MATRICES

Definitions
A matrix is a set of real or complex numbers ( or elements) arranged in row
and columns to form an rectangular array

A matrix is a rectangular array of numbers.

A matrix having m rows and n columns is called an ‘m x n’ (read m by n)

matrix.

It is referred to as having order m x n.

A matrix is indicated by writing the array usually within brackets ( ) but not
such brackets as { } or [ ].
5 7 2
For example is a 2 x 3 matrix, i.e. a ‘2 by 3’ matrix,
6 3 8
where 5, 7, 2, 6, 3, 8 are elements of the matrix.

Note that in describing the matrix, the number or rows is stated first and the
number of columns second.
5 6 4
2 −3 2
7 8 5
6 7 8
2 −3 3
This is a matrix of order 5 x 3, i.e. 5 rows and 3 columns.

TYPES OF MATRICES
Row Matrix (also called Row vector): Is a row matrix consisting of 1 row
only = 1 x n matrix

Example (4 3 7 2) is a row matrix of order 1 x 4

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Column matrix (also called Column Vecor): Is a column matrix consisting of

1 column only , .i.e. m x 1 matrix
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Example 3 is a column matrix of order 3 x 1
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Single element matrix: This is a matrix having only one element e.g. (a). It is
also regarded as a 1 x 1 matrix, i.e. a matrix having 1 row and 1 column

Square matrix: Is a matrix of order m x m, i.e. a matrix having the same

number of rows as columns, m row and m columns

Rectangular Matrix: Is a matrix having the number of rows (m) not equal to
the number of columns (n) i.e. m ≠ n

Diagonal matrix: Is a matrix in which all elements are zeros except elements
𝑎 0 0
𝑎 0
of the leading diagonal. For example , 0 𝑏 0
0 𝑏
0 0 𝑐
Triangular Matrix

Upper Triangular Matrix: is a matrix in which all elements below the main
diagonal are zeros
𝑎11 𝑎12 𝑎13
Example 0 𝑎22 𝑎23
0 0 𝑎33

Lower Triangular Matrix: Is a matrix in which all elements above the main
diagonal are zeros
𝑎11 0 0
Example 𝑎21 𝑎22 0
𝑎31 𝑎32 𝑎33

Singular Matrix: Is a square matrix whose determinant is zero. It does not

have an inverse.
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Non-Singular matrix: is a square matrix whose determinant is none zero.

Null Matrix or Zero matrix: is a matrix of any order with all its entries being
zero.

Identity matrix or Unit matrix: is a square matrix with ones in the main/
leading diagonal and zeros elsewhere.
1 0 0
1 0
Example 0 1 0
0 1
0 0 1
Orthogonal Matrix: is a matrix M such that when multiplied by its
transpose MT the product us a unit/Identity matrix i.e. MT M = I.

Example:
𝟐 𝟏 𝟐 𝟏
(i) If A = then AT =
𝟏 𝟑 𝟏 𝟑

𝟐 𝟏 𝟐 𝟏 𝟓 𝟓
AT A = =
𝟏 𝟑 𝟏 𝟑 𝟓 𝟏𝟎
In this case matrix A is not an orthogonal matrix
𝟐 𝟏 𝟐 −𝟏
√𝟓 √𝟓 √𝟓 √𝟓
(ii) If B = −𝟏 𝟐 then BT = 𝟏 𝟐
√𝟓 √𝟓 √𝟓 √𝟓

𝟐 −𝟏 𝟐 𝟏
√𝟓 √𝟓 √𝟓 √𝟓 𝟏 𝟎
BT B = 𝟏 𝟐 −𝟏 𝟐 =
𝟎 𝟏
√𝟓 √𝟓 √𝟓 √𝟓

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Inverse Matrix:

The inverse of a square matrix is a square matrix which is such that the
product of the two matrices is an Identity/Unit matrix.

A A-1 = A-1 A = I

(A) SQUARE MATRIX is a matrix of order m x m

1 2 5
W e.g. 6 8 9 is a 3 x 3 matrix
1 7 4
1 2 5
A square matrix ( aij) is symmetric if aij = aji e.g. 2 8 9
5 9 4
i.e. it is symmetric about the leading diagonal.
Note that A = AT.

