Cairo University Sheet (1) Preparatory Year

Faculty of Engineering Linear Systems and Matrices MTH0001 (Algebra)

1. Determine whether each of the following systems has: (a) a unique

solution, (b) infinitely many solutions, or (c) no solution:

(i) (ii) (iii)

(iv) (v) (vi) (vii)

2. Determine whether each of the following statements is: (a) true, or (b)
false:
(i) A single linear equation in three unknowns can have a unique
solution.
(ii) A homogeneous system is always consistent.
(iii) Elementary row operations can be used to subtract one row of an
augmented matrix from another.
3. Write down the augmented matrices for the following linear systems:

𝟐𝒙 − 𝟒𝒚 − 𝒛 = 𝟏 𝟔𝒙 − 𝒚 + 𝟑𝒛 = 𝟒
(a) 𝒙 − 𝟑𝒚 + 𝒛 = 𝟏 (b) 𝟓𝒚 − 𝒛 = 𝟏
𝟑𝒙 − 𝟓𝒚 − 𝟑𝒛 = 𝟏

𝒙𝟏 − 𝟑𝒙𝟑 + 𝟐𝒙𝟓 = −𝟏
(c) −𝟐𝒙𝟐 − 𝒙𝟑 + 𝒙𝟒 = 𝟎
𝟓𝒙𝟏 + 𝟐𝒙𝟐 + 𝒙𝟑 − 𝟐𝒙𝟒 − 𝟒𝒙𝟓 = 𝟓
4. Find the linear systems that correspond to the following augmented
matrices:

𝟏 𝟎 𝟎 𝟐 𝟎 −𝟏 𝟒
𝟒 𝟏 𝟏 𝟐
(a) [𝟐 −𝟑 𝟎] (b) [𝟔 −𝟏 𝟑 −𝟐] (c) [ ].
𝟎 𝟐 𝟏 𝟕
𝟎 𝟏 𝟐 𝟎 −𝟏 𝟐 𝟔
5. Solve the following linear system using both Gaussian elimination, and
Gauss-Jordan elimination:
−𝒙 + 𝟐𝒚 + 𝟑𝒛 = −𝟑
𝟐𝒙 − 𝟑𝒚 − 𝟔𝒛 = 𝟕
−𝟑𝒙 + 𝟓𝒚 + 𝟖𝒛 = −𝟗
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 6. Determine whether each of the following matrices is in: (a) row echelon
form (REF), (b) reduced row echelon form (RREF), or (c) neither:

𝟎 𝟎 𝟎 𝟎 𝟐 𝟎 𝟏 𝟒
𝟎 𝟏 𝟎 𝟎
(i) [𝟎 𝟏 𝟏 𝟐] (ii) [𝟎 −𝟏 𝟏 𝟓] (iii) [ ]
𝟏 𝟎 𝟐 𝟏
𝟏 𝟎 𝟎 𝟎 𝟎 𝟎 𝟎 𝟏

𝟏 𝟎 𝟎 𝟎 −𝟏 𝟑
𝟏 𝟎 𝟑 𝟐 𝟏 𝟎 𝟎 𝟎
𝟎 𝟏 𝟎 𝟎 𝟐 𝟏
(iv) [𝟎 𝟏 𝟒 𝟑] (v) [𝟎 𝟏 𝟏 𝟐] (vi) [ ]
𝟎 𝟎 𝟎 𝟏 𝟒 𝟓
𝟎 𝟎 𝟏 𝟎 𝟎 𝟎 𝟎 𝟎
𝟎 𝟎 𝟎 𝟎 𝟎 𝟎
Consider the linear system:
𝒙𝟏 − 𝒙𝟐 − 𝒙𝟑 = 𝟔
𝟐𝒙𝟏 + 𝟑𝒙𝟐 = 𝟎
𝟑𝒙𝟏 + 𝟐𝒙𝟐 − 𝒙𝟑 = 𝒂
(Hint: use Gaussian elimination, and consider how to justify your answer)
7. When 𝒂 = 𝟔, the system has:
(a) A unique solution (b) Infinitely many (c) No solution
solutions
8. When 𝒂 = 𝟗, the system has:
(a) A unique solution (b) Infinitely many (c) No solution
solutions
𝒙+𝒚+𝒛 = 𝟎
9. The homogeneous linear system 𝟐𝒚 + 𝟑𝒛 = 𝟎 has:
𝟓𝒙 + 𝟓𝒚 + 𝒛 = 𝟎
(a) Non-trivial solutions (b) The trivial solution only (c) None
10. Consider the linear system:
𝒙 − 𝟐𝒛 = 𝟎
𝒙 + 𝟒𝒚 − 𝟒𝒛 − 𝒘 = 𝟎
𝒙 + 𝟐𝒚 − 𝟐𝒘 = 𝟎
𝒚− 𝒛 = 𝟎
If 𝒘 = 𝒕, 𝒕 ∈ ℝ, then 𝒙 is equal to:
(a) 𝟏 + 𝟐𝒕 (b) 𝟎. 𝟓𝒕 (c) 𝒕 (d) None
11. Solve the linear systems 𝑨𝒀𝒊 = 𝑩𝒊 for 𝒊 = 𝟏, 𝟐, using Gauss-Jordan
elimination, given:
𝟏 𝟐 𝟒 𝟕 𝟏 𝟒
𝟐 𝟓 𝟏𝟎 𝟐𝟎 𝟒 𝟗
𝑨=[ ] , 𝑩𝟏 = [ ] , 𝑩𝟐 = [ ]
𝟕 𝟐𝟎 𝟒𝟎 𝟖𝟓 𝟐𝟑 𝟑𝟒
𝟒 𝟏𝟎 𝟐𝟏 𝟒𝟎 𝟔 𝟏𝟗
12. Compute, if possible, 𝑩 + 𝟐𝑪, 𝑨𝑩, 𝑩𝑨, 𝑩 𝑪, 𝑩 𝑪 , and 𝑩 𝑪, given:
𝑻 𝑻

