈ R, the following system of
equations has (i) no solution (ii) a unique solution or
infinitely many solutions

x − 2y − z + 3w = a
−2x + 4y + 5z − 5w = 3
3x − 6y − 6z + bw = 2.

Sol. No solution for b = 8, a ̸= 5, infinitely many

solutions for b = 8, a = 5 or b ̸= 8, a ∈ R, unique
solution does not exist.
Gaurav Dwivedi (BITS Pilani) MATH F112 (MATHEMATICS-II) January 18, 2024 63 / 80
Homogeneous System: Results

Theorem. If a homogeneous linear system has n

unknowns, and if the row echelon form of its augmented
matrix has r nonzero rows, then the system has n − r
free variables.

Theorem. A homogeneous linear system with more

unknowns than equations has infinitely many solutions.

Gaurav Dwivedi (BITS Pilani) MATH F112 (MATHEMATICS-II) January 18, 2024 64 / 80
Exercise

Solve the following systems of equations:

1 3x + y − z = 0, −x + 2y − 2z = 0, x + y − z = 0
2 3x + y − z = 0, −x + 2y − 2z = 0, x + y + z = 0

Gaurav Dwivedi (BITS Pilani) MATH F112 (MATHEMATICS-II) January 18, 2024 65 / 80
 Inverse of a Matrix using
RREF

Gaurav Dwivedi (BITS Pilani) MATH F112 (MATHEMATICS-II) January 18, 2024 66 / 80
Inverse of a Matrix
Let A be an n × n matrix. Then an n × n matrix B is a
(multiplicative) inverse of A if and only if

AB = BA = In ,

where In is the n × n identity matrix.

1 If such a matrix B exists then A is called invertible
(or nonsingular) and B is called inverse of A.
2 If no such matrix B can be found, then A is called
singular.

Gaurav Dwivedi (BITS Pilani) MATH F112 (MATHEMATICS-II) January 18, 2024 67 / 80
Theorem
Inverse of a matrix is unique if it exists. As the inverse of
matrix A is unique, we denote it by A−1 . That is,
AA−1 = A−1 A = I.

Theorem
Let A and B be n × n nonsingular matrices. Then,
1 (A−1 )−1 = A.
2 (AB)−1 = B −1 A−1 .
3 (AT )−1 = (A−1 )T .

Gaurav Dwivedi (BITS Pilani) MATH F112 (MATHEMATICS-II) January 18, 2024 68 / 80
Elementary Matrices

Definition: A matrix E is called an elementary matrix if

it can be obtained from an identity matrix by performing
a single elementary row operation.

Theorem Let E be the elementary matrix obtained by

performing an elementary row operation on In . If the
same elementary row operation is performed on an n × r
matrix A, the result is the same as the matrix EA.

Gaurav Dwivedi (BITS Pilani) MATH F112 (MATHEMATICS-II) January 18, 2024 69 / 80
Example: The following matrices are elementary
matrices:
     
1 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0
E1 = 0 0 1 ; E2 = 0 4 0 ; E3 = 0 1 0
0 1 0 0 0 1 2 0 1
   
1 2 1 1 2 1
If A =  2 1 −1 , then E3 A = 2 1 −1
−2 1 1 0 5 3

Gaurav Dwivedi (BITS Pilani) MATH F112 (MATHEMATICS-II) January 18, 2024 70 / 80
Inverse

Theorem: Each elementary matrix is invertible, and its

inverse is also an elementary matrix.

Find E1−1 , E2−1 , and E3−1 .

Note: Do you observe anything in these inverses?

Gaurav Dwivedi (BITS Pilani) MATH F112 (MATHEMATICS-II) January 18, 2024 71 / 80
Theorem

Let A be an n × n matrix. The following statements are

equivalent:
1 A is invertible.
2 Ax = b has a unique solution for every b ∈ Rn .
3 The homogeneous system Ax = 0 has only the
trivial solution.
4 The reduced row echelon form of A is In .
5 A is expressible as a product of elementary matrices.

Gaurav Dwivedi (BITS Pilani) MATH F112 (MATHEMATICS-II) January 18, 2024 72 / 80
Finding the Inverse of a matrix
Let A be a given n × n matrix.
Step 1: Write the augmented matrix [A | In ].
Step 2: Transform the augmented matrix [A | In ] to the
matrix [C | D] in reduced row echelon form via
elementary row operations.
Step 3: If
1 C = In , then D = A−1 .
2 C ̸= In , then A is singular and A−1 does not exist.

