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InverseofaMatrix

InverseofaMatrix
Pleasereadour IntroductiontoMatrices first.

What is the Inverse of a Matrix?

Thisisthe reciprocal ofaNumber:

ReciprocalofaNumber
TheInverseofaMatrixisthesameideabutwewriteitA1

Whynot1/A ?Becausewedon'tdividebyaMatrix!Andanyway1/8 canalsobewritten81

Andthereareothersimilarities:

Whenwemultiplyanumberbyitsreciprocalweget1
8(1/8 )=1
WhenwemultiplyaMatrixbyitsInversewegettheIdentityMatrix(whichis
like"1"forMatrices):
AA1=I
Samethingwhentheinversecomesfirst:
(1/8 )8=1
A1A=I

Identity Matrix
Wejustmentionedthe"IdentityMatrix".Itisthematrixequivalentofthenumber"1":

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InverseofaMatrix

Wejustmentionedthe"IdentityMatrix".Itisthematrixequivalentofthenumber"1":

A3x3IdentityMatrix
Itis"square"(hassamenumberofrowsascolumns),
Ithas1sonthediagonaland0severywhereelse.
It'ssymbolisthecapitalletterI.
TheIdentityMatrixcanbe22insize,or33,44,etc...

Definition
Hereisthedefinition:

TheInverseofAisA1onlywhen:

AA1=A1A=I
SometimesthereisnoInverseatall.

2x2 Matrix
OK,howdowecalculatetheInverse?
Well,fora2x2MatrixtheInverseis:

Inotherwords:swapthepositionsofaandd,putnegativesinfrontofbandc,anddivide
everythingbythe determinant (adbc).
Letustryanexample:

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Howdoweknowthisistherightanswer?
Rememberitmustbetruethat:AA1=I
So,letuschecktoseewhathappenswhenwe multiplythematrix byitsinverse:

And,hey!,weendupwiththeIdentityMatrix!Soitmustberight.
Itshouldalsobetruethat:A1A=I
Whydon'tyouhaveagoatmultiplyingthese?SeeifyoualsogettheIdentityMatrix:

Why Do We Need an Inverse?

BecausewithMatriceswedon'tdivide!Seriously,thereisnoconceptofdividingbyaMatrix.
ButwecanmultiplybyanInverse,whichachievesthesamething.

Imaginewecan'tdividebynumbers...
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...andsomeoneasks"HowdoIshare10appleswith2people?"
Butwecantakethereciprocalof2(whichis0.5),soweanswer:
100.5=5
Theyget5appleseach.

ThesamethingcanbedonewithMatrices:

SayweknowMatrixAandB,andwanttofindMatrixX:

XA=B
ItwouldbenicetodividebothsidesbyA(togetX=B/A),butrememberwecan't
divide.

ButwhatifwemultiplybothsidesbyA1?

XAA1=BA1
AndweknowthatAA1=I,so:

XI=BA1
WecanremoveI(forthesamereasonwecanremove"1"from1x=abfornumbers):

X=BA1
Andwehaveouranswer(assumingwecancalculateA1)

Inthatexamplewewereverycarefultogetthemultiplicationscorrect,becausewithMatricesthe
orderofmultiplicationmatters.ABisalmostneverequaltoBA.

A Real Life Example: Bus and Train

Agrouptookatriponabus,at$3perchildand$3.20peradult
foratotalof$118.40.
Theytookthetrainbackat$3.50perchildand$3.60peradult
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InverseofaMatrix

Theytookthetrainbackat$3.50perchildand$3.60peradult
foratotalof$135.20.
Howmanychildren,andhowmanyadults?

First,letussetupthematrices(becarefultogettherowsandcolumnscorrect!):

Thisisjustliketheexampleabove:

XA=B
Sotosolveitweneedtheinverseof"A":

Nowwehavetheinversewecansolveusing:

X=BA1

Therewere16childrenand22adults!
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InverseofaMatrix

Theansweralmostappearslikemagic.Butitisbasedongoodmathematics.

Calculationslikethat(butusingmuchlargermatrices)helpEngineersdesignbuildings,
areusedinvideogamesandcomputeranimationstomakethingslook3dimensional,
andmanyotherplaces.
Itisalsoawaytosolve SystemsofLinearEquations .
Thecalculationsaredonebycomputer,butthepeoplemustunderstandtheformulas.

Order is Important
Saythatwearetryingtofind"X"inthiscase:

AX=B
Thisisdifferenttotheexampleabove!XisnowafterA.
WithMatricestheorderofmultiplicationusuallychangestheanswer.Donotassumethat
AB=BA,itisalmostnevertrue.

Sohowdowesolvethisone?Usingthesamemethod,butputA1infront:

A1AX=A1B
AndweknowthatA1A=I,so:

IX=A1B
WecanremoveI:

X=A1B
Andwehaveouranswer(assumingwecancalculateA1)

Whydon'twetryourbusandtrainexample,butwiththedatasetupthatwayaround.
Itcanbedonethatway,butwemustbecarefulhowwesetitup.
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ThisiswhatitlookslikeasAX=B:

Itlookssoneat!IthinkIpreferitlikethis.
Alsonotehowtherowsandcolumnsareswappedover("Transposed")
comparedtothepreviousexample.
Tosolveitweneedtheinverseof"A":

ItisliketheInversewegotbefore,but
Transposed(rowsandcolumnsswappedover).
Nowwecansolveusing:

X=A1B

Sameanswer:16childrenand22adults.
So,Matricesarepowerfulthings,buttheydoneedtobesetupcorrectly!

The Inverse May Not Exist

Firstofall,tohaveanInversetheMatrixmustbe"Square"(samenumberofrowsandcolumns).
Butalsothedeterminantcannotbezero(orweendupdividingbyzero).Howaboutthis:

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2424?Thatequals0,and1/0isundefined.
Wecannotgoanyfurther!ThisMatrixhasnoInverse.

SuchaMatrixiscalled"Singular",whichonlyhappenswhenthedeterminantiszero.
Anditmakessense...lookatthenumbers:thesecondrowisjustdoublethefirstrow,anddoes
notaddanynewinformation.
Andthedeterminantletsusknowthisfact.
(Imagineinourbusandtrainexamplethatthepricesonthetrainwereallexactly50%higherthan
thebus:sonowwecan'tfigureoutanydifferencesbetweenadultsandchildren.Thereneedstobe
somethingtosetthemapart.)

Bigger Matrices
Theinverseofa2x2iseasy...comparedtolargermatrices(suchasa3x3,4x4,etc).
Forthoselargermatricestherearethreemainmethodstoworkouttheinverse:
InverseofaMatrixusingElementaryRowOperations(GaussJordan)
InverseofaMatrixusingMinors,CofactorsandAdjugate
Useacomputer(suchastheMatrixCalculator)

Conclusion
TheInverseofAisA1onlywhenAA1=A1A=I
TofindtheInverseofa2x2Matrix:swapthepositionsofaandd,put
negativesinfrontofbandc,anddivideeverythingbythedeterminant(ad
bc).
SometimesthereisnoInverseatall

Question1Question2Question3Question4Question5
Question6Question7Question8
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InverseofaMatrix

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