![cover image](https://wikiwandv2-19431.kxcdn.com/_next/image?url=https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/bb/Matrix.svg/langsimple-640px-Matrix.svg.png&w=640&q=50)
Matrix (mathematics)
rectangular array of numbers, symbols, or expressions, arranged in rows and columns / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
In mathematics, a matrix (plural: matrices) is a rectangle of numbers, arranged in rows and columns. The rows are each left-to-right (horizontal) lines, and the columns go top-to-bottom (vertical). The top-left cell is at row 1, column 1 (see diagram at right).
![Thumb image](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/bb/Matrix.svg/247px-Matrix.svg.png)
Matrices are often represented by capital roman letters such as ,
and
,[1] and there are rules for adding, subtracting and "multiplying" matrices together, but the rules are different than for numbers.[2] As an example, the product
does not always give the same result as
, which is the case for the multiplication of ordinary numbers.[3] A matrix can have more than 2 dimensions, such as a 3D matrix. Also, a matrix can be one-dimensional, as a single row or a single column.
Many natural sciences use matrices quite a lot. In many universities, courses about matrices (usually called linear algebra) are taught very early, sometimes even in the first year of studies. Matrices are also very common in computer science, engineering, physics, economics, and statistics.[4]