Simultaneous Linear Equations/Examples/Arbitrary System 12
Example of Simultaneous Linear Equations
Let $S$ denote the system of simultaneous linear equations:
\(\ds x + 2 y + 3 z + w\) | \(=\) | \(\ds -1\) | ||||||||||||
\(\ds -x + y + x - w\) | \(=\) | \(\ds 2\) | ||||||||||||
\(\ds x + 5 y + 7 z + w\) | \(=\) | \(\ds 1\) |
$S$ is inconsistent and so has no solutions.
Proof
We express $S$ in matrix representation:
- $\begin {pmatrix} 1 & 2 & 3 & 1 \\ -1 & 1 & 1 & -1 \\ 1 & 5 & 7 & 1 \end {pmatrix} \begin {pmatrix} x \\ y \\ z \\ w \end {pmatrix} = \begin {pmatrix} -1 \\ 2 \\ 1 \end {pmatrix}$
and consider the augmented matrix:
- $\begin {pmatrix} \mathbf A & \mathbf b \end {pmatrix} = \paren {\begin {array} {cccc|c} 1 & 2 & 3 & 1 & -1 \\ -1 & 1 & 1 & -1 & 2 \\ 1 & 5 & 7 & 1 & 1 \end {array} }$
In the following, $\sequence {e_n}_{n \mathop \ge 1}$ denotes the sequence of elementary row operations that are to be applied to $\begin {pmatrix} \mathbf A & \mathbf b \end {pmatrix}$.
The matrix that results from having applied $e_1$ to $e_k$ in order is denoted $\begin {pmatrix} \mathbf A_k & \mathbf b_k \end {pmatrix}$.
$e_1 := r_2 \to r_2 + r_1$
$e_2 := r_3 \to r_3 - r_1$
Hence:
- $\begin {pmatrix} \mathbf A_2 & \mathbf b_2 \end {pmatrix} = \paren {\begin {array} {cccc|c}
1 & 2 & 3 & 1 & -1 \\ 0 & 3 & 4 & 0 & 1 \\ 0 & 3 & 4 & 0 & 2
\end {array} }$
$e_3 := r_3 \to r_3 - r_2$
Hence:
- $\begin {pmatrix} \mathbf A_3 & \mathbf b_3 \end {pmatrix} = \paren {\begin {array} {cccc|c}
1 & 2 & 3 & 1 & -1 \\ 0 & 3 & 4 & 0 & 1 \\ 0 & 0 & 0 & 0 & 1
\end {array} }$
The bottom line of this augmented matrix leads to the false statement $0 = 1$.
It follows that this system of simultaneous linear equations is inconsistent.
$\blacksquare$
Sources
- 1998: Richard Kaye and Robert Wilson: Linear Algebra ... (previous) ... (next): Part $\text I$: Matrices and vector spaces: $1$ Matrices: Exercises: $1.12 \ \text {(c)}$