Lecture 2

LINEAR SYSTEM OF EQUATIONS

Learning outcomes: by the end of this lecture
1. You should know,
a) What is a linear system of equations
b) What is a homogeneous system
c) How to represent a linear system in matrix form
d)

What is a coefficient matrix

e) What is an augmented matrix
2. You should be able to solve a linear system of
equations using:
a)Row operations:
i. Gauss-elimination method (REF)
ii. Gauss-Jordan method (RREF)

b)Inverse matrix method

Definition of a Linear Equation in n Variables:

A linear equation in n variable

x1 , x 2 , , x n

has the form

a1 x1 a 2 x 2 a n x n b

Where the coefficients

a1 , a 2 , , a n , b

are real numbers

a1

(usually known). The number of is the leading

x1
coefficient and is the leading variable.
The collection of several linear equations is referred to as
the system of linear equations.
Definition of System of m Linear Equation in n
Variables:
A system of m linear equations in n variables is a set
of m equations, each of which is linear in the same n
variables:
a11x1 a12 x2 a1n xn b1

a21x1 a22 x2 a2 n xn b2

am1 x1 am 2 x2 amn xn bm

where

aij , bi , i 1,2, , m, j 1, n,

are constants.

Example:1Consider the following system of linear

equations:
x1 3x 2 x3 4

3x1 2 x 2 5 x3 2

m 4, n 3

2 x1 x 2 3x3 8
x1

7 x3 6

Example: 2 Which of the following are linear equations?

( a ) 3 x 2 y 7 (b) (sin ) x1 4 x2 (log 5) x3 e 2 ( c)

3
1
( d ) e x 2 y 4 ( e) sin x1 2 x2 3 x3 0 ( f ) x 4
y

x y 2

(a) and (b) are linear equations. ( c ),( d ),(e ), and ( f ) are not linear.

Number of Solutions of a System of Linear Equations

Consider the following systems of linear equations
(a)

x y 1

x y 3

(b)

x y4

x y2

x y 1
x y3

(c)

6 x 2 y 8

3x y 4

x y4

x y2
For a system of linear equations, precisely one of the

following is true:
(a) The system has exactly one solution.
(b) The system has no solution.
(c) The system has infinitely many solutions.
Consistent and Inconsistent
A system of linear equations is called consistent if it has
at least one solution and inconsistent if it has no solution.

Equivalent
Two systems of linear equations are said to be equivalent
if they have the same set of solutions.

Back Substitution
Which of the following systems is easier to solve?
x 2 y 3z 9

( a ) 3 x 7 y 6 z 22
2 x 5 y 5 z 17

x 2 y 3z 9

(b)
y 3z 5

z2

System (b) is said to be in row-echelon form. To solve

such a system, use a procedure called back substitution.

Augmented Matrices and Coefficient Matrices

m n
Consider the
linear system
a11 x1 a12 x2 L a1n xn b1

a21 x1 a22 x2 L a2 n xn b2
M
am1 x1 am 2 x2 ... amn xn bm

Let
A

a11
a
21

am1

B
b

a12

a22

M
am 2 L

a1n

a2 n
, b

amn

b1

b2
, B A|b

bm

a11

a12

a21

a22

M O

am1 am 2 K

b1
a2 n b2

M M

amn bm
a1n

is called the coefficient matrix of the system.

is called the augmented matrix of the system.

is called the constant matrix of the system.

It is possible to write the system
a11 x1 a12 x2 L a1n xn b1
a21 x1 a22 x2 L a2 n xn b2
M
am1 x1 am 2 x2 ... amn xn bm

in the following matrix form

a11
a
21

a m1

a1n
a 22 a 2 n

a m 2 a mn
A
a12

Example:

x1

x 2

xn
X

b1
b
2

bm

3x y 1
2 x - 5y 6

3 1 x
1
2 5 y 6

A X B

Row-Equivalent
mn
Two
matrices are said to be row-equivalent if one can
be obtained by the other by a series of elementary row
operations.