Ergün Yaraneri

MAT 261E
yaraneri@itu.edu.tr

Some Solved Problems

Problem 1. Let  
2 −1 1 0
 0 0 −3 3 
A=
 2
.
1 0 4 
2 1 3 0
Find M13 , C23 , M21 , and C44 .

Solution:  
 0 0 3   
1+3  2 1 
   
M13 =  2 1 4  = 3(−1)
 
 2 1  = 0.
 2 1 0 
 
 2 −1 0   
2+3 2+3  2 −1 
   
C23 = (−1) M23 = (−1)  2
 1 4  = (−1)(4)(−1)

 2 = 4(2 + 2) = 16.
 2 1 
1 0 
 
 −1 1 0   
2+3  −1 1 
   
M21 =  1 0 4  = 4(−1)  1 3  = (−4)(−3 − 1) = 16.
 
 1 3 0 
 
 2 −1 1   
4+4 2+3  2 −1 
   
C44 = (−1) M44 =  0
 0 −3  = (−3)(−1)

 2 = 3(2 + 2) = 12.
 2 1 
1 0 

Problem 2. Let  
1 2 3
A =  2 3 4 .
1 5 7
Evaluate det(A) by cofactor expansion along the second row, and along the third column.

Solution: By cofactor expansion along the second row

det(A) = 2C21 + 3C22 + 4C23

     
2+1  2 3  2+2  1 3  2+3  1 2
     
= 2(−1)  5 7  + 3(−1)  1 7  + 4(−1)  1 5


= (−2)(14 − 15) + 3(7 − 3) + (−4)(5 − 2)
= 2 + 12 − 12 = 2.

By cofactor expansion along the the third column

det(A) = 3C13 + 4C23 + 7C33

     
1+3  2 3  2+3  1 2  + 7(−1)3+3  1 2
     
= 3(−1)  1 5  + 4(−1)  1 5   2 3


= 3(10 − 3) + (−4)(5 − 2) + 7(3 − 4)
= 21 − 12 − 7 = 2.
 Ergün Yaraneri
MAT 261E
yaraneri@itu.edu.tr

 
 1 2 3 4 
 
 −2 1 −4 3 
Problem 3.   =?
 3 −4 −1 2 

 4 3 −2 −1 

Solution:
   
 1 2 3 4   1 2 3 4  we used
  
 −2 1 −4 3 2R1 + R2 → R2
 =  0 5 2 11 
 
 0 −10 −10 −10  ;

 3 −4 −1 2  (−3)R1 + R3 → R3
   
 4 3 −2 −1   0 −5 −14 −17 
  (−4)R1 + R4 → R4
 5 2 11 
1+1

 −10 −10 −10
 expansion along
= (1)(−1) ;

 −5 −14 −17

 the first column
 
 5 2 11  take out the common

= −10  1 1 1  ; factor of
 −5 −14 −17  second row
 
 5 −3 6  we used

= −10  1 0 0  ; (−1)C1 + C2 → C2
 −5 −9 −12  (−1)C1 + C3 → C3
 
2+1
 −3 6  expansion along
= −10(1)(−1)  −9 −12  ;

the second row
= 900

 
 2 −5 1 2 

 −3 7 −1 4 
Problem 4.  =?
 5 −9 2 7 
 4 −6 1 2 

Solution:    
 2 −5 1 2   −1 2 0 6  we used
 
 −3 7 −1 4   −3 7 −1 4  R2 + R1 → R1

 5 −9 =  ;
2 7   −1 5 0 15  2R2 + R3 → R3


 4 −6 1 2   1 1 0 6  R2 + R4 → R4

 −1 2 6 
  expansion along
= (−1)(−1)2+3  −1 5 15  ;
 1 1 6  the third column
 
 0 3 12  we used
 
=  0 6 21  ; R3 + R1 → R1
 1 1 6 
  R3 + R2 → R2
3+1
 3 12  expansion along
= 1(−1)  6 21  ;
 
the first column
= (3)(21) − (6)(12) = −9

 
 −3 9 3 6 

 −5 8 2 7 
Problem 5.   =?
 4 −5 −3 −2 
 7 −8 −4 −5 
 Ergün Yaraneri
MAT 261E
yaraneri@itu.edu.tr

