MATH 211 Quiz 1

September 23, 2017

1. The matrices A; B; D and F are given by

2 3 2 3 2 3
1 0 1 2 1 0 0 1
1 0
A = 42 1 25 B = 40 15 D= F = 40 1 05
0 1
0 1 1 3 2 1 0 0

Determine the following

(i) AB [3 marks]
(ii) Dn where n 2 [3 marks]
1
(iii) F [2 marks]
1
(iv) A [5 marks]
1
(v) AT [2 marks]

2. [ 6 marks] Use Gauss-Jordan elimination to solve the following system of

linear equations

x1 2x2 + 3x3 = 1
2x1 + x3 = 4
x1 x2 + 2x3 = 1

1
3. [6 marks] Find the inverse of the matrix

1 2
2 a

where a is a scalar. Use your answer to determine the solution of the

system of equations

x1 + 2x2 = 1
2x1 + 5x2 = 4

4. [10 marks ] Calculate the following determinants

1 1 0 0
2 1 2
0 2 3 4
(a) 1 0 1 (b)
1 1 1 0
1 3 0
0 0 2 1

5. [3 marks] A and B are n n matrices such that det (A) = 2 and det (B) =
1. Show that the matrix C = A2 B 3 is non-singular, and determine
det C 1

2
 SOLUTIONS

Question 1
2 3 2 3 2 3
1 0 1 2 1 1 3
(i) AB = 42 1 2 5 40 1 5 = 4 10 15
0 1 1 3 2 3 3

(ii) D2 = I hence D2m = I and D2m+1 = D where m is an integer, or stating

this in another way we have
8
< I for even n
Dn =
:
D for odd n

(iii) F is the elementary matrix that performs the row operation R1 $ R3 on

all 3 p matrices. The inverse of this operation is clearly to perform this
operation again and so F 1 = F

(iv)
2 3 2 3
1 0 1 3 1 1
1
A = 42 1 2 5 with inverse : A 1
= 42 1 45
5
0 1 1 2 1 1

1 1 T
(v) The inverse AT = A hence
2 3T 2 3
3 1 1 3 2 2
1 1 1
AT = 42 1 45 = 41 1 15
5 5
2 1 1 1 4 1

Question 2

To solve this system we write the augmented matrix

2 3
1 2 3 1
42 0 1 4 5
1 1 2 1

3
Gauss-Jordan elimination requires getting this matrix into reduced row echelon
form from which the solution can be read o¤ directly.
2 3
1 2 3 1
R2 ! R2 2R1 40 4 5 65
R3 ! R3 R1
0 1 1 2
2 3
1 2 3 1
R2 $ R3 40 1 1 25
0 4 5 6
2 3
1 2 3 1
R3 ! R3 + 4R2 40 1 1 25
0 0 1 2
2 3
1 2 0 7
R2 ! R2 + R3 40 1 0 4 5
R1 ! R1 3R3
0 0 1 2
2 3
1 0 0 1
R1 ! R1 + 2R2 40 1 0 45
0 0 1 2
Hence the solution of the system is given by

x1 = 1 x2 = 4 x3 = 2

which can easily be checked and seen to indeed be the solution.

Question 3

To …nd the inverse we write the augmented matrix

1 2 1 0
2 a 0 1

and perform row operations to get the matrix consisting of the …rst 2 columns
into reduced row echelon form.
1 2 1 0
R2 ! R2 2R1
0 a 4 2 1
1
R1 ! R1 2 (a 4) R2 1 1 0 a 2
1
R2 ! (a 4) R2 a 4 0 1 2 1
Hence the inverse is given by
1 a 2
a 4 2 1
1 1
which can easily be veri…ed to satisfy AA =A A = I.

4
 The given system of equations can be written as Ax = b and if the inverse
exists we can solve it using x = A 1 b. We note that here the matrix A is the
matrix in the …rst part of the question with a = 5 so that the solution can be
written as
x1 5 2 1 3
= =
x2 2 1 4 2

Question 4

To calculate the …rst determinant we can expand along any row, or down
any column, but here it seems prudent to expand along the 2nd row. We have
that
2 1 2
1 2 2 1
1 0 1 = ( 1)(1) + ( 1) (1) = 13
3 0 1 3
1 3 0

The second determinant seems amenable to simple row operations to get the
matrix into triangular form (the determinant is then the product of the diagonal
elements) so that

1 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 0
0 2 3 4 0 2 3 4 0 2 3 4
= = =2
1 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0
0 0 2 1 0 0 2 1 0 0 0 1

where the row operations R3 ! R3 R1 followed by R4 ! R4 2R3 have been

applied

Question 5

1
Here we use the properties that det (AB) = det (A) det (B) and det C =
1
[det (C)]
2 3 2 3
det A2 B 3 = [det (A)] [det (B)] = (2) ( 1) = 4 6= 0

hence the matrix C = A2 B 3 is non-singular and the determinant of its inverse

is given by

1 1 1
det C = =
det (C) 4