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Exercises and solutions: Matrix determinant

The only way to learn mathematics is to solve math problems. Watching and re-watching video lectures
is important and helpful, but it’s not enough. If you really want to learn linear algebra, you need to
solve problems by hand, and then check your work on a computer.
Below are some practice problems to solve. You can find many more by searching the Internet.

Exercises

1. Determine whether the following determinants are correct.

       
3 1  3 4  1 9  9 1 
a)  =1 b)   = −1 c)   = −3 d)   = −3
2 1 1 1 6 1 6 1
       
1 9  1 5  1 5  −1 2 
e)  =0 f)   = 15 g)   = −8 h)   = −3
0 0 3 15 3 0 4 −5

2. Which value(s) of λ would make the following matrices singular (that is, have zero determinant)?
       
1 2 0 14 4 1 10 1
a) b) c) d)
4 λ λ 4 1 λ 3−λ 1
       
6 2 λ 4 λ 18 5−λ −1/3
e) f) g) h)
5 3λ 1 λ 1/2 λ −3 5−λ

3. Determine whether the following determinants are correct.

       
1 1 2 1 1 2 1 2 4  1 −2 3
      
a) 2 2 1 = −2 b) 4 3 0 = −3 c) 1 2 3 = −3 d) −4 5 −6 = 8
4 3 0 2 2 1 2 1 0  7 −8 9

4. Which value(s) of λ would make the following matrices singular?

       
0 1 1 1 0 −3 1 1 1 1−λ 0 4
a) 0
 4 7 b) −4 −11 1 c) 2 2 3 d)  −4 3−λ 4 
0 3 λ 3 λ 0 3 λ 4 0 0 5−λ
 All materials by Dr. Mike X Cohen — mikexcohen.com

Answers

1. Note: The ∆ symbol indicates determinant.

a) Correct b) Correct c) No, ∆ = −53 d) No, ∆ = 3
e) Correct f) No, ∆ = 0 g) No, ∆ = −15 h) Correct

2. -
a) λ = 8 b) λ = 0 c) λ = 1/4 d) λ = −7
e) λ = 5/9 f) λ = ±2 g) λ = ±3 h) λ = 6, 4

3. -
a) No, ∆ = −3 b) No, ∆ = 3 c) Correct d) No, ∆ = 0

4. -
a) any λ b) λ = 9 c) λ = 3 d) λ = 1, 3, 5