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Chapter 8 Matrices and Determinants

Section 8.1 Matrices and Systems of Equations

Objective: In this lesson you learned how to use matrices, Gaussian

elimination, and Gauss-Jordan elimination to solve systems
of linear equations.

Important Vocabulary Define each term or concept.

Entry of a matrix One of the real numbers that makes up a matrix.

Order of a matrix Indicates the number of rows and columns of a matrix. A matrix
having m rows and n columns is said to be of order m × n.
Square matrix A matrix in which the number of rows and the number of columns is
equal.
Main diagonal For a square matrix, all entries, aij, in which i = j.

Row matrix A matrix that has only one row.

Column matrix A matrix that has only one column.

Elementary row operations A set of operations that can be performed on an

augmented matrix of a given system of linear equations that produce a new augmented
matrix corresponding to a new (but equivalent) system of linear equations.
Gauss-Jordan elimination The process of reducing a matrix to reduced row-echelon
form.

I. Matrices (Pages 572−573) What you should learn

How to write matrices
If m and n are positive integers, an m × n matrix is . . . and identify their orders
a rectangular array
⎡ a11 a12 a13 ... a1n ⎤
⎢ a21 a22 a23 ... a2n ⎮
⎢ a31 a32 a33 ... a3n ⎮
⎢ : : : ... : ⎮
⎣ am1 am2 am3 ... amn ⎦
in which each entry, aij, of the matrix is a real number.

An m × n matrix has m rows and n

columns.

An augmented matrix is . . . a matrix derived from a

system of linear equations, each written in standard form with
the constant term on the right side.

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142 Chapter 8 • Matrices and Determinants

A coefficient matrix is . . . a matrix derived from the

coefficients of a system of linear equations (but not including the
constant terms).

Example 1: Consider the following system of equations.

⎧ 2x + y − z = 5
⎪
⎨x − 3 y + 2z = 9
⎪ 3x + 2 y = 1
⎩
(a)
Write the augmented matrix for this system.
(b)
What is the order of the augmented matrix?
(c)
Write the coefficient matrix for this system.
(d)
What is the order of the coefficient matrix?
(a) (b) 3 × 4 (c) (d) 3 × 3
⎡2 1 − 1 : 5⎤ ⎡2 1 − 1⎤
⎢1 −3 2 : 9⎮ ⎢1 −3 2⎮
⎣3 2 0 : 1⎦ ⎣3 2 0⎦

II. Elementary Row Operations (Pages 574−576) What you should learn
How to perform
The elementary row operations on a matrix are: elementary row
operations on matrices
1. Interchange two rows.

2. Multiply a row by a nonzero constant.

3. Add a multiple of a row to another row.

Two matrices are row-equivalent if . . . one can be

obtained from the other by a sequence of elementary row
operations.

A matrix in row-echelon form has the following three

properties:
1. All rows consisting entirely of zeros occur at the bottom of
the matrix.
2. For each row that does not consist entirely of zeros, the first
nonzero entry is 1 (called a leading 1).
3. For two successive (nonzero) rows, the leading 1 in the
higher row is farther to the left than the leading 1 in the
lower row.

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 Section 8.1 • Matrices and Systems of Equations 143
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A matrix in row-echelon form is in reduced row-echelon form
if . . . every column that has a leading 1 has zeros in every
position above and below its leading 1.

III. Gaussian Elimination with Back-Substitution What you should learn

(Pages 577−578) How to use matrices and
Gaussian elimination to
To solve a system of linear equations using Gaussian solve systems of linear
Elimination with Back-Substitution, . . . equations
1) Write the augmented matrix of the system of linear equations.
2) Use elementary row operations to rewrite the augmented
matrix in row-echelon form.
3) Write the system of linear equations corresponding to the
matrix in row-echelon form, and use back-substitution to find the
solution.

If, during the elimination process, you obtain a row with zeros
except for the last entry, you can conclude that the system has
no solution .

Example 2: Solve the following system using Gaussian

Elimination with Back-Substitution.
⎧ x + y + z =1
⎪
⎨ x + 2 y + 3z = 1
⎪ x − 3 y + 5 z = −11
⎩

The solution is x = 0, y = 2, and z = − 1.

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144 Chapter 8 • Matrices and Determinants

IV. Gauss-Jordan Elimination (Pages 579−581) What you should learn

How to use matrices and
Example 3: Apply Gauss-Jordan elimination to the following Gauss-Jordan elimination
matrix to obtain the unique reduced row-echelon to solve systems of linear
form of the matrix. equations
⎡1 4 2 5⎤
⎢0 1 − 1 3⎥
⎢0 0 1 − 2⎥⎦
⎣

⎡1 0 0 : 5⎤
⎢0 1 0 : 1⎮
⎣ 0 0 1 : − 2⎦

Example 4: Solve the following system using Gauss-Jordan

elimination.
⎧ 2 x − y + 3z = 1
⎪
⎨ x + 2 y − 4 z = −6
⎪− 2 x + 3 y − z = 13
⎩

The solution is x = − 2, y = 4, and z = 3.

Homework Assignment

Page(s)

Exercises

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