THE NEW CENTRAL HIGH SCHOOL

MATHEMATICS - GRADE 10

MATRICES – HANDOUT 2

INTRODUCTION
This Handout continues the introductory aspect of Matrices. We have already looked at what a
Matrix is and how to determine the size/order of any given Matrix. We will now look at the
various types of matrices in this Handout.
The main types of Matrices are:
 Row Matrix
 Column Matrix
 Square Matrix
 Null Matrix
 Diagonal Matrix
 Unit/Identity Matrix

LET US NOW EXAMINE THE TYPES OF MATRICES:

ROW MATRIX
A Matrix is said to be a Row Matrix if it consists of a single horizontal array of elements.
This simply means that a Row Matrix has ONLY one row, just as the name suggests.

Here are some examples of what Row Matrices look like:

A=¿ B=[10 ¿−2 0]

one row of elements

C=¿ D=¿
COLUMN MATRIX
A Matrix is said to be a Column Matrix if it consists of a single vertical array of elements.
This simply means that a Column Matrix has ONLY one column, just as the name suggests. A
Column Matrix is the opposite of Row Matrix.

Here are some examples of what Column Matrices look

SQUARE MATRIX
In Mathematics, a Square Matrix is a matrix that is made up of the same number of rows
and columns. This means that the amount of rows is the same as the amount of columns, thus,
the dimensions of the matrix will have the same numbers, e.g. a 3 x 3 matrix, a 2 X 2 matrix.

Here are some examples of what Square Matrices look like:

NULL MATRIX
A Null Matrix, also called Zero Matrix, is a matrix where all the elements are zero (0). This
type of matrix is made up of elements which are the number zero (0) only.

Here are some examples of what Null Matrices look like:

DIAGONAL MATRIX
A Diagonal Matrix is a square matrix where all the elements EXCEPT the leading diagonal
elements are zero (0).

Here are some examples of what Diagonal Matrices look like:

E= 5 0
( ) leading diagonals
0 4
(numbers are not zero)

non- leading diagonals

(numbers are zero)

Points to note based on the example above:

 Matrix E is a squared matrix, since it has the same number of rows and columns.
 The leading diagonals of any matrix will always be found as shown in Matrix E. The
leading diagonals are 5 and 4 as shown by the red lines, and this is always the
position of the leading diagonals.
 The non-leading diagonals are all the other elements that are found diagonally
opposite the leading diagonals. The non-leading diagonals of Matrix E are 0 and0.
 In a Diagonal Matrix, the leading diagonals will always be numbers more than 0, as
shown in Matrix E (5 and 4). However, the non-leading diagonals will always be
equal to 0, as shown in Matrix E (0 and 0).

UNIT MATRIX
A Unit Matrix is
a type of
Diagonal
Matrix, with
each leading
diagonal
element being
equal to 1. This therefore means that each element which makes up the leading diagonal must be
the number 1.

Here are some examples of what Unit Matrices look like:

END