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GAUSS ELIMINATION AND
GAUSS-JORDAN ELIMINATION
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An m n Matrix
If m and n are positive integers, then an m n matrix is a
rectangular array in which each entry a
ij
of the matrix is a
number. The matrix has m rows and n columns.


(
(
(
(
(
(

n m m m m
n
n
n
a a a a
a a a a
a a a a
a a a a
, 3 , 2 , 1 ,
, 3 3 , 3 2 , 3 1 , 3
, 2 3 , 2 2 , 2 1 , 2
, 1 3 , 1 2 , 1 1 , 1

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Terminology
A real matrix is a matrix all of whose entries are
real numbers.
i (j) is called the row (column) subscript.
An mn matrix is said to be of size (or dimension)
mn.
If m=n the matrix is square of order n.
If m=n , then the a
i,i
s are the diagonal entries
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Augmented Matrix for a System of Equations
Given a system of equations we can talk about its
coefficient matrix and its augmented matrix.

To solve the system we can now use row operations
instead of equation operations to put the augmented
matrix in row echelon form.

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Row-Echelon Form
A matrix is in row-echelon form if:

The lower left quadrant of the matrix has all zero entries.
In each row that is not all zeros the first entry is a 1.
The diagonal elements of the coefficient matrix are all 1


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Gauss Elimination
The operations in the Gauss elimination are called
elementary operations.
Elementary operations for rows are:
Interchange of two rows.
Multiplication of a row by a nonzero constant.
Addition of a constant multiple of one row to another
row.
Two matrices are said to be row equivalent if one
matrix can be obtained from the other using
elementary row operations

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Gauss Elimination for Solving A
System of Equations

1. Write the augmented matrix of the system.
2. Use elementary row operations to construct a row
equivalent matrix in row-echelon form.
3. Write the system of equations corresponding to the
matrix in row-echelon form.
4. Use back-substitution to find the solutions to this
system.
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Example 1: Gauss Elimination

= +
= + +
= +
31 8 3 5
7 7 5 3
36 5 4 2
z y x
z y x
z y x
Let us consider the set of linearly independent equations.
Augmented matrix for the set is:
(
(
(

31 8 3 5
7 7 5 3
36 5 4 2
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Example 1: Gauss Elimination
Augmented matrix:
For Gauss Elimination, the Augmented Matrix (A) is
used so that both A and b can be manipulated together.



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Example 1: Gauss Elimination

= +
= + +
= +
(
(
(

31 8 3 5
7 7 5 3
36 5 4 2
31 8 3 5
7 7 5 3
36 5 4 2
z y x
z y x
z y x
Step 1: Eliminate x from the 2nd and 3rd equation.

=
= +
= +
(
(
(

121 5 . 20 13
61 5 . 14
36 5 4 2
121 5 . 20 13 0
61 5 . 14 1 0
36 5 4 2
z y
z y
z y x
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Example 1: Gauss Elimination
(
(
(

672 168 0 0
61 5 . 14 1 0
36 5 4 2

=
= +
= +
672 168
61 5 . 14
36 5 4 2
z
z y
z y x
(
(
(

4 1 0 0
61 5 . 14 1 0
18 5 . 2 2 1
Step 2: Eliminate y from the 3rd equation.
13R
2
+R
3
R
3
Step 3:
0.5R
1
R
1
-R
2
R
2
(1/168)R
3
R
3

=
=
= +
4
61 5 . 14
18 5 . 2 2
z
z y
z y x
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Example 1: Gauss Elimination


From Row 3, z = 4

From Row 2, y -14.5z = -61 or, y - 14.5 (4) = 61 or, y = - 3

From Row 1, x 2y + 2.5z = 18 or, x 2 (- 3) + 2.55 (4) = 18
or, x = 2
(
(
(

4 1 0 0
61 5 . 14 1 0
18 5 . 2 2 1

=
=
= +
4
61 5 . 14
18 5 . 2 2
z
z y
z y x
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Example 2: Gauss Elimination





Let us consider another set of linearly independent equations.
The augmented matrix for this set is:
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Example 2: Gauss Elimination
Step 1: Eliminate x from the 2nd and 3rd equation.
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Example 2: Gauss Elimination


From Row 3, therefore, z = ?

From Row 2, ? From Row 1, ?
Step 2: Eliminate y from the 3
rd
equation.
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Example 3: Gauss Elimination








When would you interchange two equations (rows)?
Let us consider the following set of equations.
The corresponding augmented matrix is:
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Example 3: Gauss Elimination
The solution is: x = - 3, y = 4, z = 2
Eqn. (1) (Row 1) cannot be used to eliminate x from Eqns. (2)
and (3) (Rows 2 and 3).

Interchange Row 1 with Row 2. The augmented matrix
becomes:





Now follow the steps mentioned earlier to solve for the
unknowns.
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Example 4: Gauss Elimination
Problem:
A garden supply centre buys flower seed in bulk then mixes and packages
the seeds for home garden use. The supply center provides 3 different
mixes of flower seeds: Wild Thing, Mommy Dearest and Medicine
Chest.
1) One kilogram of Wild Thing seed mix contains 500 grams of wild flower
seed, 250 grams of Echinacea seed and 250 grams of Chrysanthemum
seed.
2) Mommy Dearest mix is a product that is commonly purchased through
the gift store and consists of 75% Chrysanthemum seed and 25% wild
flower seed.
3) The Medicine Chest mix has gained a lot of attention lately, with the
interest in medicinal plants, and contains only Echinacea seed, but the mix
must include some vermiculite (10% by weight of the total mixture) for ease
of planting.

