If a matrix has 8 elements, what are the possible orders it can have?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 1
The correct answer is Option (1) → $1 \times 8, \quad 8 \times 1, \quad 2 \times 4, \quad 4 \times 2$ ##
We know that if a matrix is of order $m \times n$, it has $mn$ elements. Thus, to find all possible orders of a matrix with 8 elements, we will find all ordered pairs of natural numbers, whose product is 8.
Thus, all possible ordered pairs are $(1, 8), (8, 1), (4, 2), (2, 4)$.
Hence, possible orders are $1 \times 8, 8 \times 1, 4 \times 2, 2 \times 4$.