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Simple Matrices Multiplication Question

Narmer

Diamond Member
Aug 27, 2006
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I have a matrix:

1 2 1
0 1 0
-1 -3 -1

If you square that, the book says that the answer is:

0 5 0
0 1 0
0 -8 0

But I think the answer should be:

0 1 0
0 1 0
0 -2 0

I'm sure that for any nxn matrix, you multiply the row of the left matrix by the column by the right matrix, where they intersect is where the sum goes.
 

Narmer

Diamond Member
Aug 27, 2006
5,292
0
0
Thanks guys, I was really afraid of that. I'm also curious as to what other mistakes have been made in this book.

BTW, this is a Differential Equations book. I'm currently on the chapter about Linear Differential Equations. What really bothers me in this chapter is that they make a very important proposition contingent on the fact that AB=BA, where A and B are matrices. That's a rarity in Linear Algebra so how can they base their important propositions on such a rare occurance? Are Diff. Eq. really that difficult to solve? I plan on bringing this up with my professor on Tuesday.