660 9 Matrices and Determinants

In this chapter we discuss matrices in more detail. In the first three sec-
tions we define and study some algebraic operations on matrices, includ-
ing addition, multiplication, and inversion. The next three sections deal
with the determinant of a matrix.
In the last chapter we used row operations and Gauss– –Jordan elimina-
tion to solve systems of linear equations. Row operations play a promi-
nent role in the development of several topics in this chapter. One conse-
quence of our discussion will be the development of two additional
methods for solving systems of linear equations: one method involves
inverse matrices and the other determinants.
Matrices are both a very ancient and a very current mathematical con-
cept. References to matrices and systems of equations can be found in
Chinese manuscripts dating back to around 200 B.C. Over the years,
mathematicians and scientists have found many applications of matrices.
More recently, the advent of personal and large-scale computers has
increased the use of matrices in a wide variety of applications. In 1979
Dan Bricklin and Robert Frankston introduced VisiCalc, the first elec-
tronic spreadsheet program for personal computers. Simply put, a spread-
sheet is a computer program that allows the user to enter and manipu-
late numbers, often using matrix notation and operations. Spreadsheets
were initially used by businesses in areas such as budgeting, sales pro-
jections, and cost estimation. However, many other applications have
begun to appear. For example, a scientist can use a spreadsheet to ana-
lyze the results of an experiment, or a teacher can use one to record and
average grades. There are even spreadsheets that can be used to help com-
pute an individual’s income tax.

SECTION 9-1 Matrices: Basic Operations

• Addition and Subtraction
• Multiplication of a Matrix by a Number
• Matrix Product

In Section 8-1 we introduced basic matrix terminology and solved systems of equa-
tions by performing row operations on augmented coefficient matrices. Matrices have
many other useful applications and possess an interesting mathematical structure in
their own right. As we will see, matrix addition and multiplication are similar to real
number addition and multiplication in many respects, but there are some important
differences. To help you understand the similarities and the differences, you should
review the basic properties of real number operations discussed in Section A-1.

• Addition and Before we can discuss arithmetic operations for matrices, we have to define equality
Subtraction for matrices. Two matrices are equal if they have the same size and their corre-
sponding elements are equal. For example,
 9-1 Matrices: Basic Operations 661

2  3 2  3
au bv cw
ad   
b c u v w
 if and only if
e f x y z dx ey fz

The sum of two matrices of the same size is a matrix with elements that are the
sums of the corresponding elements of the two given matrices.

Addition is not defined for matrices of different sizes.

EXAMPLE 1 Matrix Addition

ac bd  wy xz  (a(c  y)w) (b  x)

(A)
(d  z)
3 2
21     
0 3 1 2 5 2
(B)  
2 5 3 2 5 2 4 0

2

   
3 2 3
Matched Problem 1 Add: 1 1  1 1
0 3 2 2

Graphing utilities can also be used to solve problems involving matrix operations.
Figure 1 illustrates the solution to Example 1B on a graphing calculator.
Because we add two matrices by adding their corresponding elements, it follows
from the properties of real numbers that matrices of the same size are commutative
and associative relative to addition. That is, if A, B, and C are matrices of the same
size, then

FIGURE 1 Addition on a graphing ABBA Commutative

calculator.
(A  B)  C  A  (B  C) Associative

A matrix with elements that are all 0’s is called a zero matrix. For example, the
following are zero matrices of different sizes:

0 0 0


00 00
 
0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0
0

[Note: “0” may be used to denote the zero matrix of any size.]
The negative of a matrix M, denoted by M, is a matrix with elements that are
the negatives of the elements in M. Thus, if

M ac bd
662 9 Matrices and Determinants

then

a b
M 
c 
d

Note that M  (M)  0 (a zero matrix).

If A and B are matrices of the same size, then we define subtraction as follows:

A  B  A  (B)

Thus, to subtract matrix B from matrix A, we simply subtract corresponding elements.

EXAMPLE 2 Matrix Subtraction

2 2 2 2 4
35    35    52 
2 2
   
0 3 4 0 3 4 4

Matched Problem 2 Subtract: [2 3 5]  [3 2 1]

• Multiplication of a The product of a number k and a matrix M, denoted by kM, is a matrix formed
Matrix by a Number by multiplying each element of M by k.

