Linear algebra?

Question

I'm in my first year of university and I'm taking Linear Algebra starting in January. It's only a 3 credit hour course, only runs until the end of March. I'm just wondering how other people have found it...are the concepts difficult to understand, is it confusing? I took pre-calculus all throughout high school and did well in it- high 80s-90% all throughout. I'm kind of concerned about how I'll do in this class, I just want to know how other people have found it.

Answer 1

Like any course, the difficulty of understanding the material depends greatly on who is teaching it. Some of the concepts take a little while to get used to, particularly non-commutativity and the initially bizarre definition of matrix multiplication. But once you get into it, linear algebra can be a very rewarding subject with application in a wide variety of areas.

Given your past record, I'd expect that you'll wonder at first whether you've done the right thing, but once you get the hang of it I think you'll find it's not too bad at all. It's just that initial hump you have to get over.

Answer 2

The matrix version of the project is AX = b the position A is a 2x2 matrix [4, ok; ok, a million] X is a vector variable [x; y] and b is a vector consistent [7; 0] there'll be a unique answer see you later as A is non-singular. there isn't any longer any unique answer if A *is* singular. For A to be singular det(A) = 0 the position det() is the "determinant" of a sq. matrix for a 2x2 matrix [a, b; c, d] det([a, b; c, d]) = ad - bc hence on your case 4*a million - ok*ok = 0 ok^2 = 4 ok = +/- 2

Answer 3

You should have no difficulty whatever if you have passed the entrance exams, which you must have.