Solution:
   
 −3 9 3 6   −3 0 0 0  we used
 
 −5 8 2 7   −5 −7 −3 −3  2C1 + C4 → C4
 4 −5 −3 −2  =  4
  ;
   7 1 6  C1 + C3 → C3
 7 −8 −4 −5   7 13 3C1 + C2 → C2
3 9  
 −7 −3 −3 
  expansion along
= (−3)(−1)1+1  7 1 6  ;
 13 the first row
  3 9 
 14 0 15  we used
 
= −3  7 1 6  ; 3R2 + R1 → R1
 −8 0 −9  (−3)R2 + R3 → R3
 
2+2
 14 15  expansion along
= −3(1)(−1)  −8 −9  ;
 
  the second column
 14 5 
= −3(3) 
−8
 −3


 7 5   
= −3(3)(2)   = −18 − 21 − (−20) = 18
−4 −3 

 

 1 1 1 1 

 x 1 1 1 
 = (1 − x)3
Problem 6. Prove that 
 x x 1 1 

 x x x 1 

Solution:
   

 1 1 1 1 

 1
 0 0 0  we used
x 1 1 1  =  x (1 − x) 0 0  (−1)C3 + C4 → C4
  
 ;

 x x 1 1 

 x
 0 (1 − x) 0  (−1)C2 + C3 → C3
 x x x 1   x 0 0 (1 − x)  (−1)C1 + C2 → C2
= (1 − x)3 ; as the matrix is lower triangular.

Problem 7. Find the determinants of the following matrices:

     
  0 0 0 1 2 1 3 1 2 2 2 2
7 6 5  0 0 2 2   1 0 1 1   x 2 2 2 
A= 1 2 1 , C =   0 3 4 3 , D = 
  , E= 
0 2 1 0   x x 2 2 
3 −2 1
4 4 4 5 0 1 2 3 x x x 2

Solution: det(A):
   
 7 6 5  R3 + R2 → R2  16 0 8   
3+2  16 8
   
det(A) =  1 2 1  3R3 + R1 → R1  4
 0 2 
 = (−2)(−1)  4 2
 = 2(32 − 32) = 0.

 3 −2 1  =  3 −2 1 

det(C):
   

 0 0 0 1 
 R1 ↔ R4
 4 4
 4 5 

 0 0 2 2  R2 ↔ R3 (−1)(−1)  0 3
  4 3 
det(C) =   = (4)(3)(2)(1) = 24.
0 3 4 3   0 0 2 2 
  =  
 4 4 4 5   0 0 0 1 
 Ergün Yaraneri
MAT 261E
yaraneri@itu.edu.tr

det(D):
   
 2  1 3  0 1 1 −1
1   
     1 1 −1 
1  (−2)R2 + R1 → R1  1 0 1
0 1 1 1  = 1(−1)2+1  2 1
   
det(D) =    0 
0  2 = 1 0
 0 2 1
 0  
 1 2
   3 
 0  1 2 3
 0 1 2 3 
 
 1 1 −1   
3R1 + R3 → R3   1+3 
 2 1 
(−1)  2 1
 0  = (−1)(−1)(−1)
 = (10 − 4) = 6.
=  4 5
 4 5 
0 
det(E):
   
 2 2 2 2  (−1)C3 + C4 → C4  2 0 0 0 
   
x 2 2 2  (−1)C2 + C3 → C3 x (2 − x) 0 0  = 2(2 − x)3 .
  
det(E) =  
 (−1)C1 + C2 → C2

 x x 2 2 

 x 0 (2 − x) 0 

 x x x 2  =  x 0 0 (2 − x) 

 

 0 0 0 a 

 0 0 b 6 
Problem 8. Show that   = abcd
 0 c 5 4 

 d 1 2 3 

Solution:
     

 0 0 0 a 


 a 0 0 0 


 a 0 0 0 

 0 0 b 6  C1 ↔ C4  6 0 b 0  C2 ↔ C3  6 b 0 0 
  −     = abcd

 0 c 5 4 
 =  4 c 5 0 
 = 
 4 5 c 0 

 d 1 2 3   3 1 2 d   3 2 1 d 

as the latest matrix is lower triangular.

