MATH 203 - LINEAR ALGEBRA

Systems of Linear Equations

&
Row Reduction and Echelon Forms
LINEAR EQUATION

A linear equation in the variables is an

equation that can be written in the form
,
where and the coefficients are real or
complex numbers, usually known in advance.

A system of linear equations (or a linear system) is a

collection of one or more linear equations involving the
same variables — say, .
LINEAR EQUATION

A solution of the system is a list of

numbers that makes each equation a true statement
when the values are substituted for
, respectively.

The set of all possible solutions is called the solution

set of the linear system.

Two linear systems are called equivalent if they have

the same solution set.
LINEAR EQUATION

A system of linear equations has

1. no solution, or
2. exactly one solution, or
3. infinitely many solutions.

A system of linear equations is said to be consistent if it

has either one solution or infinitely many solutions.

A system is inconsistent if it has no solution.

MATRIX NOTATION

The essential information of a linear system can be

recorded compactly in a rectangular array called a
matrix. Given the system
𝑥1 2𝑥2 𝑥3 0
2𝑥2 8𝑥3 8
4𝑥1 5𝑥2 9𝑥3 9
with the coefficients of each variable aligned in
columns, the matrix
1 2 1
0 2 8
4 5 9
is called the coefficient matrix (or matrix of
coefficients) of the system.
MATRIX NOTATION

An augmented matrix of a system consists of the

coefficient matrix with an added column containing the
constants from the right sides of the equations.

For the given system of equations,

is the augmented matrix.

MATRIX NOTATION

The size of a matrix tells how many rows and columns

it has. If and are positive integers, an
matrix is a rectangular array of numbers with rows
and columns. (The number of rows always comes
first.)
SOLVING SYSTEM OF EQUATIONS

The basic strategy for solving a linear system is to

replace one system with an equivalent system (i.e., one
with the same solution set) that is easier to solve.
SOLVING SYSTEM OF EQUATIONS

Example 1: Solve the given system of equations:

Solution: Let us solve this linear equation system

without the matrix notation first and then using the
matrix notation.
SOLVING SYSTEM OF EQUATIONS

-- Keep in the first equation and eliminate it from

the other equations. To do so, add 4 times Equation 1 to
Equation 3:

The result of this calculation is written in place of the

original third equation. So Equation 3 becomes:
SOLVING SYSTEM OF EQUATIONS

Hence we have

-- Now, multiply Equation 2 by in order to obtain 1

as the coefficient for . We get:
SOLVING SYSTEM OF EQUATIONS

-- Use the in Equation 2 to eliminate the term

in Equation 3. To do so, add 3 times Equation 2 to
Equation 3:

Now, Equation 3 becomes:

SOLVING SYSTEM OF EQUATIONS

Now what we have is the following system, which is in

a triangular form:

Eventually, we want to eliminate the term from

Equation 1, but it is more efficient to use the term in
Equation 3 first to eliminate the and terms in
Equation 2 and Equation 1, respectively.
SOLVING SYSTEM OF EQUATIONS

Multiplying the third equation by 4 and adding it to

Equation 2 gives:

That is,

Using these values of and in the first equation

yields:
SOLVING SYSTEM OF EQUATIONS

Finally we get the values of the variables as

SOLVING SYSTEM OF EQUATIONS

Now, let us solve the same system of linear equations

using the matrix question.
SOLVING SYSTEM OF EQUATIONS

The corresponding augmented matrix of the original

system is:

If we multiply the first row by 4, add the result to the

third row and replace the third row with the final result
( will be replaced with ), we will have the
following:
SOLVING SYSTEM OF EQUATIONS

Multiplying by gives:

yields:
SOLVING SYSTEM OF EQUATIONS

:
SOLVING SYSTEM OF EQUATIONS

The corresponding system for this augmented matrix

gives the values of the variables , , and :
SOLVING SYSTEM OF EQUATIONS
Thus, the only solution of the original system is
. To verify that is a solution, we can
substitute these values into the left side of the original
system and compute:

The results agree with the right side of the original

system, so is a solution of the system.
ELEMENTARY ROW OPERATIONS

Elementary row operations include the following:

1. (Replacement) Replace one row by the sum of itself
and a multiple of another row.
2. (Interchange) Interchange two rows.
3. (Scaling) Multiply all entries in a row by a nonzero
constant.

It is important to note that row operations are reversible.

ELEMENTARY ROW OPERATIONS

Two matrices are called row equivalent if there is a

sequence of elementary row operations that transforms
one matrix into the other.

If the augmented matrices of two linear systems are row

equivalent, then the two systems have the same solution
set.
EXISTENCE AND UNIQUENESS QUESTIONS

Two fundamental questions about a linear system

are as follows:

 Is the system consistent; that is, does at least

one solution exist?

 If a solution exists, is it the only one? That is,

is the solution unique?
ECHELON FORMS

A nonzero row in a matrix means a row that contains at

least one nonzero entry.

Similarly, a nonzero column in a matrix means a

column that contains at least one nonzero entry.

A leading entry of a row refers to the leftmost nonzero

entry in a nonzero row.
ECHELON FORMS

A rectangular matrix is in echelon form (or row

echelon form) if it has the following three properties:

1. All nonzero rows are above any rows of all zeros.

2. Each leading entry of a row is in a column to the

right of the leading entry of the row above it.

3. All entries in a column below a leading entry are

zeros.
ECHELON FORMS

If a matrix in echelon form satisfies the following

additional conditions, then it is in reduced echelon
form (or reduced row echelon form):

4. The leading entry in each nonzero row is 1.

5. Each leading 1 is the only nonzero entry in its

column.
ECHELON FORMS

Any nonzero matrix may be row reduced (i.e.,

transformed by elementary row operations) into more
than one matrix in echelon form, using different
sequences of row operations. However, the reduced
echelon form one obtains from a matrix is unique.

