Equality of Two Matrices

Two matrices are said to be equal to each other only if they are of same order and their
corresponding elements are equal to each other.

Let A= [ a b c
d e f ] , B= [ p
x
q r
y z ] ,

Then, A=B implies a=p, b=q, c=r, d=x, e=y and f=z.

Operations on Matrices
I. Addition and Subtraction of two Matrices:

Two matrices can be added or subtracted only if they are of the same order and this is done
by adding or subtracting the corresponding elements of two matrices.

Example.

[ 3 1 7
0 1 2 ] [ +
2 2 1
1 2 3 ] = [ 3+2 12 71
01 12 23 ] = [ 5 3 6
1 3 1 ]
[ 3 1 7
0 1 2 ] [ -
2 2 1
0 2 3 ] = [ 32 1+2 7+1
01 12 2+ 3 ] [ =
1 1 8
1 1 5 ]

II. Multiplication of a matrix by a Number:

If a matrix is multiplied by a number k, then each element becomes k times the original value.

Example.

[ ] [ ]
3 2 9 6
Let A = 1 2 , then 3A = 3 6
0 4 0 12

III. Multiplication of two Matrices

Two matrices A and B can be multiplied only when the number of columns of the first matrix
is equal to the number of rows of the second matrix B.

The order of the new matrix will be (number of rows of A) x (number of columns B).

A mxn B nxp
Thus, X = ( AB)mxp
 A2x 3 B3x 1
Example, x = ( AB)2 x 1

The elements in the ith row and the jth column of the product matrix (i.e., the matrix obtains
by multiplication) is equal to the sum of the products of the products of each element of the
ith row of A and the corresponding element of the jth column of B. See the following
example:

[ ]
2 1
Let A= [ 2 3 1
1 4 2 ] and B = 3 2
4 1
, then

[ ]
2 1
AB= [ 2 3 1
1 4 2 ]
2x 3
x 3 2
4 1 3x 2

= [ ( 1 st row ) x ( 1 st column ) (1 st row) x (2 nd column)

(2 nd row ) x ( 1 st column )( 2nd row ) x (2 nd column) ]
= [ 2 x 2+3 x 3+ (1 ) x 4 2 x 1+ 3 x (2 )+ (1 ) x 1
1 x 2+4 x 3+2 x 4 1 x 1=4 x (2 ) +2 x 1 ]
= [ 9 5
22 5 ]
2x 2