EXAMPLE 3 Multiplication of a Matrix by a Number

1 6

   
3 0 2 0
2 2 1 3  4 2 6
0 1 2 0 2 4

 
1.3
Matched Problem 3 Find: 10 0.2
3.5

EXPLORE-DISCUSS 1 Multiplication of two numbers can be interpreted as repeated addition if one of the
numbers is a positive integer. That is,
 9-1 Matrices: Basic Operations 663

2a  a  a 3a  a  a  a 4a  a  a  a  a

and so on. Discuss this interpretation for the product of an integer k and a matrix
M. Use specific examples to illustrate your remarks.

We now consider an application that uses various matrix operations.

EXAMPLE 4 Sales and Commissions

Ms. Fong and Mr. Petris are salespeople for a new car agency that sells only two
models. August was the last month for this year’s models, and next year’s models
were introduced in September. Gross dollar sales for each month are given in the fol-
lowing matrices:

AUGUST SALES SEPTEMBER SALES

Compact Luxury Compact Luxury
Fong
Petris
$36,000
$72,000
$72,000
$0
A $144,000
$180,000
$288,000
$216,000
B
For example, Ms. Fong had $36,000 in compact sales in August and Mr. Petris had
$216,000 in luxury car sales in September.

(A) What were the combined dollar sales in August and September for each sales-
person and each model?
(B) What was the increase in dollar sales from August to September?
(C) If both salespeople receive a 3% commission on gross dollar sales, compute the
commission for each salesperson for each model sold in September.

Solutions We use matrix addition for part A, matrix subtraction for part B, and multiplication
of a matrix by a number for part C.

Compact Luxury

$180,000 
$360,000 Fong
(A) A  B 
$252,000 $216,000 Petris

$108,000 
$216,000 Fong
(B) B  A 
$108,000 $216,000 Petris

Compact Luxury

 
(0.03)($144,000) (0.03)($288,000)
(C) 0.03B 
(0.03)($180,000) (0.03)($216,000)

$4,320 
$8,640 Fong

$5,400 $6,480 Petris
664 9 Matrices and Determinants

Matched Problem 4 Repeat Example 4 with

$72,000  $180,000 
$72,000 $216,000
A and B
$36,000 $72,000 $144,000 $216,000

Example 4 involved an agency with only two salespeople and two models. A
more realistic problem might involve 20 salespeople and 15 models. Problems of this
size are often solved with the aid of a spreadsheet on a personal computer. Figure 2
illustrates a computer spreadsheet solution for Example 4.

A B C D E F G
1 Compact Luxury Compact Luxury Compact Luxury
2 August Sales September Sales September Commissions
3 Fong $36,000 $72,000 $144,000 $288,000 $4,320 $8,640
4 Petris $72,000 $0 $180,000 $216,000 $5,400 $6,480
5 Combined Sales Sales Increases
6 Fong $180,000 $360,000 $108,000 $216,000
7 Petris $252,000 $216,000 $108,000 $216,000
FIGURE 2

• Matrix Product Now we are going to introduce a matrix multiplication that may at first seem rather
strange. In spite of its apparent strangeness, this operation is well-founded in the gen-
eral theory of matrices and, as we will see, is extremely useful in many practical prob-
lems.
Historically, matrix multiplication was introduced by the English mathematician
Arthur Cayley (1821–1895) in studies of linear equations and linear transformations.
In Section 9-3, you will see how matrix multiplication is central to the process of
expressing systems of equations as matrix equations and to the process of solving
matrix equations. Matrix equations and their solutions provide us with an alternate
method of solving linear systems with the same number of variables as equations.
We start by defining the product of two special matrices, a row matrix and a col-
umn matrix.

DEFINITION 1 Product of a Row Matrix and a Column Matrix

The product of a 1  n row matrix and an n  1 column matrix is a 1  1

matrix given by

n  1
b1
1  n
b2
a1 a2 . . . an ..  a1b1  a2b2  . . .  anbn
.
bn
 9-1 Matrices: Basic Operations 665

Note that the number of elements in the row matrix and in the column matrix
must be the same for the product to be defined.

