NumPy multiply()

The multiply() function is performs element-wise multiplication of two arrays.

import numpy as np

array1 = np.array([1, 2, 3])
array2 = np.array([4, 5, 6])

# perform element-wise multiplication between array1 and array2 result = np.multiply(array1, array2)
print(result) # Output : [ 4 10 18]

multiply() Syntax

The syntax of multiply() is:

numpy.multiply(array1, array2, out=None)

multiply() Arguments

The multiply() function takes following arguments:

  • array1 and array2 - two input arrays to be multiplied element-wise
  • out (optional) - the output array where the result will be stored

Note: array1 and array2 must have the same shape unless one of them is a scalar value.


multiply() Return Value

The multiply() function returns an array that contains the result of element-wise multiplication between the input arrays.


Example 1: Multiply Two Arrays

import numpy as np

array1 = np.array([10, 20, 30])
array2 = np.array([2, 4, 6])

# perform element-wise multiplication between arrays array1 and array2 result = np.multiply(array1, array2)
print(result)

Output

[ 20  80 180]

Example 2: Multiplication of an Array by a Scalar

import numpy as np

array1 = np.array([1, 2, 3])
scalar = 2

# multiply each element in array1 by the scalar value result = np.multiply(array1, scalar)
print(result)

Output

[2 4 6]

In this example, we multiplied each element in array1 by the scalar value of 2.


Example 3: Use out to Store Result in a Desired Array

import numpy as np

array1 = np.array([1, 2, 3])
array2 = np.array([4, 5, 6])

# create an empty array with the same shape as array1 and array2
result = np.zeros_like(array1)

# perform element-wise multiplication of array1 and array2 and store the result in result np.multiply(array1, array2, out=result)
print(result)

Output

[ 4 10 18]

Here, after specifying out=result, the result of element-wise multiplication of array1 and array2 is stored in the result array.