Gaurav Dwivedi (BITS Pilani) MATH F112 (MATHEMATICS-II) January 18, 2024 73 / 80
Example

Usingrow reduction
 method, find the inverse of
1 2 3
A = 2 5 3, if it exists.
1 0 8

We start with
 
1 2 3 1 0 0
2 5 3 0 1 0
1 0 8 0 0 1

Gaurav Dwivedi (BITS Pilani) MATH F112 (MATHEMATICS-II) January 18, 2024 74 / 80
 1 2 3 1 0 0 1 2 3 1 0 0
" # " #
R2 →R2 −2R1
2 5 3 0 1 0 −−−−−−−−→ 0 1 −3 −2 1 0
R3 →R3 −R1
1 0 8 0 0 1 0 −2 5 −1 0 1

1 2 3 1 0 0
" #
R3 →R3 +2R2 R3 →(−1)R3
−−−−−−−−→ 0 1 −3 −2 1 0 −−−−−−−→
0 0 −1 −5 2 1

1 2 3 1 0 0 1 2 0 −14 6 3
" # " #
R2 →R2 +3R3
0 1 −3 −2 1 0 −−−−−−−−→ 0 1 0 13 −5 −3
R1 →R1 −3R3
0 0 1 5 −2 −1 0 0 1 5 −2 −1

1 0 0 −40 16 9
" #
R1 →R1 −2R2
−−−−−−−−→ 0 1 0 13 −5 −3
0 0 1 5 −2 −1
Example

Usingrow reductionmethod, find the inverse of

1 −1 −2
A =  2 −3 −5, if it exists.
−1 3 5

Sol. Step 1: The augmented matrix [A | I3 ] is

 
1 −1 −2 1 0 0
 2 −3 −5 0 1 0
−1 3 5 0 0 1

Gaurav Dwivedi (BITS Pilani) MATH F112 (MATHEMATICS-II) January 18, 2024 76 / 80
Continued
Step 2:

The RREF of the matrix [A|I3 ] is

 
1 0 0 0 1 1
 0 1 0 5 −3 −1 
0 0 1 −3 2 1
 
0 1 1
Step 3: Thus, A−1 =  5 −3 −1
−3 2 1

Gaurav Dwivedi (BITS Pilani) MATH F112 (MATHEMATICS-II) January 18, 2024 77 / 80
Example

Using row reduction method, determine if the given

matrix
 A is invertible.
 If yes, then find its inverse.
1 6 4
A = 2 4 −1

−1 2 5
Sol. Step 1: The augmented matrix [A | I3 ] is
 
1 6 4 1 0 0
 2 4 −1 0 1 0
−1 2 5 0 0 1

Gaurav Dwivedi (BITS Pilani) MATH F112 (MATHEMATICS-II) January 18, 2024 78 / 80
Continued
Step 2:

The matrix [A|I3 ] gets reduced into

 
1 6 4 1 0 0
 0 −8 −9 −2 1 0 
0 0 0 −1 1 1
Step 3: Thus, A is not invertible.

Gaurav Dwivedi (BITS Pilani) MATH F112 (MATHEMATICS-II) January 18, 2024 79 / 80
Exercise.
Using row reduction method, determine if the given
matrix
 A is invertible.
 If yes, then find its inverse.
1 0 0
A =  k 1 0 , k ∈ R.
k2 k 1

Gaurav Dwivedi (BITS Pilani) MATH F112 (MATHEMATICS-II) January 18, 2024 80 / 80
Exercise: Find all real values of a and b such that the
system of linear equations
x1 − 2x2 − x3 + 3x4 = a
−2x1 + 4x2 + 5x3 − 5x4 = 3
3x1 − 6x2 − 6x3 + bx4 = 2

has
(i) unique solution,
(ii) infinitely many solutions, and
(iii) no solution.
Answer:
1 Infinite solutions for a = 5 and b = 8.
2 No solution for a ̸= 5 and b = 8.
3 Unique solution for b ̸= 8 and a ∈ R.
Exercise: Let α ∈ R. Then, find all the value(s) of α
such that the system of linear equations

x1 − 2x2 + 3x3 = 1
x1 + αx2 + 2x3 = 2
−2x1 + α2x2 − 4x3 = 3α − 4

has
(i) Infinitely many solutions, and
(ii) No solution.
Answer:
1 Infinite solutions for α = 0.
2 No solution for α = −2.