EXAMPLE 5 Product of a Row Matrix and a Column Matrix

5
2 3
 
0 2  [(2)(5)  (3)(2)  (0)(2)]
2
 [10  6  0]  [16]


2
3
Matched Problem 5 1 0 3 2 ?
4
1

Refer to Example 5. The distinction between the real number 16 and the
1  1 matrix [16] is a technical one, and it is common to see 1  1 matrices writ-
ten as real numbers without brackets. In the work that follows, we will frequently
refer to 1  1 matrices as real numbers and omit the brackets whenever it is conve-
nient to do so.

EXAMPLE 6 Production Scheduling

A factory produces a slalom water ski that requires 4 labor-hours in the fabricating
department and 1 labor-hour in the finishing department. Fabricating personnel receive
$10 per hour, and finishing personnel receive $8 per hour. Total labor cost per ski is
given by the product

4 1 108  [(4)(10)  (1)(8)]  [40  8]  [48] or $48 per ski

Matched Problem 6 If the factory in Example 6 also produces a trick water ski that requires 6 labor-hours
in the fabricating department and 1.5 labor-hours in the finishing department, write a
product between appropriate row and column matrices that gives the total labor cost
for this ski. Compute the cost.

We now use the product of a 1  n row matrix and an n  1 column matrix to extend
the definition of matrix product to more general matrices.
666 9 Matrices and Determinants

DEFINITION 2 Matrix Product

If A is an m  p matrix and B is a p  n matrix, then the matrix product of

A and B, denoted AB, is an m  n matrix whose element in the ith row and jth
column is the real number obtained from the product of the ith row of A and
the jth column of B. If the number of columns in A does not equal the number
of rows in B, then the matrix product AB is not defined.

It is important to check sizes before starting the multiplication process. If A is an

a  b matrix and B is a c  d matrix, then if b  c, the product AB will exist and
will be an a  d matrix (see Fig. 3). If b  c, then the product AB does not exist.

FIGURE 3 Must be the same (b  c)

ab cd

Size of product (a  d)

The definition is not as complicated as it might first seem. An example should

help clarify the process. For

 
1 3
1
 
2 3
A and B 2 0
2 1 2
1 2

A is 2  3, B is 3  2, and so AB is 2  2. To find the first row of AB, we take the

product of the first row of A with every column of B and write each result as a real
number, not a 1  1 matrix. The second row of AB is computed in the same man-
ner. The four products of row and column matrices used to produce the four elements
in AB are shown in the dashed box below. These products are usually calculated men-
tally, or with the aid of a calculator, and need not be written out. The shaded portions
highlight the steps involved in computing the element in the first row and second col-
umn of AB.

   
1 3
32
23 2 3 1 2 2 3 1 0

 
1 3
1 1
 
2 3 2
2 0 
2

   
1 2 1 3
1 2
 2 1 2 2  2 1 2 0
1 2

22

2 
9 4

2
 9-1 Matrices: Basic Operations 667

EXAMPLE 7 Matrix Product

3  2 3  4
2  4
1

   
2 1 4 2 2
1

1 0 1
(A) 1 0  1 1 0 1
2 1 2 0
1 2 3 3 4 1

3  2
2  4

 
2 1
1
  12  13 26  1020 
1 0 1 6 40
(B) 1 0 (C)
2 1 2 0 3 20
1 2
Product is not defined

5
(D)
1
3  2
6 2
1
6
3
  
0
0
0
0  (E) 2 3 0
 
2  16
2
5 10

   
15 0
(F) 2 2 3 0  4 6 0
2 4 6 0

Matched Problem 7 Find each product, if it is defined:

1 1

   
1 1
1 2
11 2
  
0 3 0 3
(A) 2 3 (B) 2 3
1 2 2 0 2 2 0
1 0 1 0

11  21  21  11 

2 4 4 2
(C) (D)
2 2 2 2

 
4 4
(E) 3 2 1 2 (F) 2 3 2 1
3 3

Figure 4 illustrates a graphing calculator solution to Example 7A. What would

you expect to happen if you tried to solve Example 7B on a graphing calculator?
In the arithmetic of real numbers it does not matter in which order we multiply;
for example, 5  7  7  5. In matrix multiplication, however, it does make a dif-
ference. That is, AB does not always equal BA, even if both multiplications are defined
and both products are the same size (see Examples 7C and 7D). Thus,

Matrix multiplication is not commutative.

FIGURE 4 Multiplication on a
graphing calculator. Also, AB may be zero with neither A nor B equal to zero (see Example 7D). Thus,

The zero property does not hold for matrix multiplication.

