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Each unknown can be seen as an available degree of freedom. Each equation introduced into the system can be viewed as a constraint that restricts one degree of freedom. Therefore, the critical case (between overdetermined and underdetermined) occurs when the number of equations and the number of free variables are equal.
In general, a system with fewer equations than unknowns has infinitely many solutions, but it may have no solution. Such a system is known as an underdetermined system. In general, a system with the same number of equations and unknowns has a single unique solution. In general, a system with more equations than unknowns has no solution.
The system + =, + = has exactly one solution: x = 1, y = 2 The nonlinear system + =, + = has the two solutions (x, y) = (1, 0) and (x, y) = (0, 1), while + + =, + + =, + + = has an infinite number of solutions because the third equation is the first equation plus twice the second one and hence contains no independent information; thus any value of z can be chosen and values of x and y can be ...
An example of linear Diophantine equation is ax + by = c where a, b, and c are constants. An exponential Diophantine equation is one for which exponents of the terms of the equation can be unknowns. Diophantine problems have fewer equations than unknown variables and involve finding integers that work correctly for all equations.
Any system of linear equations can be written as a matrix equation. The previous system of equations (in Diagram #1) can be written as follows: [] [] = [] Notice that the rows of the coefficient matrix (corresponding to equations) outnumber the columns (corresponding to unknowns), meaning that the system is overdetermined.
When seeking a solution, one or more variables are designated as unknowns. A solution is an assignment of values to the unknown variables that makes the equality in the equation true. In other words, a solution is a value or a collection of values (one for each unknown) such that, when substituted for the unknowns, the equation becomes an equality.
In linear algebra, Cramer's rule is an explicit formula for the solution of a system of linear equations with as many equations as unknowns, valid whenever the system has a unique solution. It expresses the solution in terms of the determinants of the (square) coefficient matrix and of matrices obtained from it by replacing one column by the ...
For example, the system x 3 – 1 = 0, x 2 – 1 = 0 is overdetermined (having two equations but only one unknown), but it is not inconsistent since it has the solution x = 1. A system is underdetermined if the number of equations is lower than the number of the variables.