Matrices are a rectangular arrangement of numbers in rows and columns. They are sometimes referred to as arrays. The dimensions of a matrix are basically its nombre . Knowing the dimension of a matrix allows us to do basic operations on them such as addition, subtraction and multiplication. Let’s start with the definition of the dimension of a matrix:
The dimension of a matrix is its number of rows and columns.
This article will talk about the dimension of a matrix, how to find the dimension of a matrix, and review some examples of dimensions of a matrix. If you want to know more about matrix, please take a look at this article.
name="what-is-the-dimension-of-a-matrix-">What is the dimension of a matrix?
El dimensión of a matrix is the number of rows and the number of columns of a matrix, in that order. Consider the matrix shown below:
It has $ 2 $ rows (horizontal) and $ 2 $ columns (vertical). The dimension of this matrix is $ 2 times 2 $. The first number is the number of rows and the next number is the number of columns. It has to be in that order. We pronounce it as a “2 by 2 matrix”. The $ times $ sign is pronounced as "por".
The entries, $ 2, 3, -1 $ and $ 0 $, are known as the elementos de una matriz.
In general, if we have a matrix with $ m $ rows and $ n $ columns, we name it $ m times n $, or rows x columns. The convention of rows first and columns second deben be followed. This is the dimensión of a matrix. You can remember the naming of a matrix using a quick mnemonic.
name="how-to-find-the-dimension-of-a-matrix-">How to find the dimension of a matrix?
To find the dimension of a given matrix, we count the number of rows it has. Then, we count the number of columns it has. We put the numbers in that order with a $ times $ sign in between them. Let’s take an example.
How many rows and columns does the matrix below have?
Checking horizontally, there are $ 3 $ rows. Checking vertically, there are $ 2 $ columns. Thus, we have found the dimension of this matrix. It is a $ 3 times 2 $ matrix.
This can be a bit tricky. But if you always focus on counting only rows first and then only columns, you won’t encounter any problem. We see there are only $ 1 $ row (horizontal) and $ 2 $ columns (vertical). Thus, this matrix will have a dimension of $ 1 times 2 $.
Let us look at some examples to enhance our understanding of the dimensions of matrices.
name="ejemplo-1">ejemplo 1
What is the dimension of the matrix shown below?
$ begin{pmatrix} 1 & { 0 } & 1 1 & 1 & 1 4 & 3 & 2 end{pmatrix} $
Solución
Recall that the dimension of a matrix is the number of rows and the number of columns a matrix has, in that order. Always remember to think horizontally first (to get the number of rows) and then think vertically (to get the number of columns).
Looking at the matrix above, we can see that is has $ 3 $ rows and $ 3 $ columns. Therefore, the dimension of this matrix is $ 3 times 3 $.
Let us look at another example.
name="ejemplo-2">ejemplo 2
What is the dimension of the matrix shown below?
$ begin{pmatrix} a b c end{pmatrix} $
Solución
This is a small matrix. You should be careful when finding the dimensions of these types of matrices. Check horizontally, you will see that there are $ 3 $ rows. Check vertically, there is only $ 1 $ column. From the convention of writing the dimension of a matrix as rows x columns, we can say that this matrix is a $ 3 times 1 $ matrix.
Tenga en cuenta que la elementos of a matrix, whether they are numbers or variables (letters), does not affect the dimensions of a matrix. The dimension SOLO depende de number of rows y el number of columns. You can have number or letter as the elements in a matrix based on your need.
name="ejemplo-3">ejemplo 3
What is the dimension of the matrix shown below?
$ begin{bmatrix} { 5 } end{bmatrix} $
Solución
At first glance, it looks like just a number inside a parenthesis. Well, this can be a matrix as well. We have a soltero entry in this matrix. The number of rows and columns are both one. Thus, this is a $ 1 times 1 $ matrix.
name="preguntas-de-pr-ctica">Preguntas de práctica
- What are the individual entradas in a matrix called?
-
Verdadero o falso
A matrix has $ 5 $ rows and $ 2 $ columns. The dimensión of the matrix is $ 2 times 5 $. - What is the dimension of this matrix?
$ begin{bmatrix} a & b & c f & e & d end{bmatrix} $ - Does the matrix shown below have a dimension of $ 1 times 5 $?
$ begin{pmatrix} 22 3 { – 2 } 5 1 end{pmatrix} $
name="respuestas">respuestas
- The individual entries in any matrix are known as elementos. They can be either numbers or variables.
- When naming a matrix, i.e. the dimension of a matrix, we always put the number of rows first. Then a $ times $ sign, followed by the number of columns. Since there are $ 5 $ rows and $ 2 $ columns, the dimension of the matrix should be $ 5 times 2 $. Hence, the statement is Falso.
- If there are m rows and n columns of a matrix, the dimension of that matrix is $ m times n $. From the matrix shown, we see that there are $ 2 $ rows and $ 3 $ columns. Thus, the dimension of this matrix is $ 2 times 3 $.
- If there are m rows and n columns of a matrix, the dimension of that matrix is $ m times n $. Looking at the matrix, we can see that it has $ 5 $ rows and $ 1 $ column. Hence, its dimension is $ 5 times 1 $. So, NO, la matriz NO have dimension of $ 1 times 5 $.
