Can we say that a system of $n-1$ linear equations in $n$ variables always has infinite solutions

linear algebrasystems of equations

For example , let's say we have $2$ linear equations in $3$ variables , i.e. ,
$a_1x + b_1 y + c_1z = 0 $, and
$a_2x + b_2 y + c_2 z =0 $,
now here for each value of $z$ we will have $2$ linear equations in $2$ variables and hence unique values of $x$ and $y $. Now since $z$ can take an infinite number of values and for each value we will have unique values of $x$ and $y $. So can we conclude that, a system of $n-1$ linear equations in $n$ variables will always have an infinite number of solutions ?

Best Answer

No. The system$$\left\{\begin{array}{l}x+y+z=0\\x+y+z=1\end{array}\right.$$has no solutions.

However, if you are talking about homogeneous linear equations (that is, equations of the type $a_1x_1+a_2x_2+\cdots+a_nx_n=0$), then you are right: a system with less than $n$ of those equations in $n$ variables always has infinitely many solutions. Actually, the set of solutions is a vector space whose dimension is greater than $0$.

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