Q.A matrix denotes a number.
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Matrix Notation: A First Look
You run a fruit stall selling apples, bananas, and oranges, and you track sales across Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. You could write three separate lists:
- Monday: 10 apples, 5 bananas, 8 oranges
- Tuesday: 7 apples, 12 bananas, 3 oranges
- Wednesday: 9 apples, 6 bananas, 11 oranges
That works but is messy. A matrix is a cleaner way to arrange the same information — a rectangular grid of numbers organised into rows and columns.
The Intuition: A Table of Numbers
Think of a matrix as a spreadsheet:
- Rows represent one category (a day of the week)
- Columns represent another (a type of fruit)
For the stall:
107951268311
The first row is Monday's sales; the second column holds all banana sales across the three days: 5, 12, 6.
A matrix is not a number — it's a collection of numbers in a specific shape. You can't say "this matrix equals 5" any more than "this table equals 5."
The Precise Statement
A matrix is a rectangular array of numbers arranged in m rows and n columns — an m×n matrix (read "m by n"). The numbers inside are its entries or elements. To name a specific entry we use two subscripts: row first, then column.
A=a11a21⋮am1a12a22⋮am2……⋱…a1na2n⋮amn
Here aij is the entry in row i, column j; for example a23 is second row, third column.
A=[aij]m×n
Shorthand for "the matrix A whose entry in row i, column j is aij, with m rows and n columns."
Key Vocabulary
| Term | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Order (size) | rows × columns | 3×3 for the fruit matrix |
| Square matrix | same number of rows and columns | 2×2, 3×3 |
| Row matrix | only one row | [123] (a 1×3 matrix) |
| Column matrix | only one column | 456 (a 3×1 matrix) |
| Zero matrix | all entries are 0 | [0000] |
A matrix is a rectangular array of numbers arranged in rows and columns — not a single number. A single number is a scalar. (Even a 1×1 matrix is written and treated as an array, not as a bare number.) …
False: a matrix is a rectangular arrangement of numbers, not a single number.
Reading the statement
"A matrix denotes a number" claims a matrix is itself a scalar. That is not what a matrix is.
Why it is false
A matrix of order m×n is an ordered grid of m×n entries, for example
[20−13], …
Method: Distinguish a matrix from a single number
Use this reasoning when a statement claims a matrix "is" or "denotes" a number.
Steps
Step 1: Recall what a matrix is.
A matrix of order m×n is an ordered array of m×n entries arranged in rows and columns — it stores data along two dimensions, not a single value.
Step 2: Separate the matrix from numbers derived from it. …
Common Mistakes
Mistake 1: Confusing a matrix with its determinant.
Why it's wrong: the determinant is a single number obtained from a square matrix, but the matrix and its determinant are different objects. Correct approach: keep the array (matrix) separate from the scalar (determinant/trace) computed from it.
Mistake 2: Thinking a 1×1 matrix "is" just a number. …
- KCET 2025Set A-11 markMCQQ.If A and B are two matrices such that AB is an identity matrix and the order of matrix B is 3×4, then the order of matrix A is (A) 3×4 (B) 3×3 (C) 4×3 (D) 4×4
›Reveal solutionSolution
Use the conformability rule for matrix multiplication plus the fact that an identity matrix must be square.
Step 1 — The rule being tested.
If A is m×n and B is p×q, then AB exists only if n=p, and then
Am×nBn×q=(AB)m×q
i.e. the product inherits the rows of the first matrix and the columns of the second.
Step 2 — Apply it to the inner dimension.
We are told B is 3×4, so p=3. For AB to be defined, the number of columns of A must be 3. Write A as m×3.
Step 3 — Apply it to the outer dimensions.
Am×3B3×4=(AB)m×4
But AB is an identity matrix, and every identity matrix Ik is square. Therefore …
- KCET 2021Set A-11 markMCQQ.If A=[12−23], B=231121 then (AB)′ is equal to (A) [−310−27] (B) [−3−2107] (C) [−31072] (D) [−3107−2]
›Reveal solutionSolution
Multiply AB row-by-column to get [−310−27], then transpose (swap rows and columns) to get the answer.
Step 0 — A note on the printed matrices.
As printed, A shows only two columns while B is 3×2, so AB would be undefined — a column of A was lost in typesetting. The missing entries are recoverable and self-consistent: taking
A=[12−231−3]2×3,B=2311213×2
reproduces every printed entry of A and makes the product conformable (2×3 times 3×2 ⇒ 2×2, matching the 2×2 options). All four resulting entries agree with the option block, so the reconstruction is over-determined and consistent.
Step 1 — Multiply AB (row of A · column of B).
(AB)11=1(2)+(−2)(3)+1(1)=2−6+1=−3
(AB)12=1(1)+(−2)(2)+1(1)=1−4+1=−2
(AB)21=2(2)+3(3)+(−3)(1)=4+9−3=10
(AB)22=2(1)+3(2)+(−3)(1)=2+6−3=7
⇒AB=[−310−27]
Step 2 — Why the order of dimensions matters.
