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HowtoMultiplyMatrices

HowtoMultiplyMatrices
AMatrixisanarrayofnumbers:

AMatrix
(Thisonehas2Rowsand3Columns)
Tomultiplyamatrixbyasinglenumberiseasy:

Thesearethecalculations:
24=8

20=0

21=2 29=18
Wecallthenumber("2"inthiscase)ascalar,sothisiscalled"scalar

multiplication".

Multiplying a Matrix by Another Matrix

Buttomultiplyamatrixbyanothermatrixweneedtodothe" dotproduct "ofrowsand
columns...whatdoesthatmean?Letusseewithanexample:
Toworkouttheanswerforthe1strowand1stcolumn:

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The"DotProduct"iswherewemultiplymatchingmembers,thensum
up:

(1,2,3)(7,9,11)=17+29+311=58
Wematchthe1stmembers(1and7),multiplythem,likewiseforthe2nd
members(2and9)andthe3rdmembers(3and11),andfinallysum
themup.

Wanttoseeanotherexample?Hereitisforthe1strowand2ndcolumn:

(1,2,3)(8,10,12)=18+210+312=64
Wecandothesamethingforthe2ndrowand1stcolumn:

(4,5,6)(7,9,11)=47+59+611=139
Andforthe2ndrowand2ndcolumn:

(4,5,6)(8,10,12)=48+510+612=154
Andweget:

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DONE!

Why Do It This Way?

Thismayseemanoddandcomplicatedwayofmultiplying,butitisnecessary!
Icangiveyouareallifeexampletoillustratewhywemultiplymatricesinthisway.

Example:Thelocalshopsells3typesofpies.
Beefpiescost$3each
Chickenpiescost$4each
Vegetablepiescost$2each
Andthisishowmanytheysoldin4days:

Nowthinkaboutthis...thevalueofsalesforMondayiscalculatedthisway:

Beefpievalue+Chickenpievalue+Vegetablepie
value
$313+$48+$26=$83
Soitis,infact,the"dotproduct"ofpricesandhowmanyweresold:

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($3,$4,$2)(13,8,6)=$313+$48+$26=$83
Wematchthepricetohowmanysold,multiplyeach,thensumtheresult.

Inotherwords:
ThesalesforMondaywere:Beefpies:$313=$39,Chickenpies:
$48=$32,andVegetablepies:$26=$12.Togetherthatis$39+
$32+$12=$83
AndforTueday:$39+$47+$24=$63
AndforWednesday:$37+$44+$20=$37
AndforThursday:$315+$46+$23=$75
Soitisimportanttomatcheachpricetoeachquantity.

Nowyouknowwhyweusethe"dotproduct".

AndhereisthefullresultinMatrixform:

Theysold$83worthofpiesonMonday,$63onTuesday,etc.
(Youcanputthosevaluesintothe MatrixCalculator toseeiftheywork.)

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Rows and Columns

Toshowhowmanyrowsandcolumnsamatrixhasweoftenwriterowscolumns.

Example:Thismatrixis23(2rowsby3columns):

Whenwedomultiplication:

Thenumberofcolumnsofthe1stmatrixmustequalthenumberof
rowsofthe2ndmatrix.
Andtheresultwillhavethesamenumberofrowsasthe1stmatrix,
andthesamenumberofcolumnsasthe2ndmatrix.

Example:

Inthatexamplewemultiplieda13matrixbya34matrix(notethe3sare
thesame),andtheresultwasa14matrix.

InGeneral:
Tomultiplyanmnmatrixbyannpmatrix,thensmustbethesame,
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andtheresultisanmpmatrix.

Order of Multiplication
Inarithmeticweareusedto:

35=53
(The CommutativeLaw ofMultiplication)
Butthisisnotgenerallytrueformatrices(matrixmultiplicationisnotcommutative):

ABBA
Whenwechangetheorderofmultiplication,theansweris(usually)different.

Example:
Seehowchangingtheorderaffectsthismultiplication:

Identity Matrix
The"IdentityMatrix"isthematrixequivalentofthenumber"1":

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A3x3IdentityMatrix
Itis"square"(hassamenumberofrowsascolumns),
Ithas1sonthediagonaland0severywhereelse.
ItssymbolisthecapitalletterI.
Itisaspecialmatrix,becausewhenwemultiplybyit,theoriginalisunchanged:

AI=A
IA=A

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