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Question 89 of 110

Q.Define diagonal and scalar matrices.

Puducherry TnboardTamil Nadu HSC First Year (DGE) Board 2019Subjective· 2mImportance★★★★★
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A diagonal matrix has zero everywhere except (possibly) on the main diagonal; a scalar matrix is a special diagonal matrix where those diagonal entries are all the same value.

Diagonal matrix: a square matrix A=[aij]A=[a_{ij}] such that aij=0a_{ij}=0 for all i≠ji\ne j. The diagonal entries a11,a22,…,anna_{11}, a_{22},\ldots, a_{nn} may be any values (including some zeros).

Example: [2005]\begin{bmatrix}2&0\\0&5\end{bmatrix}.

Scalar matrix: a diagonal matrix in which every diagonal entry equals the same constant kk, i.e. aij=0a_{ij}=0 for i≠ji\ne j and aii=ka_{ii}=k for all ii. It equals kk times the identity matrix: A=kIA=kI.

Example: [3003]=3I\begin{bmatrix}3&0\\0&3\end{bmatrix}=3I.

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