Gaussian elimination is a standard procedure used to solve systems of linear equations by applying elementary row operations to the augmented matrix of the system. These operations consist of: 1. Interchanging two rows 2. Multiplying a row by a nonzero scalar 3. Replacing a row by the sum of itself and a multiple of another row The objective is to transform the augmented matrix into row echelon form (REF), where all entries below each leading coefficient (pivot) are zero and each pivot appears t