Convert Matrix to Vector in R

In this article, we are going to convert the given matrix into the vector in R programming language.

Conversion of the matrix to vector by row

Method 1: Using c() function

Simply passing the name of the matrix will do the job.

Syntax:

c(matrix_name)

Where matrix_name is the name of the input matrix

Example 1:

R

# create a matrix with 12 elements
# with 4 rows and 3 columns
matrix=matrix(1:12,nrow=4,ncol=3)
print(matrix)

# convert matrix to vector using c()
# function
a=c(matrix)

print(a)

Output:

Example 2:

R

# create a matrix with 16 elements
# with 4 rows and 4 columns
matrix=matrix(1:16,nrow=4,ncol=4)
print(matrix)

# convert matrix to vector using
# c() function
a=c(matrix)

print(a)

Output:

Method 2: Using as.vector() function

This function is used to convert matrix to vector so again simply passing the matrix name is enough.

Syntax:

as.vector(matrix)

Example:

R

# create a matrix with 12 elements
# with 4 rows and 3 columns
matrix=matrix(1:12,nrow=4,ncol=3)
print(matrix)

# convert matrix to vector using
# as.vector() function
a=as.vector(matrix)

print(a)

Output:

Example 2:

R

# create a matrix with 16 elements with 4 rows and 4 columns
matrix=matrix(1:16,nrow=4,ncol=4)
print(matrix)

# convert matrix to vector using as.vector() function
a=as.vector(matrix)

print(a)

Output

Conversion of the matrix to vector by column

Method 1: Using c() function along with t() function

t() function is used to transpose the given matrix. It will transpose rows as columns and columns as rows.

Syntax:

t(matrix)

where the matrix is the input matrix

After applying t() we can apply c() and as.vector() functions to convert the matrix to vector

Syntax:

c(t(matrix))

Example 1:

R

# create a matrix with 12 elements
# with 4 rows and 3 columns
matrix=matrix(1:12,nrow=4,ncol=3)
print(matrix)

# convert matrix to vector using
# c() function along with t()
a=c(t(matrix))

print(a)

Output:

Example 2:

R

# create a matrix with 12 elements
# with 2 rows and 6 columns
matrix=matrix(1:12,nrow=2,ncol=6)
print(matrix)

# convert matrix to vector using
# c() function along with t()
a=c(t(matrix))

print(a)

Output:

Method 2: Using as.vector() function along with t() function

The work of t() is same as above. After the transpose has been taken, the matrix is converted to vector using as.vector().

Syntax:

as.vector(t(matrix))

Example

R

# create a matrix with 12 elements
# with 2 rows and 6 columns
matrix=matrix(1:12,nrow=2,ncol=6)
print(matrix)

# convert matrix to vector using
# as.vector() function along with t()
a=as.vector(t(matrix))

print(a)

Output:

Example 2:

R

# create a matrix with 4 elements
# with 2 rows and 2 columns
matrix=matrix(1:4,nrow=2,ncol=2)
print(matrix)

# convert matrix to vector using
# as.vector() function along with t()
a=as.vector(t(matrix))

print(a)

Output