If a matrix is row equivalent to an echelon matrix ,

we call an echelon form of . If is in reduced
echelon form, we call the reduced echelon form of
.
ECHELON FORMS

Theorem 1: Uniqueness of the Reduced Echelon Form

Each matrix is row equivalent to one and only one reduced

echelon matrix.
PIVOT POSITION

A pivot position in a matrix is a location in that

corresponds to a leading 1 in the reduced echelon form
of .

A pivot column is a column of that contains a pivot

position.
PIVOT POSITION

Example 2: Row reduce the matrix below to an

echelon form and locate the pivot columns of :

Solution: The top of the leftmost nonzero column is the

first pivot position. A nonzero entry must be placed in
this position. It’s good to interchange Row 1 with one of
the other rows, say Row 4.
PIVOT POSITION

Create zeros below the leading entry of the first row (1),
by adding multiples of the first row to the rows below.
PIVOT POSITION

and :

Create zeros below the leading entry of the second row

(2).
PIVOT POSITION

and :

There is no way to create a leading entry in column 3!

However, if we interchange rows 3 and 4, we can
produce a leading entry in column 4.
PIVOT POSITION

The matrix is in echelon form now.

PIVOT POSITION

If we go further to achieve the reduced echelon form,

the positions of the leading 1’s in the reduced echelon
form of are the ones specified below:
PIVOT POSITION

Now, it’s time to consider the original matrix again to

specify the pivot positions and the pivot columns:
Pivot positions

Pivot columns
ROW REDUCTION ALGORITHM

Example 3: Apply elementary row operations to

transform the following matrix first into an echelon
form and then into the reduced echelon form:
SOLUTIONS OF LINEAR SYSTEMS

The row reduction algorithm leads directly to an explicit

description of the solution set of a linear system when
the algorithm is applied to the augmented matrix of the
system.

Suppose, for example, that the augmented matrix of a

linear system has been changed into the equivalent
reduced echelon form

Pivot columns
SOLUTIONS OF LINEAR SYSTEMS

The associated system of equations is

The variables and corresponding to the pivot

columns in the matrix are called basic variables. The
other variable, , is called a free variable.
SOLUTIONS OF LINEAR SYSTEMS

Whenever a system is consistent, the solution set can be

described explicitly by solving the reduced system of
equations for the basic variables in terms of the free
variables.

So, for this example, we’ll solve the first equation for
and the second for (Here we ignore the third
equation because it offers no restriction on the
variables).
SOLUTIONS OF LINEAR SYSTEMS

The statement “ is free” means that you are free to

choose any value for . Once that is done, the formulas
in the equation above determine the values for and
. For instance, when , the solution is
when , the solution is .

Note that, each different choice of determines a

(different) solution of the system and every solution of
the system is determined by a choice of .
PARAMETRIC DESCRIPTIONS OF SOLUTION SETS

The description
𝑥 1 5𝑥
𝑥 4 𝑥
𝑥 is free
is a parametric description of solution set in which the
free variables act as parameters.

Solving a system amounts to finding a parametric

description of the solution set or determining that the
solution set is empty. Whenever a system is consistent
and has free variables, the solution set has many
parametric descriptions.
PARAMETRIC DESCRIPTIONS OF SOLUTION SETS

For instance, in the previous system we may add 5 times

Equation 2 to Equation 1 and obtain the following
equivalent system

Here, we could treat as a parameter, solve for and

in terms of , and we would have an accurate
description of the solution set.

Whenever a system is inconsistent, the solution set is

empty thus the solution set has no parametric
representation.
EXISTENCE AND UNIQUENESS THEOREM

Theorem 2: Existence and Uniqueness Theorem

A linear system is consistent if and only if the rightmost column

of the augmented matrix is not a pivot column, i.e., if and only if
an echelon form of the augmented matrix has no row of the form
0 0 … 0 𝑏 with 𝑏 nonzero.

If a linear system is consistent, then the solution set contains

either 𝑖 a unique solution, when there are no free variables, or
𝑖𝑖 infinitely many solutions, when there is at least one free
variable.
ROW REDUCTION TO SOLVE A LINEAR SYSTEM

How to Use Row Reduction to Solve a Linear System

1. Write the augmented matrix of the system.

2. Use the row reduction algorithm to obtain an

equivalent augmented matrix in echelon form.
Decide whether the system is consistent. If there is
no solution, stop; otherwise, go to the next step.
ROW REDUCTION TO SOLVE A LINEAR SYSTEM

3. Continue row reduction to obtain the reduced

echelon form.

4. Write the system of equations corresponding to the

matrix obtained in Step 3.

5. Rewrite each nonzero equation from Step 4 so that

its one basic variable is expressed in terms of any
free variables appearing in the equation.
ROW REDUCTION TO SOLVE A LINEAR SYSTEM

Example 4: Determine if the following system is

consistent:
ROW REDUCTION TO SOLVE A LINEAR SYSTEM

Solution: The augmented matrix of the given system is

whose echelon form is

.
ROW REDUCTION TO SOLVE A LINEAR SYSTEM

The corresponding system is then

Bad equation
Obviously, there are no values of , , and that
satisfy the system because the equation is never
true.

Since the resulting system and the original system have

the same solution set, the original system is inconsistent
(i.e., has no solution).
ROW REDUCTION TO SOLVE A LINEAR SYSTEM

Example 5: Find the values of for which the system

has
(a) a unique solution,
(b) infinitely many solutions,
(c) no solution.
ROW REDUCTION TO SOLVE A LINEAR SYSTEM

Example 6: Do the planes

intersect? If so, describe their intersection.