Systems of Equations

10 and Inequalities

Copyright © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.

 Matrices and Systems of
10.3 Linear Equations

Copyright © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.

Objectives
■ Matrices
■ The Augmented Matrix of a Linear System
■ Elementary Row Operations
■ Gaussian Elimination
■ Gauss-Jordan Elimination
■ Inconsistent and Dependent Systems
■ Modeling with Linear Systems 3
Matrices and Systems Of Linear Equations

A matrix is simply a rectangular array of numbers. Matrices

are used to organize information into categories that
correspond to the rows and columns of the matrix.

For example, a scientist might organize information on a

population of endangered whales as follows:

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Matrices and Systems Of Linear Equations

In this section we represent a linear system by a matrix,

called the augmented matrix of the system.

The augmented matrix contains the same information as

the system but in a simpler form.

The operations we learned for solving systems of equations

can now be performed on the augmented matrix.

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Matrices

6
Matrices
We begin by defining the various elements that make up a
matrix.

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Matrices
Here are some examples of matrices.

Matrix Dimension

23 2 rows by 3 columns

[6 –5 0 1] 14 1 row by 4 columns

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The Augmented Matrix
of a Linear System

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The Augmented Matrix of a Linear System

We can write a system of linear equations as a matrix,

called the augmented matrix of the system, by writing only
the coefficients and constants that appear in the equations.

Here is an example.
Linear system Augmented matrix

Notice that a missing variable in an equation corresponds

to a 0 entry in the augmented matrix.
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Example 1 – Finding the Augmented Matrix of a Linear System

Write the augmented matrix of the following system of

equations:

Solution:
First we write the linear system with the variables lined up
in columns.

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Example 1 – Solution cont’d

The augmented matrix is the matrix whose entries are the

coefficients and the constants in this system.

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Elementary Row Operations

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Elementary Row Operations

Note that performing any of these operations on the

augmented matrix of a system does not change its solution.

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Elementary Row Operations
We use the following notation to describe the elementary row
operations:
Symbol Description

Ri + kRj  Ri Change the ith row by adding k

times row j to it, and then put the

result back in row i.

kRi Multiply the ith row by k.

Ri Rj Interchange the ith and jth rows.

In the next example we compare the two ways of writing

systems of linear equations. 15
Example 2 – Using Elementary Row Operations to Solve a Linear System

Solve the following system of linear equations:

Solution:
Our goal is to eliminate the x-term from the second
equation and the x- and y-terms from the third equation.

For comparison we write both the system of equations and

its augmented matrix.

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 Example 2 – Solution cont’d

System Augmented matrix

Add (–1) 
Equation 1 to
Equation 2.
Add (–3) 
Equation 1
to Equation 3.

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 Example 2 – Solution cont’d

System Augmented matrix

Multiply
Equation 3
by .

Add (–3) 
Equation 3 R2 – 3R3  R2
to Equation 2
(to eliminate y
from Equation 2).

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Example 2 – Solution cont’d

System Augmented matrix

Interchange R2 R3
Equations
2 and 3.

Now we use back-substitution to find that x = 2, y = 7, and

z = 3. The solution is (2, 7, 3).

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Gaussian Elimination

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Gaussian Elimination
In general, to solve a system of linear equations using its
augmented matrix, we use elementary row operations to
arrive at a matrix in a certain form. This form is described in
the following box.

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Gaussian Elimination
In the following matrices the first one is not in row-echelon
form.

Not in row-echelon form

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Gaussian Elimination
The second one is in row-echelon form, and the third one is
in reduced row-echelon form. The entries in red are the
leading entries.

Row-echelon form Reduced row-echelon form

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Gaussian Elimination
Here is a systematic way to put a matrix in row-echelon
form using elementary row operations:

• Start by obtaining 1 in the top left corner. Then obtain

zeros below that 1 by adding appropriate multiples of the
first row to the rows below it.

• Next, obtain a leading 1 in the next row, and then obtain

zeros below that 1.

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Gaussian Elimination
• At each stage make sure that every leading entry is to the

right of the leading entry in the row above it—rearrange

the rows if necessary.

• Continue this process until you arrive at a matrix in

row-echelon form.

This is how the process might work for a 3  4 matrix:

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Gaussian Elimination
Once an augmented matrix is in row-echelon form, we can
solve the corresponding linear system using back
substitution.

This technique is called Gaussian elimination, in honor of

its inventor, the German mathematician C. F. Gauss.

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Example 3 – Solving a System Using Row-Echelon Form

Solve the following system of linear equations using

Gaussian elimination:

Solution:
We first write the augmented matrix of the system, and
then we use elementary row operations to put it in row-
echelon form.

Augmented matrix:

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Example 3 – Solution cont’d

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Example 3 – Solution cont’d

R3 – 5R2  R3

Row-echelon form:

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Example 3 – Solution cont’d

We now have an equivalent matrix in row-echelon form,

and the corresponding system of equations is

Back-substitute:
We use back-substitution to solve the system.

y + 4(– 2) = –7 Back-substitute z = –2
into Equation 2

y=1 Solve for y

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Example 3 – Solution cont’d

x + 2(1) – (–2) = 1 Back-substitute y = 1 and

z = –2 into Equation 1

x = –3 Solve for x

So the solution of the system is (–3, 1, –2).

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Gauss-Jordan Elimination

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Gauss-Jordan Elimination
If we put the augmented matrix of a linear system in
reduced row-echelon form, then we don’t need to back
substitute to solve the system.

