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InverseofaMatrix

InverseofaMatrix
Pleasereadour IntroductiontoMatrices first.

What is the Inverse of a Matrix?

TheInverseofaMatrixisthesameideaasthe reciprocal ofanumber:

ReciprocalofaNumber
Butwedon'twrite1/A (becausewedon'tdividebyaMatrix!),insteadwewriteA1forthe
inverse:

(Infact1/8 canalsobewrittenas81)
Andthereareothersimilarities:

Whenyoumultiplyanumberbyitsreciprocalyouget1
8(1/8 )=1
WhenyoumultiplyaMatrixbyitsInverseyougettheIdentityMatrix
(whichislike"1"forMatrices):
AA1=I
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Italsoworkswhentheinversecomesfirst:(1/8 )8=1andA1A=I

IdentityMatrix
Note:the"IdentityMatrix"isthematrixequivalentofthenumber"1":

A3x3IdentityMatrix
Itis"square"(hassamenumberofrowsascolumns),
Ithas1sonthediagonaland0severywhereelse.
It'ssymbolisthecapitalletterI.
TheIdentityMatrixcanbe22insize,or33,44,etc...

Definition
SowehaveadefinitionofaMatrixInverse...

TheInverseofAisA1onlywhen:

AA1=A1A=I
SometimesthereisnoInverseatall.

2x2 Matrix
OK,howdowecalculatetheInverse?
Well,fora2x2MatrixtheInverseis:
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InverseofaMatrix

Inotherwords:swapthepositionsofaandd,putnegativesinfrontofbandc,anddivide
everythingbythe determinant (adbc).
Letustryanexample:

Howdoweknowthisistherightanswer?
Rememberitmustbetruethat:AA1=I
So,letuschecktoseewhathappenswhenwe multiplythematrix byitsinverse:

And,hey!,weendupwiththeIdentityMatrix!Soitmustberight.
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Itshouldalsobetruethat:A1A=I
Whydon'tyouhaveagoatmultiplyingthese?SeeifyoualsogettheIdentityMatrix:

Why Would We Want an Inverse?

BecausewithMatriceswedon'tdivide!Seriously,thereisnoconceptofdividingbyaMatrix.
ButwecanmultiplybyanInverse,whichachievesthesamething.

Imagineyoucouldn'tdividebynumbers,andsomeoneasked"HowdoIshare10
appleswith2people?"
Butyoucouldtakethereciprocalof2(whichis0.5),soyoucouldanswer:
100.5=5
Theyget5appleseach

ThesamethingcanbedonewithMatrices:

SaythatyouknowMatrixAandB,andwanttofindMatrixX:

XA=B
ItwouldbenicetodividebothsidesbyA(togetX=B/A),butrememberwecan't
divide.

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ButwhatifwemultiplybothsidesbyA1?

XAA1=BA1
AndweknowthatAA1=I,so:

XI=BA1
WecanremoveI(forthesamereasonwecouldremove"1"from1x=abfor
numbers):

X=BA1
Andwehaveouranswer(assumingwecancalculateA1)

Inthatexamplewewereverycarefultogetthemultiplicationscorrect,becausewithMatrices
theorderofmultiplicationmatters.ABisalmostneverequaltoBA.

A Real Life Example

Agrouptookatriponabus,at$3perchildand$3.20peradultforatotalof$118.40.
Theytookthetrainbackat$3.50perchildand$3.60peradultforatotalof$135.20.
Howmanychildren,andhowmanyadults?

First,letussetupthematrices(becarefultogettherowsandcolumnscorrect!):

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Thisisjustliketheexampleabove:

XA=B
Sotosolveitweneedtheinverseof"A":

Nowwehavetheinversewecansolveusing:

X=BA1

Therewere16childrenand22adults!
Theansweralmostappearslikemagic.Butitisbasedongoodmathematics.

Calculationslikethat(butusingmuchlargermatrices)helpEngineersdesign
buildings,areusedinvideogamesandcomputeranimationstomakethingslook
3dimensional,andmanyotherplaces.
Itisalsoawaytosolve SystemsofLinearEquations .
Thecalculationsaredonebycomputer,butthepeoplemustunderstandthe
formulas.
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Order is Important
Saythatyouaretryingtofind"X"inthiscase:

AX=B
Thisisdifferenttotheexampleabove!XisnowafterA.
WithMatricestheorderofmultiplicationusuallychangestheanswer.Donotassume
thatAB=BA,itisalmostnevertrue.

Sohowdowesolvethisone?Usingthesamemethod,butputA1infront:

A1AX=A1B
AndweknowthatA1A=I,so:

IX=A1B
WecanremoveI:

X=A1B
Andwehaveouranswer(assumingwecancalculateA1)

Whydon'twetryourexamplefromabove,butwiththedatasetupthiswayaround.
(Yes,youcandothis,justbecarefulhowyousetitup.)
ThisiswhatitlookslikeasAX=B:

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Itlookssoneat!IthinkIpreferitlikethis.
Alsonotehowtherowsandcolumnsareswappedover("Transposed")
comparedtothepreviousexample.
Tosolveitweneedtheinverseof"A":

ItisliketheInversewegotbefore,but
Transposed(rowsandcolumnsswappedover).
Nowwecansolveusing:

X=A1B

Sameanswer:16childrenand22adults.
So,Matricesarepowerfulthings,buttheydoneedtobesetupcorrectly!

The Inverse May Not Exist

Firstofall,tohaveanInversetheMatrixmustbe"Square"(samenumberofrowsand
columns).
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Butalsothedeterminantcannotbezero(oryouwouldendupdividingbyzero).Howabout
this:

2424?Thatequals0,and1/0isundefined.
Wecannotgoanyfurther!ThisMatrixhasnoInverse.

SuchaMatrixiscalled"Singular",whichonlyhappenswhenthedeterminantis
zero.
Anditmakessense...lookatthenumbers:thesecondrowisjustdoublethefirstrow,and
doesnotaddanynewinformation.
Imagineinourexampleabovethatthepricesonthetrainwereexactly,say,50%higher...we
wouldn'tbeanyclosertofiguringouthowmanyadultsandchildren...weneedsomething
different.
Andthedeterminantneatlyworksthisout.

Bigger Matrices
Theinverseofa2x2iseasy...comparedtolargermatrices(suchasa3x3,4x4,etc).
Forthoselargermatricestherearethreemainmethodstoworkouttheinverse:
InverseofaMatrixusingElementaryRowOperations(GaussJordan)
InverseofaMatrixusingMinors,CofactorsandAdjugate
Useacomputer(suchastheMatrixCalculator)

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Conclusion
TheInverseofAisA1onlywhenAA1=A1A=I
TofindtheInverseofa2x2Matrix:swapthepositionsofaandd,put
negativesinfrontofbandc,anddivideeverythingbythedeterminant
(adbc).
SometimesthereisnoInverseatall

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