 
 (b + c) (a + c) (a + b) 
 
Problem 9. Show that  a b c  = 0.

 1 1 1 

Solution:
   
 (b + c) (a + c) (a + b)   (a + b + c) (a + b + c) (a + b + c) 
  R2 + R1 → R1  
 a b c   a b c 
  =  
 1 1 1   1 1 1 
 
 1 1 1 
 
= (a + b + c)  a b c  = (a + b + c)0 = 0

 1 1 1 

because the first and third row of the latest matrix is proportional so that by applying the elememtary row
operation −R1 + R3 → R3 we obtain a zero row.

Problem 10. Let Q be a square matrix satisfying QT = Q−1 . Show that det(Q) is −1 or 1.
 Ergün Yaraneri
MAT 261E
yaraneri@itu.edu.tr

Solution: We recall that det(AT ) = det(A) for any square matrix A, and recall also that det(B −1 ) = 1
det(B) for
any invertible matrix B. Using these the problem is easy to solve;
1  2
QT = Q−1 =⇒ det(QT ) = det(Q−1 ) =⇒ det(Q) = =⇒ det(Q) = 1
det(Q)

=⇒ det(Q) = −1 or 1.

Problem 11. Given that  

 a b c 
 
 d e f  = 3,
 
 g h i 

compute the following determinants by using the properties of determinant function.

       
 −c b a   2a −4b 2c   a d g   a (b − 3a) c 
      
 −f e d  ;  d −2e f  ;  b e h  ;  2d (2e − 6d) 2f 
       
 −i h g   g −2h i   c f i   g (h − 3g) i 

Solution: This kind of problems are easily solved by finding the relation between the matrix whose determinant
is given and the matrix whose determinant is to be computed. For instance, we see that the relation between the
matrices    
a b c −c b a
 d e f   −f e d 
g h i −i h g
is that the second matrix can be obtained from the first one by applying the operations (−1)C3 and C1 ↔ C3 .
Then we may find the determinant of the second matrix by recalling how the determinant of a matrix changes
when we apply elementary row and column operations. For this example we easily see that the determinant of the
second matrix is (−1)(−1) times the determinant of the first matrix. Moreover we can argue in the reverse way,
that is we may apply the operations to the matrix whose determinant is to be computed to obtain the matrix
whose determinant is given in the problem.
     
 −c b a   c b a 
 C1 ↔ C3  a b c 
 
  
 −f e d  = −  f e d   d e f  = 3.

 −i h g 
 
 i h g 
 = 
 g h i 


     
 2a −4b 2c   a −2b c   a b c 
    
 d −2e f  = 2  d −2e f  = 2(−2)  d e f  = −4(3) = −12.
  
 g −2h i   g −2h i   g h i 
     T  
 a d g  a d g a d g  a b c 
   
 b e h  = det( b e h ) = det( b e h  ) =  d e f  = 3.
 
 c f i  c f i c f i  g h i 
     
 a (b − 3a) c   a (b − 3a) c   a b c 
 
 2d (2e − 6d) 2f  = 2  d 3C1 + C2 → C2   
(e − 3d) f  2  d e f  = 2(3) = 6.

 g (h − 3g)
  =
i   g (h − 3g) i   g h i 
 Ergün Yaraneri
MAT 261E
yaraneri@itu.edu.tr

Problem 12. Given  

a 0 0
A = diag(a, b, c) =  0 b 0  ,
0 0 c
find adj(A).

