May 3, 2010 09:25 ch01tech Sheet number 1 Page number 1 cyan black

Chapter 1 Technology Exercises

The following exercises are designed to be solved using a tech- Examples 3, 4, and 5 of Section 1.3. See what happens when you
nology utility such as MATLAB, Mathematica, Maple, Derive, try to perform an operation on matrices with inconsistent sizes.
Mathcad, a scientific calculator, or other linear algebra software
that you may have available. In each exercise you will be asked T2. Evaluate the expression A5 − 3A3 + 7A − 4I for the matrix
to learn some syntax and commands specific to your utility or  
1 −2 3
software and to then perform some kind of computation.  
A = −4 5 −6
Section 1.1 7 −8 9
T1. (Numbers and Numerical Operations) Begin by entering
T3. (Extracting Rows and Columns) Learn how to extract rows
and displaying numbers and performing the basic arithmetic op-
and columns from a matrix, and then use your utility to extract var-
erations of addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, raising
ious rows and columns from a matrix of your choice.
numbers to powers, and extraction of roots. Determine how to con-
trol the number of digits in the screen display of a decimal number. T4. (Transpose and Trace) See how your utility finds the trans-
If you are using a computer algebra system (CAS), then you can pose and trace of a matrix, and then use it to find the transpose
compute with exact numbers rather than decimal
√ approximations. of the matrix A in Formula (12) and the trace of the matrix B in
Learn how to enter such numbers as π , 2, and 13 exactly and Example 11.
convert them to decimal form. Experiment with numbers of your
own choosing until you feel you have mastered the procedures and Section 1.4
operations. T1. (Inverse) Determine how to find the inverse of a matrix, and
then use your utility to perform the computations in Example 9 of
Section 1.2
Section 1.4.
T1. (Matrices and Reduced Row Echelon Form) Learn how to
enter matrices and how to find the reduced row echelon form of T2. (Formula for the Inverse) If you are working with a CAS,
a matrix. Then use your utility to find the reduced row-echelon use it to confirm the formula in Theorem 1.4.5.
form of the augmented matrix in Example 5 of Section 1.2. T3. (Powers of a Matrix) Learn how to find powers of a ma-
T2. (Linear Systems with a Unique Solution) Determine how trix, and then use your utility to find various positive and negative
to solve a linear system, and then use your utility to solve the lin- powers of the matrix A in Example 10 of Section 1.4.
ear system in Exercise 5. Also, solve the system by reducing the T4. Let
augmented matrix to reduced row echelon form.  
1 1
1
1 2 3

T3. (Linear Systems with Infinitely Many Solutions) Technol- A=
4 1 1
5
ogy utilities vary on how they handle linear systems with infinitely 1 1
6 7
1
many solutions. See how your utility handles the system in Ex-
ample 6 of Section 1.2. Describe what happens to the matrix Ak when k is allowed to
T4. (Inconsistent Linear Systems) Computer programs will of- increase indefinitely (that is, as k → ⬁).
ten successfully identify inconsistent linear systems, but they can T5. By experimenting with different values of n, find an expres-
sometimes be fooled into reporting an inconsistent system as con- sion for the inverse of an n × n matrix of the form
sistent, or vice versa. This typically happens when some of the  
numbers that occur in the computations are so small that roundoff 1 2 3 ··· n − 1 n
0 1 2 · · · n − 2 n − 1 
error makes it difficult for the utility to determine whether or not  
 
they are equal to zero. Create some inconsistent linear systems 0 0 1 · · · n − 3 n − 2 
and see how your solver handles them. A= . . .
. . . . .. .
.. .
..


. . . 
 
T5. A polynomial whose graph passes through a given set of points 0 0 0 · · · 1 2 
is called an interpolating polynomial for those points. Some pro- 0 0 0 ··· 0 1
grams have specific commands for finding interpolating polyno-
mials. If your utility has this capability, read the documentation Section 1.5
and then use this feature to solve Exercise 37 of Section 1.2. T1. Use your technology utility to verify Theorem 1.5.1 in several
specific cases.
Section 1.3
T1. (Matrix Operations) Learn how to perform the basic opera- T2. (Singular Matrices) Find the inverse of the matrix in Ex-
tions on matrices—addition, subtraction, multiplication by scalars, ample 4 of Section 1.5, and then see what your utility does when
and multiplication of matrices. Then perform the computations in you try to invert the matrix in Example 5.