𝟏 𝟐 𝟎 −𝟐 𝟐
𝑨=[ 𝟐 𝟏 𝟑 ], 𝑩 = [ 𝟏 ], 𝑪 = [𝟏 ]
−𝟏 𝟒 −𝟐 𝟎 𝟑

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 𝟎 𝟏
𝟏 𝟑 𝟐
13. Verify that (𝑨𝑩)𝑻 = 𝑩𝑻 𝑨𝑻 , given 𝑨 = [ ] and 𝑩 = [𝟐 𝟐 ].
𝟐 −𝟏 𝟑
𝟑 −𝟏
14. If 𝑨 = [𝟏 𝟐] , 𝑩=[
𝟒 −𝟔
], 𝑪=[
𝟐 𝟏
], 𝑫 = [
−𝟐 𝟕
]:
𝟐 𝟒 −𝟐 𝟑 𝟑 𝟐 𝟓 −𝟏

(a) Compute 𝑨𝑩. Note that 𝑨𝑩 is a zero matrix, while both 𝑨 and 𝑩 are
not zero matrices.
(b) Compute 𝑨𝑪 and 𝑨𝑫. Note that 𝑨𝑪 = 𝑨𝑫, while 𝑪 ≠ 𝑫.
Consider the matrix equation 𝟐𝑿 = 𝑨𝟐 − 𝑩𝑪, given:
𝟏 𝟎 𝟏 𝟐
𝑨 = [−𝟐 𝟑 −𝟏], 𝑩 = [−𝟗], and 𝑪 = [−𝟏 𝟓 𝟏𝟎]
𝟏 𝟐 𝟑 𝟎
15. The size of 𝑿 is:
(a) 𝟑 × 𝟑 (b) 𝟑 × 𝟐 (c) 𝟐 × 𝟑 (d) None
16. The entry in row 1 and column 1 of 𝑿, i.e., 𝒙𝟏𝟏 , is:
(a) 𝟒 (b) 𝟐𝟔 (c) 𝟐 (d) None
17. The entry in row 2 and column 2 of 𝑿, i.e., 𝒙𝟐𝟐 , is:
(a) 𝟒 (b) 𝟐𝟔 (c) 𝟐 (d) None
18. Solve the linear system 𝑨𝑿 + 𝟐𝑪 = 𝑫 and find the inverse of 𝑨 using
Gauss- Jordan elimination, given:
𝟏 𝟑 𝟒 −𝟐 𝟕
𝑨 = [𝟐 𝟓 𝟑 ], 𝑪 = [ 𝟏 ], and 𝑫 = [𝟏𝟎].
𝟑 𝟒 −𝟒 𝟔 𝟐
19. 𝟏 𝟏 𝟎
Find all values of 𝒂 for which 𝑨 = [𝟏 𝟎 𝟎] is nonsingular, and find 𝑨−𝟏
𝟏 𝟐 𝒂
using elementary row operations (Gauss-Jordan elimination).
20. Prove that each of the following matrices is nonsingular, write it as a
product of elementary matrices, and find its inverse using elementary
matrices:
𝟏 𝟐 𝟑
𝟏 𝟑
𝑨=[ ] , 𝑩 = [𝟎 𝟏 𝟐].
𝟐 𝟒
𝟏 𝟎 𝟑

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Answers:
1. (i) A (ii) B (iii) C (iv) B (v) C (vi) B (vii) C
2. (i) B (ii) A (iii) A
3. 𝟐 −𝟒 −𝟏 𝟏 𝟏 𝟎 −𝟑 𝟎 𝟐 −𝟏
𝟔 −𝟏 𝟑 𝟒
(a) [𝟏 −𝟑 𝟏 𝟏] (b) [ ] (c) [𝟎 −𝟐 −𝟏 𝟏 𝟎 𝟎]
𝟎 𝟓 −𝟏 𝟏
𝟑 −𝟓 −𝟑 𝟏 𝟓 𝟐 𝟏 −𝟐 −𝟒 𝟓
4. 𝒙 = 𝟎 𝟐𝒙 − 𝒛 = 𝟒
𝟒𝒙 + 𝒚 + 𝒛 = 𝟐
(a) 𝟐𝒙 − 𝟑𝒚 = 𝟎 (b) 𝟔𝒙 − 𝒚 + 𝟑𝒛 = −𝟐 (c)
𝟐𝒚 + 𝒛 = 𝟕
𝒚 = 𝟐 −𝒚 + 𝟐𝒛 = 𝟔

