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Linear Equations
in Linear Algebra

© 2016 PEARSON EDUCATION, INC

Linear Equations
in Linear Algebra
4. THE MATRIX EQUATION
 MATRIX EQUATION
 Definition: If A is anmatrix, with columns a1, …, an, and if x is in , then the
product of A and x, denoted by Ax, is the linear combination of the columns
of A using the corresponding entries in x as weights; that is,

Note that Ax is defined only if the number of columns of A equals the number of
entries in x.
 MATRIX EQUATION
 
Example 2: For in , write the linear combination as a matrix times
a vector.
 MATRIX EQUATION
Now, write the system of linear equations as a vector equation involving a linear
combination of vectors.
For example, the following system

(1)

is equivalent to
(2)
 MATRIX EQUATION
As in the example, the linear combination on the left side is a matrix times a
vector, so that (2) becomes

(3)

Equation (3) has the form . Such an equation is called a matrix equation,
to distinguish it from a vector equation such as shown in (2).
 MATRIX EQUATION

THEOREM 3
 If A is an matrix, with columns , and if is in , then the matrix equation

has the same solution set as the vector equation

which, in turn, has the same solution set as the system of linear equations whose
augmented matrix is
[ b]
 EXISTENCE OF SOLUTIONS
  The equation has a solution if and only if is a linear
combination of the columns of .
THEOREM 4

  Let be an matrix. Then the following statements are logically equivalent. That is, for a
particular A, either they are all true statements or they are all false.
a. For each in , the equation has a solution.
b. Each in is a linear combination of the columns of .
c. The columns of span .
d. has a pivot position in every row.
 COMPUTATION OF
 

Example 4: Compute , where

and .

Solution:
 COMPUTATION OF
 ROW-VECTOR RULE FOR COMPUTING
 If the product is defined, then the th entry in is the sum of the
products of corresponding entries from row of and from the
vector .
 PROPERTIES OF THE MATRIX-VECTOR
  PRODUCT

THEOREM 5

  If is an matrix, and are vectors in, and is a scalar, then

a. ;
b. .
Quiz
 What matrix equation is equivalent to the following system?

1. =
2. =