668 9 Matrices and Determinants

(See Section A-1 for a discussion of the zero property for real numbers.)
Just as we used the familiar algebraic notation AB to represent the product of
matrices A and B, we use the notation A2 for AA, the product of A with itself, A3 for
AAA, and so on.

EXPLORE-DISCUSS 2 In addition to the commutative and zero properties, there are other significant dif-
ferences between real number multiplication and matrix multiplication.

(A) In real number multiplication, the only real number whose square is 0 is the
real number 0 (02  0). Find at least one 2  2 matrix A with all elements
nonzero such that A2  0, where 0 is the 2  2 zero matrix.
(B) In real number multiplication, the only nonzero real number that is equal to
its square is the real number 1 (12  1). Find at least one 2  2 matrix A
with all elements nonzero such that A2  A.

We will continue our discussion of properties of matrix multiplication later in this

chapter. Now we consider an application of matrix multiplication.

EXAMPLE 8 Labor Costs

Let us combine the time requirements for slalom and trick water skis discussed in
Example 6 and Matched Problem 6 into one matrix:

Labor-hours per ski

Assembly Finishing
department department

64 hh 
Trick ski 1.5 h
L
Slalom ski 1h

Now suppose that the company has two manufacturing plants, X and Y, in different
parts of the country and that the hourly rates for each department are given in the fol-
lowing matrix:

Hourly wages
Plant Plant
X Y

$10 
Assembly department $12
H
Finishing department $ 8 $10

Since H and L are both 2  2 matrices, we can take the product of H and L in either
order and the result will be a 2  2 matrix:

108  64   
12 1.5 108 27
HL  
10 1 88 22

64  108   
1.5 12 72 87
LH  
1 10 48 58
 9-1 Matrices: Basic Operations 669

How can we interpret the elements in these products? Let’s begin with the product
HL. The element 108 in the first row and first column of HL is the product of the
first row matrix of H and the first column matrix of L:

Plant Plant
X Y

64 Trick
 10 12  10(6)  12(4)  60  48  108
Slalom

Notice that $60 is the labor cost for assembling a trick ski at the California plant and
$48 is the labor cost for assembling a slalom ski at the Wisconsin plant. Although
both numbers represent labor costs, it makes no sense to add them together. They do
not pertain to the same type of ski or to the same plant. Thus, even though the prod-
uct HL happens to be defined mathematically, it has no useful interpretation in this
problem.
Now let’s consider the product LH. The element 72 in the first row and first col-
umn of LH is given by the following product:

Assembly Finishing

108 Assembly
6 1.5   6(10)  1.5(8)
Finishing

 60  12  72

where $60 is the labor cost for assembling a trick ski at plant X and $12 is the labor
cost for finishing a trick ski at plant X. Thus, the sum is the total labor cost for pro-
ducing a trick ski at plant X. The other elements in LH also represent total labor costs,
as indicated by the row and column labels shown below:

Labor costs per ski

Plant Plant
X Y

 $48 
$72 $87 Trick ski
LH 
$58 Slalom ski

Matched Problem 8 Refer to Example 8. The company wants to know how many hours to schedule in
each department in order to produce 1,000 trick skis and 2,000 slalom skis. These
production requirements can be represented by either of the following matrices:

Trick Slalom
skis skis

 1,000
2,000 
Trick skis
P  1,000 2,000  Q
Slalom skis

Using the labor-hour matrix L from Example 8, find PL or LQ, whichever has a mean-
ingful interpretation for this problem, and label the rows and columns accordingly.
670 9 Matrices and Determinants

CAUTION Example 8 and Problem 8 illustrate an important point about matrix multipli-
cation. Even if you are using a graphing utility to perform the calculations in
a matrix product, it is still necessary for you to know the definition of matrix
multiplication so that you can interpret the results correctly.

