Steps

Result

Creating a Matrix

Example: Use the Matrix palette to create a 3 x 3 matrix.  Tab between the placeholders and fill in the values.

To assign this matrix to a name, we will type "A:=" and then use an equation label to refer to the matrix.  To get an equation label, type [Ctrl][L].  In the Insert Label box, type 2.1.

Example: Create a matrix using Maple's matrix notation.  Use <> brackets to enclose a sequence of the entries in each column, and | to separate the columns.  Enclose the entire matrix in more brackets <>.

Forming a New Matrix from Two Matrices

To form a new matrix, simply adjoin these matrices.

Example: Use the matrix notation to form a new matrix from the columns of A and the columns of B.

Creating a Vector

Vectors are created in a similar way.

Example: Use the Matrix palette to create a 3 element column vector (with 3 rows and 1 column).  Tab between the placeholders and fill in the values.

Example: Create a vector using vector notation. Use <> brackets to enclose the entire vector. Use a comma to separate the elements in a column vector,and | to separate elements in a row vector.

Steps

Result

Matrix Calculations with the Context Menu

Use the context menu to perform matrix calculations.

Example:
Select Standard Operations>Inverse to find the inverse.

Select Standard Operations>Determinant to find the determinant.

Matrix Calculations

Multiplying Matrices

Example:  To multiply two matrices or to multiply a matrix by a vector, use a period (.) as the matrix multiplication symbol.

Multiplying By a Scalar

Example: To multiply a matrix by a scalar, use the multiplication symbol * (displayed as ).

Extracting Entries

To extract entries from a matrix, use the command M[i, j], where  is the name of the matrix, and  and  are the row and column.

To extract a submatrix, give a range instead for each index.  

Example: Extract the 2 x 2 matrix from the bottom left corner of the matrix A.

Tip:  Negative indices can be used: -1 selects the last row (or column) entry, -2 selects the second-to-last row (or column) entry, and so on.  Thus, you could obtain the same submatrix using A[-2..-1, 1..2].

This selects the submatrix located in the last two rows and first two columns of A.

To extract entries from a vector, use the command V[i], where i is a number or a range.

Viewing Large Matrices

Only small matrices are shown inline.  For instance, consider the matrix created here.  To browse this matrix, double-click on the summary.

You can export to Excel from this dialog.  For more information on importing and exporting, see the next tutorial.