Creating Matrices in LaTeX for Linear Algebra: Tips and Troubleshooting

[lo2]

Hi there I am writing about linear algebra and therefore I need to type matrices. I thought I could do this.

\newcommand{\metar}[16]{\left [ \begin{array}{cccc} #1 & #2 & #3 & #4 \\ #5 & #6 & #7 & #8 \\ #9 & #10 & #11 & #12 \\ #13 & #14 & #15 & #16 \end{array} \right ] }

But I get errors and it does not look as desired...

So please help!

 

[FrogPad]

Is this all you were trying to do?

$$\left[ \begin{array}{cccc} 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 \\ 5 & 6 & 7 & 8 \\ 9 & 10 & 11 & 12 \\ 13 & 14 & 15 & 16 \end{array} \right]$$

just click on the above and you can see the TeX. You basically had everything there.

 

[Triss]

The amsmath package also gives you 5 matrix environments:

\documentclass[article]{memoir}
\usepackage{amsmath}
\begin{document}
\[
\begin{pmatrix}
  1 & 2 & 3 & 4\\
  5 & 6 & 7 & 8\\
  9 &10 &11 &12\\
  13&14 &15 &16
\end{pmatrix}
\begin{bmatrix}
  1 & 2 & 3 & 4\\
  5 & 6 & 7 & 8\\
  9 &10 &11 &12\\
  13&14 &15 &16
\end{bmatrix}
\begin{Bmatrix}
  1 & 2 & 3 & 4\\
  5 & 6 & 7 & 8\\
  9 &10 &11 &12\\
  13&14 &15 &16
\end{Bmatrix}
\begin{vmatrix}
  1 & 2 & 3 & 4\\
  5 & 6 & 7 & 8\\
  9 &10 &11 &12\\
  13&14 &15 &16
\end{vmatrix}
\begin{Vmatrix}
  1 & 2 & 3 & 4\\
  5 & 6 & 7 & 8\\
  9 &10 &11 &12\\
  13&14 &15 &16
\end{Vmatrix}
\]
\end{document}