Solution:
     
1+1 
 b 0  1+2
 0 0  1+3
 0 b 
C11 = (−1)  0 c
 = bc ; C12 = (−1)
 0 c  = 0 ; C13 = (−1)
  
 0 =0
 0 
     
2+1  0 0  = 0 ; C22 = (−1)2+2  a 0  = ac ; C23 = (−1)2+3  a 0 
    
C21 = (−1)  0 c  0 c   0 =0
 0 
     
3+1  0 0  = 0 ; C32 = (−1)3+2  a 0  = 0 ; C33 = (−1)3+3  a 0 
    
C31 = (−1)  b 0  0 0   0 = ab
 b 
Hence  T  
bc 0 0 bc 0 0
adj(A) =  0 ac 0  =  0 ac 0  = diag(bc, ac, ab).
0 0 ab 0 0 ab

Problem 13. The inverse of a certain matrix A is given as

 
4 11 9
A−1 =  −1 −3 1  .
0 0 2

Use this information to find det(A) and adj(A).

Solution:  
 4 11 9   
−1  = 2(−1)3+3  4 11
   
det(A ) =  −1 −3 1   −1 −3
 = 2(−12 + 11) = −2.

 0 0 2 
Therefore
1 1
det(A) = −1
=−
det(A ) 2
To find adj(A) we use the following (!important) identity

adj(A)A = det(A)I.

If we multiply both sides of the above equality by A−1 from right we obtain
 
4 11 9
1
adj(A) = det(A)A−1 = −  −1 −3 1 
2
0 0 2

Problem 14. Let A be a 5 × 5 matrix with det(A) = −2. Calculate the following real numbers.

(a) det(−3A) (b) det(2AT ) (c) det(2A−1 ) (d) det (2A)−1 (e) det A−1 (AT )2

(f ) det(Aadj(3A)) (g) det(2adj(A−1 )) (h) det(adj(A2 ))

 Ergün Yaraneri
MAT 261E
yaraneri@itu.edu.tr

Solution: To solve this problem we need to recall the formulas given in the footnote 1 . Note that all matrices in
this problem are 5 × 5 matrices.
(a):
det(−3A) = (−3)5 det(A) = (−3)5 (−2) = 486.

(b):
det(2AT ) = (2)5 det(AT ) = 25 det(A) = 32(−2) = −64.

(c):
25 32
det(2A−1 ) = 25 det(A−1 ) = = = −16.
det(A) −2

(d):
1 1 1 1
det (2A)−1 =



= 5 = 5 =− .
det (2A) 2 det(A) 2 (−2) 64

(e):
1
det A−1 (AT )2 = det(A−1 ) det(AT ) det(AT ) =


det(A) det(A) = det(A) = −2.
det(A)

(f ):
(3A)adj(3A) = det(3A)I5 = 35 det(A)I5 = 35 (−2)I5
Therefore
5
Aadj(3A) = 34 (−2)I5 =⇒ det Aadj(3A) = det 34 (−2)I5 = 34 (−2) .

(g):
1 1
adj(A−1 )A−1 = det(A−1 )I5 = I5 = − I5
det(A) 2
Therefore
1
adj(A−1 )A−1 (2A) = − I5 (2A) =⇒ 2adj(A−1 ) = −A.
2
Consequently,
det 2adj(A−1 ) = det(−A) = (−1)5 det(A) = (−1)5 (−2) = 2.

(h):
adj(A2 )A2 = det(A2 )I5 = det(A) det(A)I5 = (−2)(−2)I5 = 4I5 .
Therefore,
adj(A2 )A2 (A−2 ) = 4I5 A−2 =⇒ adj(A2 ) = 4A−2 .
Consequently,
1 1 1 1
det adj(A2 ) = det(4A−2 ) = 45 det(A−2 ) = 4 det(A−1 ) det(A−1 ) = 4


=4 = 1.
det(A) det(A) −2 −2

1
(1) For any square matrix A we have det(A) = det(AT )
(2) For any square matrices A and B of the same sizes we have det(AB) = det(A) det(B)
(3) For any n × n matrix A and any scalar (i.e., a real number) c we have det(cA) = cn det(A)
(4) For any n × n matrix A we have Aadj(A) = det(A)In = adj(A)A
(5) For any invertible matrix A we have det(A−1 ) = det(A)
1
 Ergün Yaraneri
MAT 261E
yaraneri@itu.edu.tr

Problem 15. Let A be a 3 × 3 matrix with det(A) = −1. Express the matrix adj(2A) in terms of A−1 .

Solution: Recall that for any square matrix B we have the formula

adj(B)B = det(B)I.

