25. Prove that det(kA) = k n det(A) for an n n matrix A. Proof.

. As the matrix A has n-rows and the determinant is linear in each row, a factor k can be factored out of each row. q.e.d. 25. Let A Mnn (F ). Under what conditions is det(A) = det(A)? From the preceding exercise, we know det(A) = (1)n det(A), so we need to analyze under what conditions does (1)n det(A) = det(A). One possibility is when det(A) = 0. Suppose now that det(A) = 0. Then the condition simplies to (1)n = 1. Thats certainly true when n is even, but when n is odd that says 1 = 1, and that occurs when the scalar eld F has characteristic 2. In summary, det(A) = det(A) when at least one of the following three conditions holds (a) det(A) = 0, (b) n is even, or (c) the characteristic of F is 2. Math 130 Home Page at http://math.clarku.edu/~djoyce/ma130/

Assignment 10 answers Math 130 Linear Algebra

D Joyce, Fall 2012 Exercises from section 4.1, page 207, exercises 1, 2, 4ab; and from section 4.2, page 221, exercises 5, 6, 25, 26. Page 207, 1. True/false. a. The function det : M22 (F ) F is a linear transformation. False. Its not additive for one thing. |A + B| does not usually equal |A| + |B|. b. The determinant of a 2 2 matrix is a linear function of each row of the matrix when the other row is held xed. True. Determinants are multilinear. c. If A M22 (F ) and det(A) = 0, then A is invertible. False. Its when the determinant is nonzero that its invertible d. If u and v are vectors in R2 emanating from the origin, then the area of the parallelogram having u and v as adjacent sides is the determinant of the matrices with rows u and v. False. But its almost true. Its the signed area. e. A coordinate system is right-handed if and only if its orientation equals 1. True. See the text for discussion on this topic. Page 221, 6. Compute the determinant of the following matrix by cofactor expansion along the rst row. 1 0 2 0 1 5 1 3 0 1 5 0 1 0+2 3 0 1 3 = 1(0 15) 0 + 2(0 + 1) = 13 = 1 1