Week 2 -- Sections 2.1-2.3

Short-term objectives

1. Find all solutions of a system of linear algebraic equations, by row reduction (Sec. 2.1)
2. Determine whether a system has a unique solution, or no solutions. (Sec. 2.1)
3. Calculate the elementary algebraic operations on matrices (addition, subtraction, scalar multiplication, matrix multiplication, transposition), and recognize cases where one of them is undefined. (Sec. 2.2)
4. Translate input-output statements in economic applications into matrix form. (Sec. 2.2)
5. Calculate the inverse of a matrix (when it exists). (Sec. 2.3)
6. Use the inverse matrix to solve inhomogeneous algebraic systems. (Sec. 2.3)

Long-term objectives

1. Understand the relation of the matrix operations (algebraic and row) to algebraic operations on linear formulas. (Sec. 2.2)
2. Understand how the matrix inversion algorithm is related to the solving of systems with the natural basis vectors as inhomogeneous terms. (Sec. 2.3)