Answers to Matched Problems

  
1 5 13
1. 0 2 2. 1 1 4 3. 2
2 1 35

$252,000  $108,000  $5,400 

$288,000 $144,000 $6,480
4. (A) (B) (C)
$180,000 $288,000 $108,000 $144,000 $4,320 $6,480

5. 8 6. 6 1.5 108  72 or $72

1

 
2 2 2
63 12
7. (A) Not defined (B) 1 6 12 4 (C) 00 00 (D)
6 
1 0 3 2

8

 
12 4
(E) 11 (F) 6 4 2
9 6 3

8. Assembly Finishing
PL  14,000 3,500  Labor hours

EXERCISE 9-1
A
1 6
54   
0 2 4
Perform the indicated operations in Problems 1–18, if 7. 
possible. 6 3 3 5 5

   
2 3 4 6 2 0 5
53    02   
7 8 9
1.  2.  8. 4 1  7 2
0 1 6 1 7 5
3 0 1 0
1

   
4 0 2
4
23  74 
3.  2 3  0 5 7 3 0 9
9. 4 10. 5
8 1 4 6 9 5 5 6 2

4. 64 2
8
3
7
  
3
6
9
2
1
4  11. 5 3 47 12. 2 4 83
62  13 13  14
3 7

 
4 0 13. 14.
1
 
0 4 5 9
5. 2 3 
2 5 6
54 16 23 08 23  40 1

8 1 7
15. 16.
1 5

 
3 6
2
 
6 3
 2 3 2
58  20 06 70 03 49 
6. 9
4 8 7 17. 18.
1 4 3 1
 9-1 Matrices: Basic Operations 671

B C
Find the products in Problems 19–26. 49. Find a, b, c, and d so that

19. 3 6 25 20. 4 2 8

1 0 1  c d  0 1
1 4 a b 1 0

21. 25 3 6 22. 8

1
4 2
50. Find w, x, y, and z so that

   
1 4
 y z0   
w x 1 5 1 0
23. 5 0 3 2 24. 6 1 2 0 
1 0 1
6 4
51. Find a, b, c, and d so that

   
1 4
25. 2 5 0 3 26. 0 6 1 2
1 3  c d  3 3
2 5 a b 4 7
6 4
Problems 27–44 refer to the following matrices.
52. Find w, x, y, and z so that
2
   
3 2 0 5
A B 3
1 4 6 1 3
wy xz 34 2  

8
4
7
4 
4

   
1 2 2 0
A 2  2 diagonal matrix is a matrix of the form
C  0 2 3 D  1 6
5 0 4 3 7
A a0 0d
Perform the indicated operations, if possible.
27. AB 28. BA 29. AC where a and d are any real numbers; if a  d  1, A is
called the 2  2 identity matrix. In Problems 53–64, deter-
30. CA 31. A2 32. B2 mine whether the statement is true or false. If true, explain
33. C2 34. AD 35. 2CD why. If false, give a counterexample.

36. (5)DB 37. 3AC  4BD 38. 2BA  CD 53. If A and B are 2  2 diagonal matrices, then A  B is a
2  2 diagonal matrix.
39. 5DA  6C 40. 3B  2AD 41. DAC
54. If A and B are 2  2 diagonal matrices, then AB is a 2  2
42. CDB 43. ADB 44. BAB diagonal matrix.

45. Find a, b, c, and d so that 55. If A and B are 2  2 diagonal matrices, then AB  BA.
56. If A and B are 2  2 matrices, then AB  BA.
2
 5
8 4 

a b
c d

9
1   3
0  57. If A and B are 2  2 diagonal matrices, then A  B 
B  A.
46. Find w, x, y, and z so that 58. If A and B are 2  2 matrices, then A  B  B  A.

3 6 4 59. The 2  2 zero matrix is a 2  2 diagonal matrix.

 y z  2 1   2 
w x 7
5 60. If A and B are 2  2 diagonal matrices such that AB  0,
then A  0 or B  0.
47. Find x and y so that
61. If A is the 2  2 identity matrix and B is any 2  2 matrix,
3 3y then AB  BA  B.
3x1 2x
1
  
6y 4

4
3   4
3 62. If A and B are 2  2 diagonal matrices such that AB  B
and B ≠ 0, then A is the 2  2 identity matrix.
48. Find x and y so that
63. If A is a 2  2 diagonal matrix such that A2  A, then A is
the 2  2 identity matrix.
8x 5x  2y1   
2 4 7

y 9 7 64. If A is a 2  2 diagonal matrix such that A2  0, then A  0.
672 9 Matrices and Determinants