(B) DIAGONAL MATRIX is a square matrix with all elements zero except
1 0 0
those on the leading diagonal e.g. 0 8 0
0 0 4

(C) UNIT MATRIX is a diagonal matrix in which the elements o the leading
1 0
diagonal are all unity (ones) i.e. . This is a 2x2 unit matrix
0 1
1 0 0
and is denoted by I2 . 0 1 0 This is a 3 x 3 unit matrix and is
0 0 1
denoted by I3 .

An n x n unit matrix is denoted by In .

1 2 5 1 0 0
If A = 6 8 9 and I = 0 1 0 then
1 7 4 0 0 1

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1 2 5 1 0 0 1 2 5
A.I = 6 8 9 0 1 0 = 6 8 9 i.e A.I = A
1 7 4 0 0 1 1 7 4

Similarly
1 0 0 1 2 5 1 2 5
I.A = 0 1 0 . 6 8 9 = 6 8 9 I.e I.A = A
0 0 1 1 7 4 1 7 4

It therefore follows that A.I = I.A = A

(D) NULL MATRIX is a matrix whose elements are all zero

0 0 0
Example 0 0 0 and is denoted by 0.
0 0 0

Double suffix notation: Each element in a matrix has its own particular
‘address’ or location which can be defined by a system of double suffixes,
the first indicating the row and the second the column, thus:
𝑎11 𝑎12 𝑎13
𝑎21 𝑎22 𝑎23

∴ 𝑎23 indicates the element in the second row and third column

Matrix Notation
A whole matrix can be denoted by a single general element enclosed in
brackets, or by a single letter printed in bold type.

𝑎11 𝑎12 𝑎13 𝑎14

𝑎21 𝑎22 𝑎23 𝑎24 can be denoted by ( 𝑎𝑖𝑗 ) or (ɑ) or by A

𝑎31 𝑎32 𝑎33 𝑎34

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In hand-written work we indicate the bold-face type by a wavy line placed

under the letter, e.g. A .

So if B represents a 2 x 3 matrix, we write out the elements 𝑏𝑖𝑗 in the ,

matrix using the double suffix notation as shown below:
𝑏11 𝑏12 𝑏13
B=
𝑏21 𝑏22 𝑏23

Equal Matrices
Two matrices are said to be equal if corresponding elements throughout are
equal. Thus, the two matrices must be of the same order.
𝑎11 𝑎12 𝑎13 𝑏11 𝑏12 𝑏13
So if 𝑎21 𝑎22 𝑎23 =
𝑏21 𝑏22 𝑏23

then 𝑎11 = 𝑏11 , 𝑎12 = 𝑏12 , 𝑎13 = 𝑏13 ,

𝑎21 = 𝑏21 , 𝑎22 = 𝑏22 , 𝑎23 = 𝑏23

Addition and Subtraction of matrices

To be added or subtracted, two matrices must be of the same order.

Addition – Add corresponding elements

𝑎11 𝑎12 𝑎13 𝑏11 𝑏12 𝑏13 𝑎11 + 𝑏11 𝑎12 + 𝑏12 𝑎13 + 𝑏13
𝑎21 𝑎22 𝑎23 + =
𝑏21 𝑏22 𝑏23 𝑎21 + 𝑏21 𝑎22 + 𝑏22 𝑎23 + 𝑏23

Subtraction – Subtract corresponding elements

𝑎11 𝑎12 𝑎13 𝑏11 𝑏12 𝑏13 𝑎11 − 𝑏11 𝑎12 − 𝑏12 𝑎13 − 𝑏13
𝑎21 𝑎22 𝑎23 – =
𝑏21 𝑏22 𝑏23 𝑎21 − 𝑏21 𝑎22 − 𝑏22 𝑎23 − 𝑏23

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4 2 3 1 8 9 5 10 12
Examples (i) + =
5 7 6 3 5 4 8 12 10
6 5 12 3 7 1 3 −2 11
(ii) – =
9 4 8 2 10 −5 7 −6 13

Multiplication of Matrices
1. Scalar Multiplication
To multiply a matrix by a single number (i.e. a scalar), each individual
element of the matrix is multiplied by that factor.
𝜆 x 4 2 3 = 4𝜆 2𝜆 3𝜆
5 7 6 5𝜆 7𝜆 6𝜆

e.g. 4 x
4 2 3
= 16 8 12
5 7 6 20 28 24

In the reverse, we can take a common factor out of every element.

