Help encoding message

[frctl]

Encode the message “THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES” using matrix B.



Message as x5 matrix of numbers
20-8-5-2-5
19-20-25-5-1
18-19-15-6-15
21-18-12-9-22
5-19-0-0-0 (added zeroes to fill in)

When I multiply both matrices, I obtain an incorrect answer.

 

[Dr.Peterson]

I think you know what we're going to ask for ...

What answer did you get? How did you get it? How do you know it's wrong?

What have you been taught about whatever encoding method you are supposed to use? Can you give the definition, or an example?

 

[frctl]

The answer I obtain after multiplying both matrices is:
43 46 20 8 20 52 96 40 11 16 103 92 62 24 48 28 57 15 6 15 104 102 69 31 65

The answer in the book is:
27 19 55 9 35 50 114 74 70 69 23 19 48 18 62 36 69 72 42 72 52 78 79 56 70 5 19 29 0 24

I am used to encoding with a 2x2 matrix not a 5x5

 

[Dr.Peterson]

You haven't told us exactly what "encode the message using matrix B" means in your context. There are many codes! I'd especially like to see an example you were given. As it is, I don't even know what order you multiplied in.

Here are a couple thoughts I have:

First, there are 25 numbers in your answer, 30 in theirs. This suggests that they used a 5 by 6 or 6 by 5 matrix. Second, I had noticed already that you ignored spaces in the message, likely because you thought the message had to fit in a 5x5 matrix. It's possible that this is all the help you need.

If adding in spaces doesn't help, please show your work, and an example, so we can check details.