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An Introduction to Elementary Linear Algebra


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We will be using Maple as a symbolic calculator. We'll also borrow Maple notation for displaying formulas. For a quick introduction to the basics of Maple read Maple: An Introduction (PostScript). A short (html) file describing the use of Maple in linear algebra is Linear Algebra Using Maple by Victoria Bush. For Maple information and Maple resources around the Net check the entry point at The Massachusets Institute of Technology.

Online Textbook

Linear Algebra by Jim Hefferon.

Question:

What was a Stem-and-Leaf again?

Table Of Contents

Syllabus
Summer 2007 Syllabus.
Systems of Linear Equations
Examples wih solutions using Maple.
Elementary Row Operations
Transforming the system of linear equations to be able to solve it.
Gaussian Elimination
A step-by-step example using Maple on a 4 by 5 matrix.
Elementary Matrices and Inverses
Another example of step by step gaussian elimination
A system with 0,1 or infinitely many solutions
Example of a system that can have many kinds of solutions depending on the values of two parameters.
Exercises for Exam1
Seventeen (yes 17) problems on matrices and systems of linear equations.
Exercises on Determinants
Four multiple choice practice questions on permutations, determinants, Cramer's rule.
Imaginary Numbers are not Real
Html and Postscript versions available online.
An Introduction to Geometric Algebra.
Geometric Algebra in Maple. The Clifford Package
The package with instructions and examples.
compose_rotations
A maple procedure to compute the axis and angle equivalent to the composition of two rotations.
  • Introduction to the Algebra and Geometry of Euclidean Space

    Vectors
    Introduction to the concept of vector. Magnitud, direction, addition.
    Vector Geometry
    Cartesian and spherical coordinate systems. Describing, surfaces, lines, points with vectors.
    Working with vectors in Maple
    Using maple to compute addition of vectors, magnitudes, angles. The plane in the wind problem is here...
    The Dot Product
    Introducing the inner product. Scalar and vector projections.
    The Cross Product
    Definition. Cross products of the i,j,k basis vectors. Examples.
    Properties of Cross products
    Maple proofs of the distributivity and anti-commutatitivity properties of cross products.
    Cross products are NOT associative.
    Maple proof that cross products are not associative.
    Applications of the cross product: planes, volumes
    Triple products. The volume generated by 3 vectors. Projected Area.
    Lines with Maple
    Position vector plus t times the velocity vector: Howto with maple.
    The plane through 3 points
    The equation of the plane containing 3 given points. The maple procedure P3points for computing it is here...
    The plane containing two lines
    The equation of the plane containing two given lines. The maple procedure interlines for finding the point of intersection of two lines in 3D is here...
    The distance from a point to a line
    How far away is this point from that line?
    The maple proc d2line is here...
    The distance from a point to a plane
    How far is that point from this plane ?
    The maple proc p2plane is here...
    Plane containing two lines: Example1
    Given two lines in symmetric form, maple is used to find the plane that contains them. A picture of the plane with the two lines is here...
    Example: angle of diagonals
    Simple Maple proof that when the diagonals of a rectangle intersect at right angles then the rectangle is a square.
    Example: bisecting the angle between u and v
    Length of u times v plus length of v times u does it! The proof with maple is here...
    Two planes and one point
    The equation of the plane that contains the line of intersection of two other planes and a given point.
    Two planes, angle, line..
    Finding the angle between two planes and the line of intersection in symmetric form.
    A few review exercises
    Seven problems on lines, planes, angles, innerprods etc...
  • [Other Linear Algebra sites on the internet]
    Carlos Rodriguez <carlos@math.albany.edu>
    Last modified: Tue Jun 4 12:38:10 EDT 2002