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Matrix calculator

Determinant, inverse, rank and RREF of a matrix up to 6 × 6 with every row operation shown, plus transpose, product and sum, in exact fractions.

Updated Checked against 8 worked examples

One row per line (or rows separated by ;), entries separated by spaces or commas; fractions like 1/2 work
Try
Result
[0, 0, 1; −2, 1, 3; 3, −1, −5]
Result: [0, 0, 1; −2, 1, 3; 3, −1, −5]
det A
−1
rank A
3
trace A
5

A is invertible (det A = −1); the inverse undoes A, so A × A⁻¹ is the identity matrix.

A⁻¹

001−2133−1−5
A⁻¹ (3 rows)
Col 1Col 2Col 3
001
−213
3−1−5
How it's calculated S

  1. Write [A | I]

    [211100132010100001]\left[\begin{array}{ccc|ccc}2 & 1 & 1 & 1 & 0 & 0 \\ 1 & 3 & 2 & 0 & 1 & 0 \\ 1 & 0 & 0 & 0 & 0 & 1\end{array}\right]

  2. Column 1

    R1↔R2, R2←R2−2R1, R3←R3−R1  ⟶  [1320100−5−31−200−3−20−11]R_{1} \leftrightarrow R_{2},\ R_{2} \leftarrow R_{2} - 2R_{1},\ R_{3} \leftarrow R_{3} - R_{1} \;\longrightarrow\; \left[\begin{array}{ccc|ccc}1 & 3 & 2 & 0 & 1 & 0 \\ 0 & -5 & -3 & 1 & -2 & 0 \\ 0 & -3 & -2 & 0 & -1 & 1\end{array}\right]

  3. Column 2

    R2←−15 R2, R1←R1−3R2, R3←R3+3R2  ⟶  [101535−1500135−1525000−15−35151]R_{2} \leftarrow -\frac{1}{5}\,R_{2},\ R_{1} \leftarrow R_{1} - 3R_{2},\ R_{3} \leftarrow R_{3} + 3R_{2} \;\longrightarrow\; \left[\begin{array}{ccc|ccc}1 & 0 & \frac{1}{5} & \frac{3}{5} & -\frac{1}{5} & 0 \\ 0 & 1 & \frac{3}{5} & -\frac{1}{5} & \frac{2}{5} & 0 \\ 0 & 0 & -\frac{1}{5} & -\frac{3}{5} & \frac{1}{5} & 1\end{array}\right]

  4. Column 3

    R3←−5 R3, R1←R1−15R3, R2←R2−35R3  ⟶  [100001010−2130013−1−5]R_{3} \leftarrow -5\,R_{3},\ R_{1} \leftarrow R_{1} - \frac{1}{5}R_{3},\ R_{2} \leftarrow R_{2} - \frac{3}{5}R_{3} \;\longrightarrow\; \left[\begin{array}{ccc|ccc}1 & 0 & 0 & 0 & 0 & 1 \\ 0 & 1 & 0 & -2 & 1 & 3 \\ 0 & 0 & 1 & 3 & -1 & -5\end{array}\right]

  5. The right half is the inverse

    A−1=[001−2133−1−5]A^{-1} = \left[\begin{array}{ccc}0 & 0 & 1 \\ -2 & 1 & 3 \\ 3 & -1 & -5\end{array}\right]

    Check: A × A⁻¹ = I.

About the matrix calculator

The calculator works on matrices up to 6 × 6 in exact fractions. The inverse and the reduced row echelon form come from Gauss–Jordan elimination: [A | I] is row-reduced until the left half is the identity, and the right half is then A⁻¹. The determinant is the product of the pivots from forward elimination, negated once for each row swap; the rank is the number of pivots; and a product has entries (AB)ᵢⱼ = Σₖ aᵢₖbₖⱼ.

Linear algebra courses, 3D graphics transforms and systems of equations are the usual uses. The default matrix [2 1 1; 1 3 2; 1 0 0] has determinant −1, so it is invertible, and its inverse [0 0 1; −2 1 3; 3 −1 −5] has whole-number entries.

Type one row per line, with entries separated by spaces or commas; fractions such as 1/2 stay exact. A matrix with determinant 0 is singular: it has no inverse, and its rank is below its size.