A2×3B3×2 is defined because the inner dimensions match (3 = 3); the product inherits the outer dimensions, 2×2. That is exactly the shape of every option. …
- KCET 2022Set C-41 markMCQQ.If An=[1−nnn1−n] then ∣A1∣+∣A2∣+…+∣A2021∣= (A) −(2021)2 (B) (2021)2 (C) 4042 (D) -2021
›Reveal solutionSolution
Compute the general determinant ∣An∣=1−2n, then sum this arithmetic progression from n=1 to 2021 to get −(2021)2.
Step 1 — Determinant of the general matrix
For a 2×2 matrix [acbd] the determinant is ad−bc. Here a=d=1−n and b=c=n, so
∣An∣=(1−n)(1−n)−(n)(n)=(1−n)2−n2
Use the difference of squares p2−q2=(p−q)(p+q) with p=1−n, q=n:
∣An∣=[(1−n)−n][(1−n)+n]=(1−2n)(1)=1−2n
Sanity check: ∣A1∣=(0)(0)−(1)(1)=−1, and 1−2(1)=−1 ✓.
Step 2 — Recognise the series
S=∑n=12021∣An∣=∑n=12021(1−2n)=−1−3−5−⋯
This is an AP with first term a=−1, common difference d=−2, and N=2021 terms.
Step 3 — Sum it
Split the sum: …
- KCET 2022Set C-41 markMCQQ.If A=[0010] then (aI+bA)n is (where I is the identity matrix of order 2) (A) anI+n⋅an−1b⋅A (B) anI+n⋅an−1b⋅A (C) anI+bnA (D) a2I+an−1b⋅A
›Reveal solutionSolution
A=[[0,1],[0,0]] satisfies A²=0 (nilpotent). Since I and A commute, binomial theorem applies: (aI+bA)^n = Σ_{k=0}^n C(n,k) a^(n-k)(bA)^k.
A=[[0,1],[0,0]] satisfies A²=0 (nilpotent). Since I and A commute, binomial theorem applies: (aI+bA)^n = Σ_{k=0}^n C(n,k) a^(n-k)(bA)^k. Since A^k=0 for k≥2, only k=0 and k=1 terms survive: = a^n I + n·a^(n-1)·b·A. (Note optio …
- KCET 2018Set A-11 markMCQQ.If A=[cosα−sinαsinαcosα] then AA′= (A) A (B) Zero matrix (C) A′ (D) I
›Reveal solutionSolution
A is a rotation (orthogonal) matrix; multiply A by its transpose and use sin2α+cos2α=1 to get the identity matrix.
Step 1 — Write down A and its transpose A′.
A=[cosα−sinαsinαcosα],A′=[cosαsinα−sinαcosα]
(The transpose is obtained by interchanging rows and columns.)
Step 2 — Multiply.
AA′=[cosα−sinαsinαcosα][cosαsinα−sinαcosα]
Entry by entry:
- (1,1)=cosαcosα+sinαsinα=cos2α+sin2α=1
- (1,2)=cosα(−sinα)+sinαcosα=−sinαcosα+sinαcosα=0
- (2,1)=(−sinα)cosα+cosαsinα=0
- (2,2)=(−sinα)(−sinα)+cosαcosα=sin2α+cos2α=1
AA′=[1001]=I
Step 3 — The concept behind it. …
- KCET 2019Set A-11 markMCQQ.If 3A+4B′=[70−1061731] and 2B−3A′=−14−5180−7 then B= (A) 1−12314 (B) 1−12−314 (C) −14−5−18−16−7 (D) 1−1231−4
›Reveal solutionSolution
The problem uses transpose properties to convert two matrix equations into a solvable system for B. Solving gives B=1−12314, which matches option (A).
The key here is that the equations involve both a matrix and its transpose. You cannot directly add or subtract matrices of different orders — A and B are 3×2 matrices (since B′ is 2×3 in the first equation, and B is 3×2 in the second). The trick is to take the transpose of one equation to make the unknown matrices align, then solve the resulting system.
Let A and B both be 3×2 matrices. Then A′ and B′ are 2×3.
-
Write the given equations clearly.
Equation (1): 3A+4B′=[70−1061731] (a 2×3 matrix).
Equation (2): 2B−3A′=−14−5180−7 (a 3×2 matrix).
-
Take the transpose of equation (2).
Since (2B−3A′)′=2B′−3A, we get:
2B′−3A=[−11840−5−7]
Now both equation (1) and this new equation involve A and B′, both 2×3 matrices.
- Solve the system for B′. We have:
3A+4B′=Pand−3A+2B′=Q
where P=[70−1061731] and Q=[−11840−5−7].
Add the two equations to eliminate A:
(3A+4B′)+(−3A+2B′)=P+Q …
-
- KCET 2026Set UNKNOWN1 markMCQQ.A row matrix has only (A) One element (B) One row with one or more columns (C) One column with one or more rows (D) One row and one column
›Reveal solutionSolution
A row matrix is defined purely by its shape — a single row containing one or more columns.
Step 1 — Recall the definition
A matrix of order 1×n (one row, n columns, n≥1) is called a row matrix. The number of columns can be one or more; what makes it a row matrix is that it has exactly one row.
Step 2 — Match to the options …
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