Pre-class activity: Introduction to eigenvalues and eigenvectors

An introductory activity on eigenvalues and eigenvectors in which students do basic matrix-vector multiplication calculations to find whether given vectors are eigenvectors, to determine the eigenvalue corresponding to an eigenvector and to find an eigenvector corresponding to an eigenvalue. This activity is self-contained and does not require any previous experience with eigenvalues or eigenvectors.

Eigenvalues and Eigenvectors - A First Course in Linear Algebra

In this section, we will define the eigenvalues and eigenvectors of a matrix, and see how to compute them. More theoretical properties will be taken up in the next section.