MasterAllRound: the PC calculator

Matrices: matrix multiplication: economics example

Solving econimics problems often involves matrix calculations. Let's assume you have the task of determining the amount of raw material necessary to produce two different products. The final products in turn consist of intermediate products.

The problem is interlinked with the amount of raw material, intermediate product and final product. To solve the problem, we need to perform multiple matrix multiplication.

Let's assume the following for our two final products:

Amount of final product 1: 11
Amount of final product 2: 5

To produce these two final products, the following amounts of intermediate products are necessary:

For the final product 1:
- 3 units of intermediate product 1
- 4 units of intermediate product 2
For the final product 2:
- 7 units of intermediate product 1
- 3 units of intermediate product 2

Again, to produce the intermediate product, the following amount of raw material is necessary:

For the intermediate product 1:
- 1.5 units of raw material 1
- 4 units of raw material 2
For the intermediate product 2:
- 1 units of raw material 1
- 3 units of raw material 2
- 2.5 units of raw material 3

In matrix formulation, we have to solve the following problem: Matrix multiplication

The course of action with MasterAllRound is:

Go to "Matrix multiplication (ABC)"
Enter the size of the matrices
Fill out the cells of the single matrices
Start the calculation by clicking on "Multiply (ABC)"
You obtain the result matrix:

That is:

161 units of raw material 1,
449 units of raw material 2 and
147.5 units of raw material 3

are necessary to produce 11 units of the final product 1 and 5 units of the final product 2.

(To matrices) (To MAR Plus)