12.
2 Linear Transformations
As we have seen, we can rotate any point in the plane 90◦ counterclockwise around the
origin by switching the two coordinates and negating the first one:
(5, 2) 7−→ (−2, 5) .
This transformation is shown in Figure 1.
This transformation is equivalent to multiplying by the matrix
" #
0 1
A
−1 0
a Figure 1: A 90◦ counterclockwise
For example,
rotation.
" #" # " #
0 1 5 −2
−1 0 2 5
and more generally
" #" # " #
0 1 x −y
−1 0 y x
This is a simple example of a linear transformation.
Linear Transformations
A transformation of the plane is called a linear transformation if it corresponds to
multiplying each point ( x, y ) by some 2 × 2 matrix A, i.e.
" # " #
x x
7 → A
− .
y y
It turns out that many geometric transformations of the plane are linear transforma-
tions, including:
1. Rotation of the plane by any angle around the origin.
2. Reflection of the plane across any line that goes through the origin.
EXAMPLE 1
−1 0
Describe the linear transformation of the plane corresponding to the matrix .
0 1
SOLUTION We have
−1 0 x −x
0 1 y y
so this matrix negates the x-coordinate of each point of the plane. Geometrically, this
corresponds to reflection across the y-axis , as shown in Figure 2.
a Figure 2: Reflection across the y-axis.
LINEAR TRANSFORMATIONS 2
Finding the Matrix
There is a nice trick that can be used to find the matrix for a given transformation.
Column Trick
If A is a 2 × 2 matrix, then
" # " #
1 0
A and A
0 1
are the first and second columns of A, respectively.
For example,
" #" # " # " #" # " #
1 2 1 1 1 2 0 2
and
3 4 0 3 3 4 1 4
The following example shows how to use this trick to find the matrix for a linear
transformation.
EXAMPLE 2
Find the matrix for a 45◦ counterclockwise rotation of the plane about the origin.
SOLUTION This transformation is shown in Figure 3. Note that (1, 0) maps to √1 , √1 and
2 2
(0, 1) maps to − √1 , √1 . If A is the matrix for this transformation, it follows that
2 2
√1 − √1
1 0
2 2
A and A
0 √1 1 √1
2 2
so these vectors are the columns of A. We conclude that
√1 − √1
2 2
A
a Figure 3: A 45◦ rotation of the plane. √1 2
√1
2
The previous example is a special case of a more general formula.
2 × 2 Rotation Matrices
The matrix
cos θ −sin θ
" #
sin θ cos θ
rotates the plane counterclockwise around the origin by an angle of θ.
The justification for this formula is shown in Figure 4. If A is the matrix for this
transformation, then
cos θ −sin θ
" # " # " # " #
1 0
A and A
a Figure 4: A rotation of the plane by an 0 sin θ 1 cos θ
angle of θ .
so these vectors are the columns of A.
LINEAR TRANSFORMATIONS 3
A Closer Look Transformations of R3
We can use 3 × 3 matrices to describe certain transformations in three dimensions, such as
rotation around a line through the origin, or reflection across a plane through the origin. Such
a transformation is called a linear transformation of R3 .
For example, consider the 90◦ rotation of R3 about the x-axis shown in Figure 5. How can
we find a 3 × 3 matrix A for this transformation? Well, it is obvious from the figure that
1 1 0 0 0 0
A 0 0 A 1 0 A 0 −1 .
0 0 0 1 1 0
Then these three vectors must be the three columns of A. We conclude that
1 0 0
a Figure 5: A 90
◦ rotation around the A 0
0
−1
x -axis.
0 1 0
EXERCISES
1–4 Give a geometric description of the linear transformation corresponding to the
given matrix.
" # " #
1 0 0 1
1. 2.
0 2 −1 0
3–4 Find the matrix for the reflection of R2 across the given line.
3. the line y x 4. the x-axis
5–6 Find the matrix for the given rotation of R2 around the origin.
5. 135◦ counterclockwise 6. 30◦ clockwise
7. The following figure shows a rectangle in the plane.
Find the new coordinates of the four vertices if this rectangle is rotated 45◦ counter-
clockwise around the origin.
