Recall our definition of the unit vectors:
The $i$th unit vector in vector space $R^n$, denoted
$\boldsymbol{e_i}$, is the vector that is $1$ in its $i$th
component and zero everywhere else. If it is not clear by
context, we will specify whether it is a row or column vector.
and the identity matrix:
The $n\times n$ identity matrix, denoted by $I_n$, is the matrix whose $i$th
row is $\boldsymbol{e_i}$, the $i$th unit (row) vector.
Note that this also means that the $i$th column is the
$i$th unit (column) vector.
Compute
$$
I_3 \cdot
\left[\begin{array}{ccc}
a&b&c\\
d&e&f\\
g&h&i
\end{array}\right]
$$
and verify that $I_3$ really is the multiplicative identity
for 3x3 matrices. Note:
be sure to write out the matrix $I_3$.
In fact, we have the following theorem:
If $A$ is an $n\times n$ matrix, then $I_n\cdot A = A$.