All Linear Algebra Resources
Example Questions
Example Question #11 : The Inverse
True or false:
If a matrix with four rows and four columns has an inverse, then the inverse also has four rows and four columns.
False
True
True
The inverse of a square matrix - that is, a matrix with an equal number of rows and columns - if it exists, is equal in dimension to that matrix. Therefore, any inverse of a four-by-four matrix is itself a four-by-four matrix.
Example Question #313 : Linear Algebra
and are both singular two-by-two matrices.
True or false: must also be singular.
True
False
False
To prove a statement false, it suffices to find one case in which the statement does not hold. We show that
and
provide a counterexample.
A matrix is singular - that is, without an inverse - if and only if its determinant is equal to zero. The determinant of a two-by-two matrix is equal to the product of its upper left to lower right entries minus that of its upper right to lower left entries, so:
Both and are singular.
Now add the matrices by adding them term by term.
This is simply the two-by-two identity, which has an inverse - namely, itself.
The statement has been proved false by counterexample.
Example Question #21 : The Inverse
and are both two-by-two matrices. has an inverse.
True or false: Both and have inverses.
False
True
True
A matrix is nonsingular - that is, it has an inverse - if and only if its determinant is nonzero. Also, the determinant of the product of two matrices is equal to the product of their individual determinants. Combining these ideas:
If either or , then it must hold that
.
Equivalently, if either or has no inverse, then has no inverse. Contrapositively, if has an inverse, it must hold that each of and has an inverse.
Example Question #22 : The Inverse
and are both nonsingular two-by-two matrices.
True or false: must also be nonsingular.
False
True
False
We can prove that the sum of two nonsingular matrices need not be nonsingular by counterexample.
Let , .
A matrix is nonsingular - that is, with an inverse - if and only if its determinant is nonzero. The determinant of a two-by-two matrix is equal to the product of its upper left to lower right entries minus that of its upper right to lower left entries, so:
Both and are nonsingular.
Now add the matrices by adding them term by term.
,
the zero matrix, whose determinant is 0 and which is therefore not nonsingular.
Example Question #241 : Operations And Properties
is a singular four-by-four matrix. True or false: must also be a singular matrix.
True
False
True
A matrix is singular - that is, it has no inverse - if and only if its determinant is equal to 0. is singular, so
.
The determinant of the scalar product of and an matrix is
;
setting , , :
Therefore, , having determinant 0, is also singular.
Example Question #241 : Operations And Properties
is a nonsingular matrix.
True or false: the inverse of the matrix is .
False
True
True
By definition,
and .
Multiply:
Similarly,
Therefore, is the inverse of .
Example Question #22 : The Inverse
True or False: If , are square and invertible matrices then is also invertible.
True
False
True
To prove is invertible, we need to find another square matrix such that .
Since exist, take , then we have
,
and
.
Hence is invertible.
Example Question #23 : The Inverse
Suppose that is an invertible matrix. Simplify .
To simplify
we used the identities:
so we get
Example Question #27 : The Inverse
Suppose that are all invertible. What is the inverse of ?
The inverse of is since we can multiply it by to get:
Therefore is the inverse of
Example Question #248 : Operations And Properties
Find .
does not have an inverse.
The inverse of a two-by-two matrix
is
Substituting the entries in the matrix for the variables:
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