diff --git a/cachematrix.R b/cachematrix.R
index a50be65aa44..24490a0a69c 100644
--- a/cachematrix.R
+++ b/cachematrix.R
@@ -1,15 +1,74 @@
-## Put comments here that give an overall description of what your
-## functions do
-
-## Write a short comment describing this function
+# the functions below allow us to calculate the inverse of a matrix,
+# storing it in cache for faster calculations, assuming that the matrix
+# provided is always inversible
 
 makeCacheMatrix <- function(x = matrix()) {
+  # this is where we store the cached calculation
+  cachedMatrix <- NULL
+
+  set <- function(y) {
+    x <<- y
+    cachedMatrix <<- NULL
+  }
+
+  # returns the original matrix
+  get <- function() {
+    return(x)
+  }
+
+  # stores the inverse matrix provided by the function
+  setSolve <- function(m) {
+    cachedMatrix <<- m
+  }
 
+  # returns the cached inverse matrix
+  getSolve <- function() {
+    return(cachedMatrix)
+  }
+
+  list(set = set, get = get, setSolve = setSolve, getSolve = getSolve)
 }
 
+# given a cachedMatrix created with makeCacheMatrix(matrix), this function will
+# calculate its inverse matrix
+#
+# example:
+#
+# > mat1 <- makeCacheMatrix(matrix(1:4, ncol=2, nrow=2))
+#
+# > mat1$get()
+# [,1] [,2]
+# [1,]    1    3
+# [2,]    2    4
+#
+# First call (no cached results):
+#
+# > cacheSolve(mat1)
+# [,1] [,2]
+# [1,]   -2  1.5
+# [2,]    1 -0.5
 
-## Write a short comment describing this function
+# Second call (cached results):
+#
+# > cacheSolve(mat1)
+# [1] "getting cached data"
+# [,1] [,2]
+# [1,]   -2  1.5
+# [2,]    1 -0.5
 
 cacheSolve <- function(x, ...) {
-        ## Return a matrix that is the inverse of 'x'
+  m <- x$getSolve()
+
+  # check whether we got a cached calculation and return it if so
+  if (!is.null(m)) {
+    print("getting cached data")
+    return(m)
+  } else {
+
+    # if we didn't have it in the cache, calculate it and store it
+    data <- x$get()
+    m <- solve(data)
+    x$setSolve(m)
+    return(m)
+  }
 }