1

WEB Appendix WB
Basic Matrix Algebra Review
WB
The intermediate mechanics of material book on this website presupposes the visitors are familiar with matrix algebra concepts
reviewed briefly in this appendix. A mathematics textbook may need to be consulted for additional details.
WB.1 BASIC DEFINITIONS
A rectangular array of numbers is called a matrix. The matrix shown in Equation (WB.1) has m rows and n columns. The size of the
matrix is said to be (m n). The element in the ith row and jth column is represented by a
ij
.
(WB.1)
WB.2 ADDITION OF MATRICES
Addition of matrices can be performed only if the matrices have the same number of rows and columns. The sum of two matrices [A]
and [B] of m rows and n columns results in a matrix [C] of m rows and n columns and is represented by Equation (WB.2a).
(WB.2a)
The elements of the matrix [C] can be found by using Equation (WB.2b).
(WB.2b)
WB.3 MULTIPLICATION OF MATRICES
Multiplication of a matrix by a number results in a matrix in which all elements are multiplied by the number, as shown in Equation
(WB.3a).
(WB.3a)
The order of multiplication is important when two matrices are multiplied. In Equation (WB.3b), matrix [A] is said to
premultiply matrix [B] and matrix [B] is said to postmultiply matrix [A].
(WB.3b)
A [ ]
a
11
a
12
a
1n
a
21
a
22
a
2n


a
m1
a
m2
a
mn
=
C [ ] A [ ] B [ ] + =
c
ij
a
ij
b
ij
+ =
i 1 2 . . . m , , , =
j 1 2 . . . n , , , =

q A [ ] q
a
11
a
12
a
1n
a
21
a
22
a
2n


a
m1
a
m2
a
mn
qa
11
qa
12
qa
1n
qa
21
qa
22
qa
2n


qa
m1
a
m2
qa
mn
= =
C [ ] A [ ] B [ ] =
2 WB Basic Matrix Algebra Review
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In Equation (WB.3b) the number of columns in matrix [A] must equal the number of rows in matrix [B]. If matrix [A] of
size (m n) premultiplies matrix [B] of size (n p), the result is matrix [C], of size (m p). The elements of matrix [C] can be
found from
(WB.4a)
WB.4 MATRIX TRANSPOSE
The transpose of a rectangular matrix [A], consisting of m rows and n columns, is written as [A]
T
and related to [A] as shown in Equation
(WB.5a).
(WB.5a)
The element a
ij
of matrix [A] becomes element a
ji
in the transposed matrix [A]
T
.
A square matrix (same number of rows and columns) is said to be symmetric if its transpose is the same as the original
matrix, as shown in Equation (WB.6).
(WB.6)
The following rules apply to transposes of matrices during addition and multiplications:
(WB.7)
WB.5 DETERMINANT OF A MATRIX
A determinant is defined only for a square matrix and is represented as shown in Equation (WB.8).
(WB.8)
The minor M
ij
associated with an element a
ij
is the determinant of the matrix in which the ith row and jth column have
been removed. The determinant of a matrix can be found by using Equation (WB.9a), where i is any row in the matrix, or by using
Equation (WB.9b), where j is any column in the matrix.
(WB.9a)
(WB.9b)
If the determinant of a matrix is zero (i.e., ), then the matrix [A] is said to be singular. In a singular matrix,
either all rows are not independent or all columns are not independent.
WB.6 CRAMERS RULE
Cramers rule can be used for solving a set of linear algebraic equations. Consider the set of n linear algebraic equations in matrix form,
as shown in Equation (WB.10a).
c
ij
a
ik
b
kj
k=1
n

=
i 1 2 . . . m , , , =
j 1 2 . . . p , , , =

A [ ]
a
11
a
12
a
1n
a
21
a
22
a
2n


a
m1
a
m2
a
mn
= A [ ]
T
a
11
a
21
a
m1
a
12
a
22
a
m2


a
1n
a
2n
a
mn
=
Symmetric Matrix: A [ ]
T
A [ ] =
A [ ] B [ ] + ( )
T
A [ ]
T
B [ ]
T
+ = and A [ ] B [ ] ( )
T
B [ ]
T
A [ ]
T
=
A det A [ ]
a
11
a
12
a
1n
a
21
a
22
a
2n


a
n1
a
n2

a
nn
= =
A 1 ( )
i+k
a
ik
M
ik
k=1
n

=
A 1 ( )
k+j
a
kj
M
kj
k=1
n

=
A 0 =
Inverse of a Matrix 3
ExpandingEducational Horizons, LLC madhuvable.org
(WB.10a)
By Cramers rule, the jth unknown x
j
can be found by first replacing the jth column by the right-hand-side vector, taking
the determinant of the resulting matrix, and then dividing by the determinant of the matrix [A] as shown in Equation (WB.10b).
(WB.10b)
WB.7 INVERSE OF A MATRIX
The inverse of a matrix can be found only for a square matrix. The inverse of a matrix [A] is denoted by [A]
1
. The product of a matrix
and its inverse results in an identity matrix [I] as shown in Equation (WB.11). The identity matrix [I] has 1 for the diagonal elements; all
off-diagonal elements are 0.
(WB.11)
Equation (WB.10a) in matrix form can be written as Equation (WB.12a),
(WB.12a)
where {x} represents the unknown vector with components x
j
, and {r} represents the right-hand-side vector with components r
j
. By pre-
multiplying by [A]
1
, on both sides of Equation (WB.12a) and using Equation (WB.11), we obtain the unknown vector as shown in
Equation (WB.12b).
(WB.12b)
a
11
a
12

a
1j

a
1n
a
21
a
22
a
2j
a
2n

a
jj


a
n1
a
n2
a
nj
a
nn
x
1
x
2

x
j

x
n











r
1
r
2

r
j

r
n











=
x
j
a
11
a
12

r
1

a
1n
a
21
a
22
r
2
a
2n

r
j


a
n1
a
n2
r
n
a
nn
A
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
j 1 2 . . . n , , , = =
A [ ]
1
A [ ] A [ ] A [ ]
1
I [ ] = =
A [ ] x { } r { } =
A [ ]
1
A [ ] x { } A [ ]
1
r { } = or I [ ] x { } A [ ]
1
r { } = or x { } A [ ]
1
r { } =