To be continued
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Example 4: Gauss Elimination
Contd

In a single order, the store received 17 grams of wild flower seed, 15
grams of Echinacea seed and 21 grams of Chrysanthemum seed.
Assume that the garden center has an ample supply of vermiculite on
hand.

Use matrices and complete Gauss-Jordan Elimination to determine
how much of each mixture the store can prepare.
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Example 4: Gauss Elimination
Solution:
Assign variables to the
amount of each mix that will
be produced.


Perform a balance on each
of the components that are
available.


Let X = Amount of Wild Thing
Let Y = Amount of Mommy Dearest
Let Z = Amount of Medicine Chest
Wild flower 0.5X + 0.25Y + 0Z = 17g
Echinacea 0.25X + 0Y + 0.9Z = 15g
Chrysanthemum 0.25X + 0.75Y + 0Z = 21g
In matrix form, this can be written as
b Ax =
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Example 4: Gauss Elimination
Before the matrices are populated, it is (sometimes) helpful to re-
arrange the equations to reduce the number of steps in the Gauss
Elimination. To do this (if there seems like an easy solution), attempt
to move zeros to the bottom left, and try to maintain the first row with
non-zeros except for the last entry, since row 1 is used to reduce
other rows.
By moving the last column (Z) to the front, and switching the first and
second row, the new set of equations becomes:
Echinacea 0.9Z + 0.25X + 0Y = 15g
Wild flower 0Z + 0.5X + 0.25Y = 17g
Chrysanthemum 0Z + 0.25X + 0.75Y = 21g
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Example 4: Gauss Elimination
Apply the Gauss
Elimination:
Z = 10, X = 24, and Y = 20
(
(
(
(
(
(

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4
3
4
1
0
17
4
1
2
1
0
15 0
4
1
10
9
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Gauss-Jordan Elimination
In Gauss-Jordan elimination, we continue the reduction of
the augmented matrix until we get a row equivalent matrix
in reduced row-echelon form. (r-e form where every
column with a leading 1 has rest zeros)

(
(
(

c
b
a
1 0 0
0 1 0
0 0 1
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Gauss-Jordan Elimination

= +
= + +
= +
31 8 3 5
7 7 5 3
36 5 4 2
z y x
z y x
z y x
Let us consider the set of linearly independent equations.
Augmented matrix for the set is:
(
(
(

31 8 3 5
7 7 5 3
36 5 4 2
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Gauss-Jordan Elimination

= +
= + +
= +
(
(
(

31 8 3 5
7 7 5 3
36 5 4 2
31 8 3 5
7 7 5 3
36 5 4 2
z y x
z y x
z y x
Step 1: Eliminate x from the 2nd and 3rd equation.

=
= +
= +
(
(
(

121 5 . 20 13
61 5 . 14
36 5 4 2
121 5 . 20 13 0
61 5 . 14 1 0
36 5 4 2
z y
z y
z y x
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Gauss-Jordan Elimination
(
(
(

672 168 0 0
61 5 . 14 1 0
36 5 4 2

=
= +
= +
672 168
61 5 . 14
36 5 4 2
z
z y
z y x
(
(
(

4 1 0 0
61 5 . 14 1 0
18 5 . 2 2 1
Step 2: Eliminate y from the 3rd equation.
13R
2
+R
3
R
3
Step 3:
0.5R
1
R
1
-R
2
R
2
(1/168)R
3
R
3

=
=
= +
4
61 5 . 14
18 5 . 2 2
z
z y
z y x
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Gauss-Jordan Elimination


) 2 ( ) 5 . 14 ( ) 3 ( Row Row +
(
(
(

4 1 0 0
61 5 . 14 1 0
18 5 . 2 2 1

=
=
= +
4
61 5 . 14
18 5 . 2 2
z
z y
z y x
Step 4: Eliminate z from the 2
nd
equation
(
(
(

4 1 0 0
3 0 1 0
18 5 . 2 2 1

=
=
= +
4
3
18 5 . 2 2
z
y
z y x
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Gauss-Jordan Elimination


1 ) 1 ( ) 2 ( ) 2 ( Row New Row Row +
(
(
(

4 1 0 0
3 0 1 0
18 5 . 2 2 1

=
=
= +
4
3
18 5 . 2 2
z
y
z y x
Step 5-1: Eliminate y from the 1st equation
(
(
(

4 1 0 0
3 0 1 0
12 5 . 2 0 1

=
=
= +
4
3
12 5 . 2
z
y
z x
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Gauss-Jordan Elimination


1 ) 1 ( ) 5 . 2 ( ) 3 ( Row New Row Row +
(
(
(

4 1 0 0
3 0 1 0
12 5 . 2 0 1

=
=
= +
4
3
12 5 . 2
z
y
z x
Step 5-2: Eliminate z from the 1st equation
(
(
(

4 1 0 0
3 0 1 0
2 0 0 1

=
=
=
4
3
2
z
y
x