Introduction to linear equations and matrices

In this free course, matrices are used as a concise way of representing systems of linear equations which occur frequently in mathematics. Section 1 looks at simultaneous linear equations in two and three unknowns and then generalises the ideas to systems of linear equations. Section 2 develops a strategy for solving systems of linear equations. Section 3 looks at the algebra of matrices and shows that matrices can be thought of as a generalisation of vectors. Section 4 introduces the inverse of a matrix. Section 5 uses systems of linear equations to introduce the determinant of a square matrix.