Rank of a Matrix:

Recall:
Let
A

a11
a
21

a m1

a12
a 22

am2

a1n

a 2 n

a mn

The ith row of A is

rowi ( A) ai1

ai 2 ain , i 1,2, , m, ,

and the jth column of A is

a1 j
a
2j
col j ( A)
, j 1,2, , n.

amj

Definition of row space and column space:

span row1 ( A), row 2 ( A), , row m ( A) ,
which is a vector space under standard matrix addition and scalar
multiplication, is referred to as the row space. Similarly,
span col1 ( A), col2 ( A), , coln ( A) ,
which is also a vector space under standard matrix addition and scalar
multiplication, is referred to as the column space.
Definition of row equivalence:
A matrix B is row equivalent to a matrix A if B result from A via elementary row
operations.
Example:
Let
1
A 4
7

2
5
8

3
4

6 , B1 1
7
9

5
2
8

6
2

3 , B2 4
7
9

Since

4
5
8

6
1

6 , B3 3
7
9

2
3
8

3
3
9

(1) 1
A (2) 4
(3) 7
(1) 1
A (2) 4
(3) 7
(1) 1
A ( 2) 4
(3) 7

B1 , B2 , B3 are all

2
5
8
2
5
8
2
5
8

3
6
9

(1) ( 2 )

3
6
9
3
6
9

4
B1 1
7

(1) 2*(1)

2
B2 4
7

( 2 ) ( 2 ) (1)

1
B3 3
7

6
3 ,
9

5
2
8
4
5
8
2
3
8

6
6 ,
9
3
3 ,
9

row equivalent to A .

Important Result:

If A and B are two m n row equivalent matrices, then the row spaces of
A and B are equal.

How to find the bases of the row and column spaces:

Suppose A is a m n matrix. Then, the bases of the row and column

spaces can be found via the following steps.
Step 1:
Transform the matrix A to the matrix in reduced row echelon form.
Step 2:
The nonzero rows of the matrix in reduced row echelon form form a
basis of the row space of A.
The columns corresponding to the ones containing the leading 1s
form a basis. For example, if n 6 and the reduced row echelon
matrix is
1
0

0
0
0

1
0
0

1
0

then the 1st, the 3rd, and the 4th columns contain a leading 1 and
thus col1 A , col3 A , col4 A form a basis of the column
space of A.

Note:
To find the basis of the column space is to find to basis for the vector
space span col1 ( A), col 2 ( A), , col n ( A) . Two methods introduced in the
previous section can also be used. The method used in this section is
equivalent to the second method in the previous section.
Example:
Let
1
3
A
2

2
2
3
2

0
8
7
0

3
1
2
4

4
4
.
3

Find the bases of the row and column spaces of A.

[solution:]
Step 1:
Transform the matrix A to the matrix in reduced row echelon form,
1 2
3
2
A
2
3

1 2

0
8
7
0

3
1
2
4

4
4

1
0
in reduced
row echelon
form

0

0
1
0
0

2
1
0
0

0
0
1
0

1
1
1

Step 2:
The basis for the row space is
1 0 2 0 1, 0 1 1 0 1, 0

0 0 1 1
The columns corresponding to the ones containing the leading 1s are the 1st,
the 2nd, and the 4th columns. Thus,
1

2
1

2 3
2 1
,
,
3 2

2 4

form a basis of the column space.

Definition of row rank and column rank:
The dimension of the row space of A is called the row rank of A and the
dimension of the column space of A is called the column rank of A.
Example (continue):
3

Since the basis of the row space of A is

1 0 2 0 1, 0 1 1 0 1, 0

0 0 1 1 ,
the dimension of the row space is 3 and the row rank of A is 3. Similarly,
1

2
1

2 3
2 1
,
,
3 2

2 4

is the basis of the column space of A. Thus, the dimension of the column space is 3
and the column rank of A is 3.

Important Result:

The row rank and column rank of the m n matrix A are equal.
Definition of the rank of a matrix:
Since the row rank and the column rank of a

m n matrix A are equal, we

only refer to the rank of A and write rank A .

Important Result:

If A is a m n matrix , then
rank ( A) nullity ( A)
the dimension of the column space the dimension of the null space
n

Example:
1
0

A 0

0
0

0
1
0
0
0

0
0
1
0
0

0
0
0
0
0

0
0
0

0
0

0
1

, 0

0
0

0
0

, 1

0
0

and n 5 .

Since
1

0
0
0

0

is a basis of column space and thus rank A 3 . The solutions of Ax 0 are

x1 0, x 2 0, x3 0, x 4 s1 , x5 s 2 , s1 , s 2 R .
Thus, the solution space (the null space) is
4

s1 0 s 2

0
0

Then, 0

1
0

0
0

and 0

0
1

0
0

0
0
0 span 0

1
0

1
0

0
0

, 0

0
1

are the basis of the null space. and nullity A 2 .

Therefore,
rank ( A) nullity ( A) 3 2 5 n .

Important Result:

Let A be an n n matrix.
A is nonsingular if and only if rank A n .
rank A n A is nonsingular det A 0

Ax b has a unique solution.

rank A n Ax 0 has a nontrivial solution.

Important Result:

Let A be an m n matrix. Then,

Ax b has a solution rank ( A) rank A | b