5. 𝒙 = 𝟐, 𝒚 = 𝟏, 𝒛 = −𝟏
6. (i) C (ii) C (iii) C (iv) A (v) B (vi) B
7. B
8. C
9. B
10. C
11. The system 𝑨𝒀𝟏 = 𝑩𝟏 has no solution.
The system 𝑨𝒀𝟐 = 𝑩𝟐 has infinitely many solutions. A general solution is:
𝟐 + 𝟓𝒕
𝒀𝟐 = [ −𝟏 − 𝟔𝒕] , 𝒕∈ℝ
𝟏
𝒕
12. 𝟐 𝟎
𝑩 + 𝟐𝑪 = [𝟑], 𝑨𝑩 = [−𝟑], 𝑩𝑨 does not exist, 𝑩 𝑪 does not exist,
𝟔 𝟔
−𝟒 −𝟐 −𝟔
𝑩 𝑪𝑻 = [ 𝟐 𝟏 𝟑 ], and 𝑩𝑻 𝑪 = [−𝟑].
𝟎 𝟎 𝟎
15. A
16. C
17. B
𝟐 𝟑𝟐 −𝟐𝟖 𝟏𝟏
𝟏
18. 𝑿 = [−𝟏], 𝑨−𝟏 = 𝟗 [−𝟏𝟕 𝟏𝟔 −𝟓]
𝟑 𝟕 −𝟓 𝟏
𝟎 𝟏 𝟎
19. 𝒂 ∈ ℝ − {𝟎}, 𝑨−𝟏 = [ 𝟏 −𝟏 𝟎]
𝟐 𝟏 𝟏
−
𝒂 𝒂 𝒂
20. 𝟏 −𝟑 𝟏 𝟎𝟏 𝟏 𝟎 𝟏 −𝟏 𝟑
−𝟏
𝑨 = 𝑬𝟑 𝑬𝟐 𝑬𝟏 = [ ][ ][ ] = 𝟐[ ]
𝟎 𝟏 𝟎 − 𝟐 −𝟐 𝟏 𝟐 −𝟏
𝟏 𝟎 𝟏 𝟎 𝟏 𝟑
𝑨 = 𝑬−𝟏 −𝟏 −𝟏
𝟏 𝑬𝟐 𝑬𝟑 = [ ][ ][ ]
𝟐 𝟏 𝟎 −𝟐 𝟎 𝟏

𝑩−𝟏 = 𝑬𝟔 𝑬𝟓 𝑬𝟒 𝑬𝟑 𝑬𝟐 𝑬𝟏
𝟏 𝟎 𝟎 𝟏 𝟎 𝟏 𝟏 𝟎 𝟎 𝟏 𝟎 𝟎 𝟏 −𝟐 𝟎 𝟏 𝟎 𝟎
= [𝟎 𝟏 −𝟐] [𝟎 𝟏 𝟎] [𝟎 𝟏 𝟎] [𝟎 𝟏 𝟎] [𝟎 𝟏 𝟎] [ 𝟎 𝟏 𝟎]
𝟏
𝟎 𝟎 𝟏 𝟎 𝟎 𝟏 𝟎 𝟎 𝟒 𝟎 𝟐 𝟏 𝟎 𝟎 𝟏 −𝟏 𝟎 𝟏
𝟑 −𝟔 𝟏
𝟏
= 𝟒[ 𝟐 𝟎 −𝟐]
−𝟏 𝟐 𝟏
−𝟏 −𝟏 −𝟏 −𝟏 −𝟏
𝑩 = 𝑬−𝟏
𝟏 𝑬𝟐 𝑬𝟑 𝑬𝟒 𝑬𝟓 𝑬𝟔
𝟏 𝟎 𝟎 𝟏 𝟐 𝟎 𝟏 𝟎 𝟎 𝟏 𝟎 𝟎 𝟏 𝟎 −𝟏 𝟏 𝟎 𝟎
= [𝟎 𝟏 𝟎] [𝟎 𝟏 𝟎] [𝟎 𝟏 𝟎] [𝟎 𝟏 𝟎] [𝟎 𝟏 𝟎 ] [𝟎 𝟏 𝟐]
𝟏 𝟎 𝟏 𝟎 𝟎 𝟏 𝟎 −𝟐 𝟏 𝟎 𝟎 𝟒 𝟎 𝟎 𝟏 𝟎 𝟎 𝟏