Labor-hours per boat

Cutting Assembly Packaging
APPLICATIONS
department department department

 
65. Cost Analysis. A company with two different plants manu- 0.6 h 0.6 h 0.2 h One-person boat
factures guitars and banjos. Its production costs for each in- M  1.0 h 0.9 h 0.3 h Two-person boat
strument are given in the following matrices: 1.5 h 1.2 h 0.4 h Four-person boat
Plant X Plant Y Hourly wages
Guitar Banjo Guitar Banjo Plant I Plant II

$30 $25
 $36 $27

 
Materials $8 $9 Cutting department
A B
Labor $60 $80 $54 $74 N  $10 $12 Assembly department
$5 $6 Packaging department
Find 21(A  B), the average cost of production for the two
plants.
(A) Find the labor costs for a one-person boat manufac-
66. Cost Analysis. If both labor and materials at plant X in tured at plant I.
Problem 65 are increased 20%, find 12(1.2A  B), the new (B) Find the labor costs for a four-person boat manufac-
average cost of production for the two plants. tured at plant II.
67. Markup. An import car dealer sells three models of a car. (C) Discuss possible interpretations of the elements in the
Current dealer invoice price (cost) and the retail price for the matrix products MN and NM.
basic models and the indicated options are given in the fol- (D) If either of the products MN or NM has a meaningful
lowing two matrices (where “Air” means air conditioning): interpretation, find the product and label its rows and
columns.
Dealer invoice price
Basic AM/FM Cruise 70. Inventory Value. A personal computer retail company sells
car Air radio control five different computer models through three stores located
in a large metropolitan area. The inventory of each model

 
Model A $10,400 $682 $215 $182
on hand in each store is summarized in matrix M. Whole-
Model B $12,500 $721 $295 $182  M
sale (W) and retail (R) values of each model computer are
Model C $16,400 $827 $443 $192 summarized in matrix N.
Retail price
Basic AM/FM Cruise Model
car Air radio control A B C D E

   
Model A $13,900 $783 $263 $215 4 2 3 7 1 Store 1
Model B $15,000 $838 $395 $236  N M 2 3 5 0 6 Store 2
Model C $18,300 $967 $573 $248 10 4 3 4 3 Store 3

W R
We define the markup matrix to be N  M (markup is the
difference between the retail price and the dealer invoice $700 $840 A
price). Suppose the value of the dollar has had a sharp de- $1,400 $1,800 B
cline and the dealer invoice price is to have an across-the- N  $1,800 $2,400 C
board 15% increase next year. In order to stay competitive
$2,700 $3,300 D
with domestic cars, the dealer increases the retail prices
$3,500 $4,900 E
only 10%. Calculate a markup matrix for next year’s mod-
els and the indicated options. (Compute results to the near-
est dollar.) (A) What is the retail value of the inventory at store 2?
(B) What is the wholesale value of the inventory at store
68. Markup. Referring to Problem 67, what is the markup ma-
3?
trix resulting from a 20% increase in dealer invoice prices
(C) Discuss possible interpretations of the elements in the
and an increase in retail prices of 15%? (Compute results to
matrix products MN and NM.
the nearest dollar.)
(D) If either of the products MN or NM has a meaningful
69. Labor Costs. A company with manufacturing plants lo- interpretation, find the product and label its rows and
cated in different parts of the country has labor-hour and columns.
wage requirements for the manufacturing of three types of (E) Discuss methods of matrix multiplication that can be
inflatable boats as given in the following two matrices: used to find the total inventory of each model on hand
 9-1 Matrices: Basic Operations 673

at all three stores. State the matrices that can be used, Louisville Milwaukee
and perform the necessary operations. 1 2
(F) Discuss methods of matrix multiplication that can be
used to find the total inventory of all five models at
each store. State the matrices that can be used, and per-
form the necessary operations. 3 Newark

71. Airfreight. A nationwide airfreight service has connecting

flights between five cities, as illustrated in the figure. To
represent this schedule in matrix form, we construct a 4 5
5  5 incidence matrix A, where the rows represent the Phoenix Oakland
origins of each flight and the columns represent the desti-
nations. We place a 1 in the ith row and jth column of this
73. Politics. In a local election, a group hired a public relations
matrix if there is a connecting flight from the ith city to the
firm to promote its candidate in three ways: telephone,
jth city and a 0 otherwise. We also place 0’s on the princi-
house calls, and letters. The cost per contact is given in
pal diagonal, because a connecting flight with the same ori-
matrix M:
gin and destination does not make sense.
Cost per
Atlanta Baltimore Destination contact
1 2 1 2 3 4 5

