Solution HSE.C27 Chris Black
The augmented matrix for the given linear system and its row-reduced form are: \begin{align*} \begin{bmatrix} 1 & 2 & 3 & 0\\ 2 & -1 & 1 & 0\\ 1 & -8 & -7 & 0\\ 0 & 1 & 1 & 0 \end{bmatrix} &\rref \begin{bmatrix} \leading{1} & 0 & 1 & 0\\ 0 & \leading{1} & 1 & 0\\ 0 & 0 & 0 & 0\\ 0 & 0 & 0 & 0 \end{bmatrix}. \end{align*} An homogeneous system is always consistent (Theorem HSC) and with $n=3$, $r=2$ an application of Theorem FVCS yields one free variable. With a suitable choice of $x_3$ each solution can be written in the form \begin{align*} \colvector{-x_3 \\ -x_3 \\ x_3} \end{align*}