[Math] Does a system of 3 linear equations with 4 variables always have a solution

linear algebra

We have a system of 3 linear equations with 4 variables, does it always have a solution? (homework)

In example we have this matrix (after the row reduction process):

1   0   0   -335/21
0   1   0   2596/147
0   0   1   -104/147

All of the 3 linear equations are equal to 0.

The 1st equation is this: $x+ 0y + 0z + (-335/21)w = 0$
So the solution to this system is:

w ( 335/21, -2596/147, 104/147, 1)

So the system, has infinite solutions?

But what is the answer to the question (in title)?
(We have to say if it's true/ false, and why)
I believe it's false as in general a system of linear equations can have infinite solutions, or 1 unique or none..is that correct?

Thank you for your time!

Best Answer

A homogeneous system of 3 linear equations in 4 unknowns always has a solution, in fact, always has a non-trivial solution, a solution where the unknowns are not all zero. A system is homogeneous if the constant terms are all zero, which is the situation you are describing in your question when you say "all of the three linear equations are equal to zero."

More generally: A homogeneous system of linear equations always has at least one solution, namely, the solution in which each unknown is zero. If the number of unknowns exceeds the number of equations then a homogeneous system is guaranteed to have infinitely many solutions (and thus solutions in which the unknowns are not all zero).

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