 
$0.80 Telephone
1 0 1 0 1 0
M  $1.50 House call
2 0 0 1 0 0
$0.40
Origin

Letter
3 Chicago 3 1 0 0 0 1 A
4 0 0 1 0 0
The number of contacts of each type made in two adjacent
5 0 0 0 1 0 cities is given in matrix N:
4 5
Denver El Paso Telephone House call Letter

Now that the schedule has been represented in the mathe-
matical form of a matrix, we can perform operations on this
matrix to obtain information about the schedule.
(A) Find A2. What does the 1 in row 2 and column 1 of A2
indicate about the schedule? What does the 2 in row 1
and column 3 indicate about the schedule? In general,
how would you interpret each element off the principal
diagonal of A2? [Hint: Examine the diagram for possi-
ble connections between the ith city and the jth city.]
(B) Find A3. What does the 1 in row 4 and column 2 of A3
indicate about the schedule? What does the 2 in row 1
and column 5 indicate about the schedule? In general,
how would you interpret each element off the principal
diagonal of A3?
(C) Compute A, A  A2, A  A2  A3, . . . , until you ob-
tain a matrix with no zero elements (except possibly
on the principal diagonal), and interpret.
72. Airfreight. Find the incidence matrix A for the flight
schedule illustrated in the figure. Compute A, A  A2,
A  A2  A3, . . . , until you obtain a matrix with no zero
elements (except possibly on the principal diagonal),
and interpret.
1,000 500

5,000 Berkeley
N
2,000 800 8,000 Oakland
(A) Find the total amount spent in Berkeley.
(B) Find the total amount spent in Oakland.
(C) Discuss possible interpretations of the elements in the
matrix products MN and NM.
(D) If either of the products MN or NM has a meaningful
interpretation, find the product and label its rows and
columns.
(E) Discuss methods of matrix multiplication that can be
used to find the total number of telephone calls, house
calls, and letters. State the matrices that can be used,
and perform the necessary operations.
(F) Discuss methods of matrix multiplication that can be
used to find the total number of contacts in Berkeley
and in Oakland. State the matrices that can be used,
and perform the necessary operations.
74. Nutrition. A nutritionist for a cereal company blends two
cereals in different mixes. The amounts of protein, carbo-
hydrate, and fat (in grams per ounce) in each cereal are
given by matrix M. The amounts of each cereal used in the
three mixes are given by matrix N.
674 9 Matrices and Determinants

Cereal Cereal (A) Find the amount of protein in mix X.

A B (B) Find the amount of fat in mix Z.
(C) Discuss possible interpretations of the elements in the

 
4 g/oz 2 g/oz Protein
matrix products MN and NM.
M  20 g/oz 16 g/oz Carbohydrate
(D) If either of the products MN or NM has a meaningful
3 g/oz 1 g/oz Fat interpretation, find the product and label its rows and
Mix X Mix Y Mix Z columns.

N 155 ozoz 10 oz
10 oz
5 oz
15 oz  Cereal A
Cereal B

SECTION 9-2 Inverse of a Square Matrix

• Identity Matrix for Multiplication
• Inverse of a Square Matrix
• Application: Cryptography

In this section we introduce the identity matrix and the inverse of a square matrix.
These matrix forms, along with matrix multiplication, are then used to solve some
systems of equations written in matrix form in Section 9-3.

• Identity Matrix for We know that for any real number a

Multiplication
(1)a  a(1)  a

The number 1 is called the identity for real number multiplication. Does the set of all
matrices of a given dimension have an identity element for multiplication? That is, if
M is an arbitrary m  n matrix, does M have an identity element I such that
IM  MI  M? The answer in general is no. However, the set of all square matri-
ces of order n (matrices with n rows and n columns) does have an identity.

DEFINITION 1 Identity Matrix

The identity matrix for multiplication for the set of all square matrices of
order n is the square matrix of order n, denoted by I, with 1’s along the prin-
cipal diagonal (from upper left corner to lower right corner) and 0’s elsewhere.

For example,

 
1 0 0
 1
0
0
1 and 0 1 0
0 0 1

are the identity matrices for all square matrices of order 2 and 3, respectively.