An indeterminate system is a system of simultaneous equations (especially linear equations) which has more than one solution. The system may be said to be underspecified. If the system is linear, then the presence of more than one solution implies that there are an infinite number of solutions, but that property does not extend to nonlinear systems.
An indeterminate system is consistent, the latter implying that there exists at least one solution. For a system of linear equations, the number of equations in an indeterminate system could be the same as the number of unknowns, less than the number of unknowns (an underdetermined system), or greater than the number of unknowns (an overdetermined system). Conversely, any of those three cases may or may not be indeterminate.
Read more about Indeterminate System: Examples, Conditions Giving Rise To Indeterminacy, Finding The Solution Set of An Indeterminate Linear System
Famous quotes containing the word system:
“Columbus stood in his age as the pioneer of progress and enlightenment. The system of universal education is in our age the most prominent and salutary feature of the spirit of enlightenment, and it is peculiarly appropriate that the schools be made by the people the center of the day’s demonstration. Let the national flag float over every schoolhouse in the country and the exercises be such as shall impress upon our youth the patriotic duties of American citizenship.”
—Benjamin Harrison (1833–1901)