[Math] Solving matrix equation involving singular matrix

matrices

Given that $AB=AC$,

  • $A=\begin{bmatrix} 3 & 6 \\ 1 & 2 \end{bmatrix}$

  • $B=\begin{bmatrix} 1 & 5 \\ 0 & 1 \end{bmatrix}$

Find a matrix $C$ whose elements are all non-zero and is $2\times 2$ matrix.

I attempt to find the inverse of $A$ but it was unsuccessful as it is a singular matrix
I have also attempted to solve the question $AB-AC=0$, $A(B-C)=0$ but still unsuccessful…

Thank you

Best Answer

Hint: Compute $AB$ and $AC$, then solve a system to compute the entries of $C$.

One possible solution is letting $C =\begin{bmatrix} -1 & 1 \\ 1 & 3 \end{bmatrix}$ There are infinite solutions.

Edit: We have

$AB =\begin{bmatrix} 3 & 21 \\ 1 & 7 \end{bmatrix}$. If $C = \begin{bmatrix} a & b \\ c & d \end{bmatrix}$, then $AC=\begin{bmatrix} 3a+6c & 3b+6d \\ a+2c & b+2d \end{bmatrix}$.

So if $AB=AC$, it will follow that

  1. $3a+6c=3$
  2. $a+2c=1$
  3. $3b+6d=21$
  4. $b+2d=7$

Since 1. and 2. are equivalent, we'll work with 2. only. For the same reason we'll take 4. over 3.

Now we have that $a+2c=1$ and $b+2d=3$. Therefore $a=1-2c$ and $b=7-2d$.

This where I think you have trouble: you know $a$ and $b$, but you don't know $c$ and $d$. So what are $c,d$? As it happens $c,d$ can take any value you want! So just choose $c$ and $d$ as you wish, just as long as they satisfy the initial condition that all entries of $C$ are different from $0$. This means that $c$ can't be $0$ or $1\over 2$. Also $d$ can't be $0$ or $7\over 2$. I picked $c=1$ and $d=3$ to get the above mentioned solution.