MATH1850U: Chapter 1

LINEAR SYSTEMS
Application Balancing Chemical Equations: Write a balanced equation for the given
chemical reaction: CO2 + H2O C6H12O6 + O2 (photosynthesis)
Application Population Migration: A country is divided into 3 demographic regions.
Each year, 5% of the residents of region 1 move to region 2, and 5% move to region 3.
Of the residents of region 2, 15% move to region 1, and 10% move to region 3. And of
the residents of region 3, 10% move to region 1 and 5% move to region 2. What
percentage of the population resides in each of the 3 regions after a long period of time?
Application: Hill 2-Cipher Decoding: Decode the following Hill 2-cipher, which was
5
2

enciphered by the matrix A

[Source: Our text]

6
: GTNKGKDUSK
3

Introduction to Systems of Linear Equations (1.1; pg.2)

Definition: A linear equation in the n variables, x1 , x 2 , xn is defined to be an
equation that can be written in the form:
a1 x1 a2 x2 an xn b

where a1 , a 2 , a n and b are real constants. The ai are called the coefficients, and the
variables xi are sometimes called the unknowns. If it cannot be written in this form, it
is called a nonlinear equation.
Examples:

5 x1 6 x2 10 x3 8 x4
2

9 x1 x3 3 x2 6 x4
7 x1 x2 x3 9

Linear
not linear
Linear

Application: Suppose that $100 is invested in 3 stocks. If A , B, and C, denote the

number of shares of each stock that are purchased and they have units costs $5, $1.5, and
$3 respectively, write the linear equation describing this scenario.
Definition: A solution of a linear equation a1 x1 a2 x2 an xn b is a sequence (or
n-tuple) of n numbers s1 , s 2 , s n such that the equation is satisfied when we substitute
x1 s1 , x2 s 2 , xn sn in the equation. The set of ALL solutions of the equation is
called the solution set (or sometimes the general solution) of the equation.
Example:

MATH1850U: Chapter 1

Note: This above example has infinitely many solutionsto generate solutions (x, y
pairs), just sub in values of t (i.e. t = 0, 0.3, -4, 100, etc.)
Definition: A finite set of linear equations in n variables, x1 , x 2 , xn , is called a
system of linear equations or a linear system. A sequence of n numbers s1 , s 2 , s n is
a solution of the system of linear equations if x1 s1 , x2 s 2 , xn sn is a solution of
every equation in the system.
Exercise: Verify that x 1, y 1, z 1 is a solution of the linear system:
x 2 y 3z 2

3x y

y 2 z 1

Question: Does every system of equations have a solution? No

Definition: A system of equations that has no solutions is said to be inconsistent. If
there is at least one solution of the system, it is called consistent.
Example (one solution):

x 2y 5
6x 7 y 1

Example (no solutions): 7 x 2 y 3 and _______________

Example (infinitely many solutions): x 4 y 5 and _______________
Question: What do the above cases correspond to geometrically?
One solution
No solutions
Infinitely-many solutions

Extension: Now lets say we have 3 equations in 3 unknownsthen what? How many
solutions are possible? What is the geometric interpretation?

one solution

MATH1850U: Chapter 1

no solution

no solution

infinite