To put a matrix in reduced row-echelon form, we use the

following steps.
• Use the elementary row operations to put the matrix in
row-echelon form.
• Obtain zeros above each leading entry by adding
multiples of the row containing that entry to the rows
above it. Begin with the last leading entry and work up.

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Gauss-Jordan Elimination
Here is how the process works for a 3  4 matrix:

 

Using the reduced row-echelon form to solve a system is

called Gauss-Jordan elimination.

The process is illustrated in the next example.

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Example 4 – Solving a System Using Reduced Row-Echelon Form

Solve the following system of linear equations, using

Gauss-Jordan elimination:

Solution:
In Example 3 we used Gaussian elimination on the
augmented matrix of this system to arrive at an equivalent
matrix in row-echelon form.

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Example 4 – Solution cont’d

We continue using elementary row operations on the last

matrix in Example 3 to arrive at an equivalent matrix in
reduced row-echelon form.

R2 – 4R3  R2
R1 + R3  R1

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Example 4 – Solution cont’d

R1 – 2R2  R1

We now have an equivalent matrix in reduced row-echelon

form, and the corresponding system of equations is

Hence we immediately arrive at the solution (–3, 1, –2).

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Inconsistent and Dependent Systems

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Inconsistent and Dependent Systems
The systems of linear equations that we considered in
Examples 1–4 had exactly one solution.

But as we know, a linear system may have one solution, no

solution, or infinitely many solutions.

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Inconsistent and Dependent Systems
Fortunately, the row-echelon form of a system allows us to
determine which of these cases applies, as described in the
following box.

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Inconsistent and Dependent Systems
First we need some terminology. A leading variable in a
linear system is one that corresponds to a leading entry in
the row-echelon form of the augmented matrix of the
system.

The matrices below, all in row-echelon form, illustrate the

three cases described in the box.
No solution One solution Infinitely many
solutions

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Example 5 – A System with No Solution
Solve the following system:

Solution:
We transform the system into row-echelon form.

R2 – 2R1  R2

R3 – R1  R3

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Example 5 – Solution cont’d

R3 – R2  R3

This last matrix is in row-echelon form, so we can stop the

Gaussian elimination process.

Now if we translate the last row back into equation form, we

get 0x + 0y + 0z = 1, or 0 = 1, which is false.

No matter what values we pick for x, y, and z, the last

equation will never be a true statement. This means that
the system has no solution. 43
Example 6 – A System with Infinitely Many Solutions

Find the complete solution of the following system:

Solution:
We transform the system into reduced row-echelon form.

R1 R3

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Example 6 – Solution cont’d

R2 + R1  R2 R3 + 2R2  R3
R3 + 3R1  R3

R1 – R2  R1

The third row corresponds to the equation 0 = 0.

This equation is always true, no matter what values are

used for x, y, and z. Since the equation adds no new
information about the variables, we can drop it from the
system.
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Example 6 – Solution cont’d

So the last matrix corresponds to the system

Equation 1
Equation 2

Now we solve for the leading variables x and y in terms of

the nonleading variable z.

x = 7z – 5 Solve for x in Equation 1

y = 3z + 1 Solve for y in Equation 2

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Example 6 – Solution cont’d

To obtain the complete solution, we let z be any real

number t, and we express x, y, and z in terms of t.

x = 7t – 5

y = 3t + 1

z=t

We can also write the solution as the ordered triple

(7t – 5, 3t + 1, t), where t is any real number.
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Modeling with Linear Systems

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Modeling with Linear Systems
Linear equations, often containing hundreds or even
thousands of variables, occur frequently in the applications
of algebra to the sciences and to other fields.

For now, let’s consider an example that involves only three

variables.

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Example 8 – Nutritional Analysis Using a System of Linear Equations

A nutritionist is performing an experiment on student

volunteers. He wishes to feed one of his subjects a daily
diet that consists of a combination of three commercial diet
foods: MiniCal, LiquiFast, and SlimQuick.

For the experiment it is important that the subject consume

exactly 500 mg of potassium, 75 g of protein, and 1150
units of vitamin D every day.

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Example 8 – Nutritional Analysis Using a System of Linear Equations
cont’d

The amounts of these nutrients in 1 oz of each food are

given in the table. How many ounces of each food should
the subject eat every day to satisfy the nutrient
requirements exactly?

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Example 8 – Solution
Let x, y, and z represent the number of ounces of MiniCal,
LiquiFast, and SlimQuick, respectively, that the subject
should eat every day.

This means that he will get 50x mg of potassium from

MiniCal, 75y mg from LiquiFast, and 10z mg from
SlimQuick, for a total of 50x + 75y + 10z mg potassium in
all.

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Example 8 – Solution cont’d

Since the potassium requirement is 500 mg, we get the first

equation below. Similar reasoning for the protein and vitamin
D requirements leads to the system

Potassium
Protein
Vitamin D

Dividing the first equation by 5 and the third one by 10 gives

the system

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Example 8 – Solution cont’d

We can solve this system using Gaussian elimination, or

we can use a graphing calculator to find the reduced row
echelon form of the augmented matrix of the system.

From the reduced row-echelon form we see that

x = 5, y = 2, z = 10.

The subject should be fed 5 oz of MiniCal, 2 oz of

LiquiFast, and 10 oz of SlimQuick every day.

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Example 8 – Solution cont’d

Check Your Answer:

x = 5, y = 2, z = 10

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