Gauss-Jordan Elimination Calculator
Solve systems of linear equations using the Reduced Row Echelon Form (RREF) method.
Resulting RREF Matrix
Solutions
Understanding Gauss-Jordan Elimination
The Gauss-Jordan elimination method is an algorithm used in linear algebra to solve systems of linear equations, find the inverse of a matrix, and determine the rank of a matrix. Unlike Gaussian elimination, which stops at row echelon form, Gauss-Jordan continues until the matrix is in Reduced Row Echelon Form (RREF).
How the Calculation Works
The process follows these core elementary row operations:
- Swapping: Interchanging two rows to place a non-zero element in the pivot position.
- Scaling: Multiplying a row by a non-zero scalar to make the leading coefficient (pivot) equal to 1.
- Pivoting: Adding or subtracting multiples of the pivot row from other rows to create zeros above and below the leading 1.
Example Scenario
Consider the following 2×2 system:
1x + 3y = 10
1. Represent as an augmented matrix: [[2, 1, 5], [1, 3, 10]].
2. Divide the first row by 2 to get a leading 1: [[1, 0.5, 2.5], [1, 3, 10]].
3. Subtract the first row from the second row to get a zero below the 1: [[1, 0.5, 2.5], [0, 2.5, 7.5]].
4. Divide the second row by 2.5: [[1, 0.5, 2.5], [0, 1, 3]].
5. Subtract 0.5 times the second row from the first: [[1, 0, 1], [0, 1, 3]].
Solution: x = 1, y = 3.
Frequently Asked Questions
Gaussian elimination produces an upper triangular matrix (Row Echelon Form) requiring back-substitution. Gauss-Jordan produces a diagonal identity matrix (Reduced Row Echelon Form) where the answers appear directly in the final column.
A system is inconsistent (no solution) if a row in the RREF matrix has zeros in the coefficient positions but a non-zero value in the constant position (e.g., 0 = 5).
| '; if (j === size – 1) { html += ' | = | '; } } html += '
| ' + displayVal + ' | '; if (j 1e-10) rowZero = false; } // Check for inconsistency (0 = non-zero) if (rowZero && Math.abs(matrix[i][n]) > 1e-10) { isConsistent = false; } rrefHtml += '