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| Math Central | Quandaries & Queries |
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Question from Beth, a student: I am having troubles finding this augmented matrix. I know how to do it but every time i do it it get a different answer and its not the right answer. Could you help me to make sure I do it right? Here is the problem: thank you very much. |
Hi Beth,
To form the augmented matrix you start with the matrix of coefficients
and augment it, or make it larger, by appending a column containing the right side of the equations
At this point you need to use row operations to solve the original equations. There are many choices for row operations but one of my goals is to put off using fractions as long as possible. This is just to reduce the chance that I make arithmetic errors. Here is what I did
Interchange the two rows.
Add -2 times the first row to the second row.
Divide the second row by -7.
Add -3 times the second row to the first row.
Now I'm forced to use fractions. Divide the first row by 2 and the second row by 3.
Now I can see that x = 3/2 and y = 1/3.
At this point you should verify that my answer is correct. I suggest also that yo try different row operations and see if you get the same answer.
Harley
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