A Matrix is a rectangular array of numbers, letters or symbols. Each number/letter/symbol in the matrix is called an element. Consider the following matrix:
|1 2 1|
|2 3 1|
|0 1 2|
Since the above matrix has 3 rows and 3 columns, this is known as a 3x3 matrix. There are many operations that can be done to matrices to manipulate them in order to solve linear equations. For example, two matrices can be added together or subtracted by adding or subtracting the respective elements. For example,
If A = [1 2] and B [2 4], then A-B =
[1 2] – [2 4] = [-1 -2]
For the multiplication of two matrices, the following condition must be met: the number of columns of the first matrix has to equal the number of rows of the second matrix.
For example
If A=
|1 1|
|1 1|
And B =
|2 2|
|2 2|
Then A*B =
|4 4|
|4 4|
Thus it can be seen that the applicability of matrices can extend into many fields of Mathematics and Science, as it can be used to solve linear equations.
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