Before we give the formal definition of how to multiply two matrices, we will
discuss an example from a real life situation. Consider a city with two kinds of
population: the inner city population and the suburb population. We assume that
every year 40% of the inner city population moves to the suburbs, while 30% of
the suburb population moves to the inner part of the city. Let
I (resp.
S) be the initial population of the inner city (resp. the suburban area).
So after one year, the population of the inner part is
0.6
I + 0.3 S
while the population of the suburbs is
0.4
I + 0.7 S
After two years, the population of the inner city is
0.6
(0.6 I + 0.3 S) + 0.3 (0.4 I + 0.7 S)
and the suburban population is given by
0.4
(0.6 I + 0.3 S) + 0.7(0.4 I + 0.7 S)
Is there a nice way of representing the two populations after a certain
number of years? Let us show how matrices may be helpful to answer this
question. Let us represent the two populations in one table (meaning a column
object with two entries):
So after one year the table which gives the two populations is
If we consider the following rule (
the product of two matrices)
then the populations after one year are given by the formula
After two years the populations are
Combining this formula with the above result, we get
In other words, we have
In fact, we do not need to have two matrices of the same size to multiply
them. Above, we did multiply a (2x2) matrix with a (2x1) matrix (which gave a
(2x1) matrix). In fact, the general rule says that in order to perform the
multiplication
AB, where
A is a (mxn) matrix and
B a (kxl)
matrix, then we must have
n=
k. The result will be a (mxl) matrix.
For example, we have
Remember that though we were able to perform the above multiplication, it
is not possible to perform the multiplication
So we have to be very careful about multiplying matrices. Sentences like
"multiply the two matrices
A and
B" do not make sense. You must
know which of the two matrices will be to the right (of your multiplication) and
which one will be to the left; in other words, we have to know whether we are
asked to perform

or

. Even if both multiplications do make sense
(as in the case of square matrices with the same size), we still have to be very
careful. Indeed, consider the two matrices
We have
and
So what is the conclusion behind this example? The matrix multiplication
is not commutative, the order in which matrices are multiplied is important. In
fact, this little setback is a major problem in playing around with matrices.
This is something that you must always be careful with. Let us show you another
setback. We have
the product of two non-zero matrices may be equal to the zero-matrix.
Properties involving Addition. Let
A,
B, and
C be
mxn matrices. We have
- 1.
- A+B = B+A
- 2.
- (A+B)+C = A
+ (B+C)
- 3.
where
is the mxn
zero-matrix (all its entries are equal to 0);
- 4.
if and only if B =
-A.
Properties involving Multiplication.
- 1.
- Let A, B, and C be three matrices. If you can perform
the products AB, (AB)C, BC, and A(BC),
then we have
(AB)C
= A (BC)
Note, for example, that if A is 2x3, B is 3x3, and C
is 3x1, then the above products are possible (in this case, (AB)C
is 2x1 matrix).
- 2.
- If
and
are numbers, and A is a matrix, then we have
- 3.
- If
is a number, and A and B are two matrices such that the
product
is possible, then we have
- 4.
- If A is an nxm matrix and
the mxk zero-matrix, then
Note that
is the nxk zero-matrix. So if n
is different from m, the two zero-matrices are different.
Properties involving Addition and Multiplication.
- 1.
- Let A, B, and C be three matrices. If you can perform
the appropriate products, then we have
(A+B)C
= AC + BC
and
A(B+C)
= AB + AC
- 2.
- If
and
are numbers, A and B are matrices, then we have
and
Example. Consider the matrices
Evaluate (
AB)
C and
A(
BC). Check that you get
the same matrix.
Answer. We have
so
On the other hand, we have
so
Example. Consider the matrices
It is easy to check that
and
These two formulas are called
linear combinations. More on linear
combinations will be discussed on a different page.
We have seen that matrix multiplication is different from normal
multiplication (between numbers). Are there some similarities? For example, is
there a matrix which plays a similar role as the number 1? The answer is yes.
Indeed, consider the nxn matrix
In particular, we have
The matrix
In has similar behavior as the number
1. Indeed, for any nxn matrix
A, we have
A
In = In A = A
The matrix
In is called the
Identity
Matrix of order n.
Example. Consider the matrices
Then it is easy to check that
The identity matrix behaves like the number 1 not only among the matrices of
the form nxn. Indeed, for any nxm matrix
A, we have
In particular, we have