Putting B = 2A we get
adj(2A)(2A) = det(2A)I3 = 23 det(A)I3 = −8I3 .
This gives;
adj(2A)A = −4I3 =⇒ adj(2A)AA−1 = −4I3 A−1 .
Consequently,
adj(2A) = −4A−1 .

 
2 −2 2 2
 −2 3 −2 2 
Problem 16. Find the determinant of the matrix 
 2 −2
.
2 0 
−2 2 0 2

Solution:    
 2 −2 2 2   2 0 2 2   
     2 2 2 
 −2 3 −2 2  C1 + C2 → C2  −2 1 −2 2 
 = (1)(−1)2+2  2 2 0 
 
 
 2 −2 2 0  =  2 0 2 0   
   −2 0 2 
 −2 2 0 2   −2 0 0 2 
 
 0 0 2   
(−1)R2 + R1 → R1   0 2 
2+2 
 2 2 0  = 2(−1)  −2 2  = 2(0 + 4) = 8.
 
=  −2 0 2 

Problem 17. Solve the following linear system by Cramer’s rule.

5x − 2y = a
3x − y = b

Solution: We can write the given linear system as the following matrix equation:
    
5 −2 x a
= .
3 −1 y b
We note that the determinant of the coefficient matrix
 
5 −2
3 −1
is 1 which is nonzero. As a result, Cramer’s rule is applicable to the given system implying that the system has a
unique solution given by    
 a −2   5 a 
   
 b −1   3 b 
x=   = −a + 2b, y =   = 5b − 3a.
 5 −2   5 −2 
   
 3 −1   3 −1 
 Ergün Yaraneri
MAT 261E
yaraneri@itu.edu.tr

Problem 18. 2 Let  

a11 a12 a13
A =  a21 a22 a23 
a31 a32 a33
be a matrix whose determinant is equal to −2. Suppose that A satisfies the following matrix equation
   
1 e
A 2  =  f .
−3 g

Find the following determinant  

 a11 a12 e 
 
 a21 a22 f  .
 
 a31 a32 g 

Solution: From the given matrix equation,


  
1 e
A 2  =  f ,
−3 g

we see that x = 1, y = 2, z = −3 is a solution of the following linear system

   
x e
A y  =  f .
z g

Since the coefficient matrix A of the above linear system is invertible (because det(A) 6= 0), by Cramer’s rule the
above system has a unique solution given by
det(A1 ) det(A2 ) det(A3 )
x= , y= , z=
det(A) det(A) det(A)

where Ai is the matrix obtained from A by replacing its ith column by the column matrix
 
e
 f .
g

So in particular    
 a11 a12 e   a11 a12 e 
   
 a21 a22 f   a21 a22 f 
   
 a31 a32 g   a31 a32 g 
−3 = z = = .
det(A) −2
Therefore,  
 a11 a12 e 
 
 a21 a22 f  = 6.
 
 a31 a32 g 

  
x e
2
Hints For Problem 18: Try to solve the linear system A  y  =  f  by Cramer’s rule.
z g
 Ergün Yaraneri
MAT 261E
yaraneri@itu.edu.tr

Problem 19. Let A be 4 × 4 matrix. Suppose that the matrix B is obtained from A by interchanging its first
and fourth columns. If det(B) = det(A), then what is det(A)? Explain your answer.

Solution: Recall that if we interchange two different columns of a matrix then its determinant is multiplied by
−1. Hence det(B) = − det(A). Since it is also given that det(B) = det(A), we have that det(A) = − det(A). Hence
det(A) = 0.

   
2 5 2 2
Problem 20. Let A = and B = . Compute det(A19 B 3 ).
3 7 2 3

Solution: As A and B are 2 × 2 matrices we easily calculate their determinants as:

   
 2 5   2 2 
det(A) = 
  = (2)(7) − (3)(5) = −1 and det(B) =    = (2)(3) − (2)(2) = 2.
3 7  2 3 

Then, by the properties of determinant function we have:

19
3
det(A19 B 3 ) = det(A) det(B) = (−1)19 (2)3 = (−1)(8) = −8.