Mathematics Part 1 Mrs.

Kristine Sevcenko
Solving Linear Systems. 3. The Inverse Matrix Method.
Consider the matrices
1 1 1 1
2 2 2 2
3 3 3 3
, ,
a b c d x
a b c y d
z a b c d
_ _ _




, , ,
A X P
.
The system
1 1 1 1
2 2 2 2
3 3 3 3
a x b y c z d
a x b y c z d
a x b y c z d
+ +

+ +
'

+ +

can now be written as a matrix equation AX=P.
Therefore we can use matrix properties to solve it for X as follows:
Remembering that
1
A A = I , multiply both sides of the equation from the
left by the inverse of A:

1 1
1
1

AX P
A AX A P
IX A P
X A P
Notice that the method produces a solution only if the inverse matrix exists,
that is, if det 0 A .
Example.
3 2 2 1
2 0
2
x y z
x y z
x y z
+ +

+
'

; then
3 2 2 1
1 2 1 ; 0
1 1 1 2
_ _





, ,
A P .
The inverse
1
1 4 6
0 1 1
1 5 8

_





,
A .
1
1 4 6 1 1 1 4 0 6 ( 2) 11
0 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 1 ( 2) 2 ;
1 5 8 2 1 1 5 0 8 ( 2) 15

+ + _ _ _ _





, , , ,
X A P
11; 2; 15. x y z
Exercise 1. Find the inverse matrix . Use row transformations for odd
numbered problems (13,15, 17, 19) and the cofactor method for even
numbered problems (14, 16, 18, 20).
Exercise 2. In 25 28, use the inverse matrices found in 17 20 to solve
the given systems using the inverse matrix method.
Homework # 9. Solve :
(a) (b)