CHAPTER 2

SYSTEM OF LINEAR
EQUATIONS

NORLIANA MOHD.LIP (FSKM UiTM S3)

 NORLIANA MOHD.LIP (FSKM UiTM S3)

Source: https://byjus.com/maths/linear-equations/
 NORLIANA MOHD.LIP (FSKM UiTM S3)

EXAMPLE 1

• Determine which equations are linear equation?

a) 4x + 7 y = 3 LINEAR
b) xz + y = 3 NOT LINEAR
c) x1 + 3x2 − 2 x3 = 0 LINEAR TIPS
1 ❑ Do not involve any
d) x + y + z = 1 LINEAR products or roots of
2
variables.
e) cos( x) + 2 y = 1 NOT LINEAR
❑ All variables occur only
1 7
f) x+ y =5 LINEAR to the first power and do
3 5 not appear as arguments
for trigonometric,
logarithmic or
exponential functions.
 NORLIANA MOHD.LIP (FSKM UiTM S3)

2.1 Systems of linear equations

A system of linear equations with m equations and n variables can be written as
a11x1 + a12x2 + a13x3 + . . . + a1nxn = b1
a21x1 + a22x2 + a23x3 + . . . + a2nxn = b2
a31x1 + a32x2 + a33x3 + . . . + a3nxn = b3
.
.
am1x1 + am2x2 + am3x3 + . . . + amnxn = bm

❑ Where a is the coefficient of variable x.

❑ A solution set of a system of linear equations is a sequence of numbers s1 , s2 , s3 , . . . , sn that
satisfies all the equations in that system.
 NORLIANA MOHD.LIP (FSKM UiTM S3)

❑ A system of linear equations with m equations and n variables can be written in matrix form as
follows:

 a11 a12 a13 ... a1n   x1   b1   a11 a12 a13 ... a1n b1 
 
       a 21 a 22 a 23 ... a 2 n b2 
 a21 a22 a23 ... a2 n   x2   b2 
: a
 a31 a32 ... a3n   x3  =  b3  a32 a33 ... a3n b3 
a33  31 
       : : : : : 
 : : : :   :   :   a
a bm 
... amn   xn   bm   m1 am2 a m3 ... a mn
 m1 am 2 am3
A x = b
augmented matrix
coefficient matrix constant matrix

variable matrix
 NORLIANA MOHD.LIP (FSKM UiTM S3)
2.2 Methods to Solve Systems of linear equations
Gaussian Gauss-Jordan
Elimination Elimination

Row echelon Reduced row echelon

matrix (REM) matrix (RREM)

- Any zero rows at the bottom of the

matrix
Same characteristic as row echelon matrix and
- For each nonzero row, the first entry is every column that has leading 1, all entries below
1 (leading 1) and above leading 1 are all zeros.
- Leading 1 in the top row is further to
the left than the leading 1 in the row
below it.
Example:
Example:
 NORLIANA MOHD.LIP (FSKM UiTM S3)

EXAMPLE 2
Determine whether these matrices are REM, RREM or not.

1 0 0 1
a.   d.
 0 0 1 0  Not REM
0 0 1 1
 

b.
1 0 0 0
e.  0 1 0 0 0
0 1 0 0   Not
0 0 0 1 RREM 1 0 0 0 1
0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0
 1 0 0 4 − 1
1 − 6 9   RREM
c.   f. 0 1 0 2 6 
0 0 1 REM 0 0 1 3 2 
 0 0 0  
 
 NORLIANA MOHD.LIP (FSKM UiTM S3)
Elementary Row Operations

Add a row that

has been
multiplied with a
Multiply a row nonzero constant
with a non-zero to another row.
Interchange two constant.
rows.

A system of linear equations may have:

a) no solution
b) only one solution (unique solution)
c) an infinite number of solutions
• Type of solution to a system of linear equations

Consider a system of 2 equation in 2 unknowns x,y represented by

2 lines in the xy-plane. Solutions will be points of intersection of
these lines.

Case 1 Case 2 Case 3

x−y =0
x+y=4 y x+y=4 x−y=3 y
x + y = −5 2x − 2y = 6

x
x  one solution  Infinitely x
 No solution many
solution

NORLIANA MOHD.LIP (FSKM UiTM S3)

 NORLIANA MOHD.LIP (FSKM UiTM S3)

EXAMPLE 3
a) Interchanging first row with the second row.
1 1 4  R1  R2 1 − 1 2 
  ⎯⎯⎯→ 
 1 − 1 2   1 1 4 
1
b) Multiplying the first row with .
3
 3 −6 9  1  1 −2 3 
  3 R1 → R1  
 4 −8 12  ⎯⎯ ⎯ ⎯→ 4 − 8 12 
− 2 4 − 6  − 2 4 − 6 
 

c) Multiplying the first row with -2 and adding it to the third row

 1 2 −4 5   1 2 −4 5 
  − 2 R1 + R3 → R1  
 −1 −1 6 − 6  ⎯⎯ ⎯ ⎯ ⎯→ − 1 − 1 6 − 6 
 2 0 − 12 9   0 0 − 4 − 1 
 
 NORLIANA MOHD.LIP (FSKM UiTM S3)

