2.
2 Elementary Row and Column Operations
A matrix is said to be in row-reduced echelon form (or reduced row echelon
form) if it satisfies the following conditions:
1. In each row, the first non-zero entry (called the leading entry) should be1.
2. The leading entry of every row is to the left of the leading entry, if any, of all
rows below it.
Note that zero rows (i.e., rows with all entries 0) are allowed, but the second
condition implies that all zero rows must occur below all non-zero rows (i.e.,
rows with at least one non-zero entry).
Example
Among the matrices given below, A and C are in row-reduced echelon form,
while B and D are not (why?).
1 0 2 −1 1 0 2 −1
A = 0 0 1 4 B = 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0 1 4
1 2 0 0 −1 −5 1 2 0 0 −1 −5
C = 0 1 0 4 3 −3 D = 0 1 0 4 3 −3
0 0 0 1 1 2 0 1 0 5 4 −1
The following three operations performed on a matrix are called elementary row
operations:
1. Interchange: Interchange any two rows. Ri R j denotes interchanging of
the i th and j th rows
2. Scaling: Multiply every entry of a row by the same non-zero scalar. Ri → kRi
denotes multiplying the i th row by the scalar k .
3. Row Addition: Add a multiple of one row of the matrix to another row.
Ri → Ri + kR j denotes adding k times the j th row, to the i th row.
Note: These definitions are motivated by analogous operations that can be
performed on a given system of linear equations to obtain equivalent systems of
linear equations.
We can use elementary row operations to transform a matrix into its row-
reduced echelon form.
Example
4 8 0 0 −4 −20
A = −3 −5 0 4 6 12
2 6 0 9 5 −14
1 2 0 0 −1 −5 R1 → R1 / 4
~ −3 −5 0 4 6 12
2 6 0 9 5 −14
1 2 0 0 −1 −5 R2 → R2 + 3R1
~ 0 1 0 4 3 −3 R3 → R3 − 2 R1
0 2 0 9 7 −4
1 2 0 0 −1 −5 R3 → R3 − 2 R2
~ 0 1 0 4 3 −3
0 0 0 1 1 2
Elementary column operations can also be defined, similar to elementary row
operations. Applying these operations, we can find the analogous column-
reduced echelon form of a matrix.
Example
4 8 0 0 −4 −20
A = −3 −5 0 4 6 12
2 6 0 9 5 −14
4 0 0 0 0 0 C2 → C2 − 2C1
~ −3 1 0 4 3 −3 C5 → C5 + C1
2 2 0 9 7 −4 C6 → C6 + 5C1
4 0 0 0 0 0 C4 → C4 − 4C2
~ −3 1 0 0 0 0 C5 → C5 − 3C2
2 2 0 1 1 2 C6 → C6 + 3C2
4 0 0 0 0 0 C5 → C5 − C4
~ −3 1 0 0 0 0 C6 → C6 − 2C4
2 2 0 1 0 0
4 0 0 0 0 0 C3 C4
~ −3 1 0 0 0 0
2 2 1 0 0 0
Elementary Matrices
All the elementary row and column operations can be defined in terms of
multiplication by special matrices called elementary matrices.
Definition
An elementary matrix E is a square matrix that generates an elementary
row operation on a matrix A under the multiplication EA .
Example:
0 1 0 1 2 3
Let E = 1 0 0 , A = 4 5 6 .
0 0 1 7 8 9
0 1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6
Then, EA = 1 0 0 4 5 6 = 1 2 3 .
0 0 1 7 8 9 7 8 9
Thus, left-multiplication by E has the effect of interchanging the first and
second rows of A .
1 2 3 0 1 0 2 1 3
Now, AE = 4 5 6 1 0 0 = 5 4 6 .
7 8 9 0 0 1 8 7 9
Right-multiplication by E , therefore, interchanging the first and second
columns of A .
Construction of Elementary Matrices
An elementary operation E of order n n that performs a specified elementary
row operation is obtained by performing the same operation on the identity
matrix of equal order.
Example
1 2 3 4
Let A = 5 6 7 8 . To construct an elementary matrix, say E1 , that
9 10 11 12
1 0 0
interchanges the first and third rows of A , consider I = 0 1 0 . By
0 0 1
0 0 1
interchanging the first and third rows of I , we obtain E1 = 0 1 0 .
1 0 0
0 0 1 1 2 3 4 9 10 11 12
Then, E1 A = 0 1 0 5 6 7 8 = 5 6 7 8 .
1 0 0 9 10 11 12 1 2 3 4
To construct an elementary matrix E2 that subtracts 5 times the first row of A
from the second row of A , perform the same operation on I :
1 0 0
E2 = −5 1 0
0 0 1
1 0 0 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4
Then E2 A = −5 1 0 5 6 7 8 = 0 −4 −8 −12 .
0 0 1 9 10 11 12 9 10 11 12
However, E1 cannot be used for interchanging the first and third columns of A ,
as it is not possible to right-multiply A having order 3 4 by E1 having order
3 3 . Therefore, we need to obtain another elementary matrix, say E3 , from the
identity matrix of order 4 by interchanging the first and third columns (or
equivalently, rows).
0 0 1 0
0 1 0 0
Thus, E3 = .
1 0 0 0
0 0 0 1
0 0 1 0
1 2 3 4 3 2 1 4
0
Then, AE3 = 5 6 7 8 = 7 6 5 8
0 1 0
1 0 0 0
9 10 11 12
11 10 9 12
0 0 0 1