10 25 45
Therefore can be written as
20 15 55

10 25 45 2 5 9 2 5 9
= 5 x = 5
20 15 55 4 3 11 4 3 11

Note that the scalar is always to the left of the matrix

2. Multiplication of two Matrices

Two matrices can be multiplied together only when the number of
columns in the first matrix is equal to the number of rows in the second
matrix.

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To multiply matrix A by matrix B i.e. A x B then the number of columns of

A must be equal to the number of rows of B .
𝑏11 𝑏12
𝑎11 𝑎12 𝑎13
If A = 𝑎 and B = 𝑏21 𝑏22
21 𝑎22 𝑎23
𝑏31 𝑏32

𝑏11 𝑏12
𝑎11 𝑎12 𝑎13
then A.B = 𝑎21 𝑎22 𝑎23 . 𝑏21 𝑏22 = C
𝑏31 𝑏32

Each element in the 1st row of A is multiplied by the corresponding

element in the 1st column of B and the products are added to give the 1st
element of the 1st row of a new matrix C.
Then each element in the 1st row of A is multiplied by the corresponding
element in the 2nd column of B and the products are added to give the
2nd element of the 1st row of a new matrix C.
The process is repeated using the 2nd row of matrix A etc.

Example 1
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4 7 6 4𝑥5 + 7𝑥9 + 6𝑥8 131
. 9 = =
3 1 2 3𝑥5 + 1𝑥9 + 2𝑥8 40
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3
2 3 5 1 4 6 + 12 + 10 + 9 37
Similarly . = =
4 6 0 7 2 12 + 24 + 0 + 63 99
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Example 2

1 5
8 4 3 1
If A = 2 7 and B = determine A.B
2 5 8 6
3 4

SOLUTION

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1 5 18 29 43 31
8 4 3 1
A.B = 2 7 . = 30 43 62 44
2 5 8 6
3 4 32 32 41 27
Note that multiplying a (3 x 2) matrix and a (2 x 4) matrix gives a product
matrix of order (3 x 4)
S i.e. order (3 x 2) x order (2 x 4) gives order (3 x 4)
same

In general, the product of an (m x n) matrix and an (n x p) matrix has

order (m x P)

Example 3
4 7 4 7 4 7 51 42
If A = then A2 = . =
5 2 5 2 5 2 30 39

Remember that multiplication of matrices is defined only when

the number of columns in the first = the number of row in the second

1 5 6 2 3 5
Hence . has no meaning
4 9 7 8 7 1

If A is order m x n and B is of order n x m then we can have A.B and B.A

Example 4

7 10
1 2 3
If A = and B = 8 11
4 5 6
9 12

7 10
1 2 3 50 68
Then A.B = . 8 11 =
4 5 6 122 167
9 12

7 10 47 64 81
1 2 3
And B.A = 8 11 . = 52 71 90
4 5 6
9 12 57 78 99
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Note that, in matrix multiplication, A.B ≠ B.A i.e. multiplication is

not commutative. The order of the factors is important.

In the product A.B, B is pre-multiplied by A

And A is post-multiplied by B

Transpose of a matrix
If the rows and columns of a matrix are interchanged
i.e. the first row becomes the first column,
the second row becomes the second column
the third row becomes the third column, etc
R then the new matrix so formed is called the transpose of the original
matrix.
̅ or AT. We shall
If A is the original matrix, its transpose is denoted by 𝐀
use the latter.

4 6
4 7 2
If A = 7 9 , then AT. =
6 9 5
2 5

Example 5

4 0
2 7 6
Given A = and B = 3 7 determine (i) A.B and
3 1 5
1 5
(ii) (A.B)T

SOLUTION
35 79 35 20
(i) A.B = (ii) (A.B )T =
20 32 79 32

SPECIAL MATRICES

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