EXAMPLE 4
Solve the following system of linear equations using Gaussian and Gauss-Jordan elimination
method:

a) 𝑥+ 2𝑦 =1
3𝑥 + 4𝑦 =1
Gaussian (REM) Gauss-Jordan (RREM)
Augmented matrix

1 21 1 2 1 1 1 21 1 0 −1
− 3𝑅1 + 𝑅2 → 𝑅2 − 𝑅2 → 𝑅2 − 2𝑅2 + 𝑅1 → 𝑅1
3 41 0 −2 −2 2 0 11 0 1 1

∴ 𝑥 = −1, 𝑦 = 1
NORLIANA MOHD.LIP (FSKM UiTM S3)

𝑥 +𝑦 =2
b)
2𝑥 +4𝑦 =9
𝑥 +5𝑦 = 12

1 1 2 −2𝑅 + 𝑅 → 𝑅 1 1 2 1 1 1 2
2 4 9 −𝑅 1+ 𝑅 2 → 𝑅 2 0 2 5 𝑅2 → 𝑅2 0 1 5ൗ2 − 4𝑅2 + 𝑅3 → 𝑅3
1 3 3 2
1 5 12 0 4 10 0 4 10

1 1 2 1 0 −1Τ2
0 1 5Τ2 − 𝑅2 + 𝑅1 → 𝑅1 0 1 5Τ2 ∴ 𝑦 = 5Τ2 , 𝑥 = −1Τ2
0 0 0 0 0 0
 NORLIANA MOHD.LIP (FSKM UiTM S3)

c) 𝑥 +2𝑦 −3𝑧 = 0
2𝑥 +4𝑦 −2𝑧 = 2
3𝑥 +6𝑦 −4𝑧 = 3

1 2 −3 0 −2𝑅 + 𝑅 → 𝑅 1 2 −3 0 1 1 2 −3 0
2 4 −2 2 −3𝑅1 + 𝑅2 → 𝑅2 0 0 4 2 𝑅2 → 𝑅2 0 0 1 1ൗ
1 3 3 4 2
3 6 −4 3 0 0 5 3 0 0 5 3

1 2 −3 0
−5𝑅2 + 𝑅3 → 𝑅3 0 0 1 1Τ2 ∴No solution
0 0 0 1Τ2
 NORLIANA MOHD.LIP (FSKM UiTM S3)

d) 1 0 −1 1
0 0 1 0

1 0 −1 1 1 0 01
𝑅2 + 𝑅1 → 𝑅1
0 0 1 0 0 0 10

∴ 𝑥 = 1, 𝑦 = 𝑡, 𝑧 = 0, 𝑡 ∈ 𝑅
 NORLIANA MOHD.LIP (FSKM UiTM S3)
2.3 Homogeneous Systems of Linear Equations
A homogeneous system of linear equations has the following form:

a11x1 + a12x2 + a13x3 + . . . + a1nxn = 0

𝑎11 𝑎12 𝑎13 0
a21x1 + a22x2 + a23x3 + . . . + a2nxn = 0 𝑎21 𝑎22 𝑎23 0
𝑎31 𝑎32 𝑎33 0
a31x1 + a32x2 + a33x3 + . . . + a3nxn = 0
Ax = 0
.
am1x1 + am2x2 + am3x3 + . . . + amnxn = 0

If x1 = 0; x2 = 0; …. xn = 0. This solution is called a trivial solution.

If x1 = x2 = …. = xn ≠ 0, they are called non-trivial solutions.

 NORLIANA MOHD.LIP (FSKM UiTM S3)

EXAMPLE 5
Solve the following homogeneous system of linear equations. Also determine its type of solution.
x1 − 2 x2 − 8 x3 = 0 x + y + 5z = 0
a.) b.)
3x1 + 2 x2 = 0 x + 4 y + 2z = 0
− x1 + x2 + 7 x3 = 0 x=t, y=t, z=-6t, t is any real numbers
Non trivial solution.
X=0, y=0, z=0 Trivial solution
 NORLIANA MOHD.LIP (FSKM UiTM S3)

EXAMPLE 6
𝑥 +𝑦
+𝑎𝑧 = 1
𝑥 +𝑎𝑦
+𝑧 = 4
𝑎𝑥 +𝑦
+𝑧 = 𝑏
Determine the value/s of a and b for which the following system of linear equations
a) has a unique solution
b) is inconsistent
c) has infinitely many solutions.
 NORLIANA MOHD.LIP (FSKM UiTM S3)

EXAMPLE 7
x + ay − z = 1
− x + (a − 2) y + z = −1
2 x + 2 y + (a − 2) z = 1
Find the value (s) of a such that the system has
a) no solution
b) infinitely many solutions
c) a unique solution