Worked examples

Inverse of the default 3 × 3

Calculate
Inverse of A
Matrix A
2 1 1 1 3 2 1 0 0
Result
[0, 0, 1; −2, 1, 3; 3, −1, −5]
det A
-1

Checked against: Python fractions Gauss–Jordan on [A | I]; det by cofactor expansion = −1

Inverse of [4 7; 2 6]

Calculate
Inverse of A
Matrix A
4 7 2 6
Result
[3/5, −7/10; −1/5, 2/5]
det A
10

Checked against: (1/(ad − bc))·[d −b; −c a] = (1/10)·[6 −7; −2 4]

Determinant of the default 3 × 3

Calculate
Determinant of A
Matrix A
2 1 1 1 3 2 1 0 0
Result
−1
det A
-1
trace A
5

Checked against: Cofactor expansion: 2·0 − 1·(0 − 2) + 1·(0 − 3) = −1

Rank of a singular matrix (edge case)

Calculate
Rank of A
Matrix A
1 2 3 2 4 6 1 1 1
Result
2
rank A
2
det A
0

Checked against: Row 2 = 2 × row 1; Python fractions RREF has 2 pivots

Questions

How do you find the inverse of a matrix?

Write A next to the identity matrix, [A | I], and apply row operations until the left half becomes I; the right half is then A⁻¹. A 2 × 2 matrix [a b; c d] has a shortcut: A⁻¹ = (1/(ad − bc)) × [d −b; −c a]. For [4 7; 2 6], ad − bc = 24 − 14 = 10, so A⁻¹ = [3/5 −7/10; −1/5 2/5].

How do you calculate the determinant of a 3 × 3 matrix?

Expand along a row or column, multiplying each entry by the determinant of its 2 × 2 minor with alternating signs. For [2 1 1; 1 3 2; 1 0 0], the bottom row is quickest because two of its entries are 0: det = 1 × (1 × 2 − 1 × 3) = −1. For larger matrices row reduction reaches the same answer with far fewer operations.

When does a matrix have no inverse?

When its determinant is 0, which happens exactly when one row or column is a combination of the others. In [1 2 3; 2 4 6; 1 1 1], row 2 is twice row 1, so the rank is 2 rather than 3 and the determinant is 0. Such a matrix is called singular, and a system Ax = b built on it has either no solution or infinitely many.

How do you multiply two matrices?

Each entry of AB is a row of A times a column of B, summed: (AB)ᵢⱼ = Σₖ aᵢₖbₖⱼ. For [1 2; 3 4] × [5 6; 7 8] the top-left entry is 1 × 5 + 2 × 7 = 19, and the product is [19 22; 43 50]. A needs as many columns as B has rows, and order matters: here BA = [23 34; 31 46].

What is reduced row echelon form?

A matrix is in reduced row echelon form (RREF) when each non-zero row starts with a 1, that leading 1 is the only non-zero entry in its column, the leading 1s step right going down, and zero rows sit at the bottom. Every matrix has exactly one RREF, and its number of leading 1s is the rank. For an augmented matrix it reads off the solution: [1 0 0 −8; 0 1 0 1; 0 0 1 −2] means x = −8, y = 1, z = −2.

How accurate is the matrix calculator?

Accuracy depends on your inputs and the method's assumptions. Decimal arithmetic uses 50 significant digits, but estimates, numerical methods and source data can be less precise; the displayed rounding does not remove those limits. It is checked against 8 worked examples whose answers come from independent sources; for example, “Inverse of the default 3 × 3” is checked against Python fractions Gauss–Jordan on [A | I]; det by cofactor expansion = −1.

Where does the method come from?

Wikipedia — Gaussian elimination (row reduction and the RREF example); Wolfram MathWorld — Matrix Inverse; G. Strang, Introduction to Linear Algebra (5th ed.), chapters 2–3.

About this calculator

A−1: [A∣I]→row operations[I∣A−1](AB)ij=∑kaikbkj\begin{gathered} A^{-1}:\ [A \mid I] \xrightarrow{\text{row operations}} [I \mid A^{-1}] \\[10pt] (AB)_{ij} = \sum_k a_{ik} b_{kj} \end{gathered}

Sources

  1. Wikipedia — Gaussian elimination (row reduction and the RREF example)
  2. Wolfram MathWorld — Matrix Inverse
  3. G. Strang, Introduction to Linear Algebra (5th ed.), chapters 2–3

Checked against references

8 worked examples with independently sourced answers ship with this calculator. They run in the test suite; you can run them here too.

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