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Linear Algebra · College

Linear Algebra: Systems of Equations

Solving systems of linear equations, Gaussian elimination, and row reduction from a college linear algebra course.

36 cards · basic cards · AI-written, checked twice. Edit anything.

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What is a linear equation in n variables?
An equation of the form a1*x1 + a2*x2 + ... + an*xn = b, where a1, a2, ..., an, b are constants and x1, x2, ..., xn are variables.
What is a system of linear equations?
A collection of two or more linear equations in the same variables.
When are two systems of linear equations equivalent?
When they have exactly the same solution set.
What is an augmented matrix?
A matrix formed by appending the constant column to the coefficient matrix.
What is a coefficient matrix?
The matrix containing only the coefficients of the variables, without the constants.
Name the three elementary row operations.
Swap two rows, multiply a row by a nonzero constant, and add a multiple of one row to another.
Two matrices are row equivalent if...
One can be obtained from the other by a sequence of elementary row operations.
What is row echelon form (REF)?
A matrix where each leading entry is to the right of the leading entry in the row above, and all entries below a leading entry are zero.
What is reduced row echelon form (RREF)?
A matrix in row echelon form where each leading entry is 1 and is the only nonzero entry in its column.
What is Gaussian elimination?
A method for solving systems by reducing the augmented matrix to row echelon form using elementary row operations.
What is Gauss-Jordan elimination?
Gaussian elimination followed by row operations to reduce the augmented matrix to reduced row echelon form.
What is a leading entry (pivot)?
The leftmost nonzero entry in a row.
What is a free variable?
A variable that does not correspond to a leading entry in the row echelon form.
What is back substitution?
A method for finding solutions by starting from the last row of a row echelon matrix and solving for variables in reverse order.
When does a system have a unique solution?
When the system is consistent and every variable is a leading variable (no free variables).

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