Adv.

Engg Math

Determinants
Definition

Determinant
is a scalar quantity
associated with a
square matrix.
Definition of a Determinant

 If A is a square matrix of order 2 or greater,

then the determinant of A is the sum of the
entries in the first row of A multiplied by their
cofactors. That is,

n
det( A)  A   a1, j C1, j .
j 1
LaPlace’s expansion of a determinant

 Theorem: Let A be a square matrix of order

n. Then for any i,j,
n
det( A)  A   ai , jCi, j
 or j 1

n
det( A)  A   ai , jCi, j .
i1
PROPERTIES OF DETERMINANTS:
Let A be a square matrix:
1. If A has a row or column of 0’s, then
det(A) = 0
2. If A has two identical rows or columns, then
det(A) = 0
3. If A is an identity matrix, then
det(A) = 1
4. If A is a triangular matrix, then
det(A) = product of its main
diagonal elements
 PROPERTIES OF DETERMINANTS:

Let A and B be square matrices:

1. If B is obtained from A by interchanging 2
rows or two columns then
det(B) = -det(A)
2. If B is obtained from A by adding a multiple
of one row to another row then,
det(B) = det(A)
3. If B is obtained from A by multiplying a row
of A by a constant k then,
det(B) = kdet(A)
4. If B is obtained from A by multiplying
n rows or columns of A with a constant k
then,
det(B) = kn * det(A)
5. If B is obtained from A by multiplying row(s)
or column(s) of A with varied constants k1,
k2, kx then,
det(B) = k1 k2 kx * det(A)
6. If B is obtained from A by adding a multiple
of a row or column of A to another row or
column thus forming new elements for the
latter, then
det(B) = det(A)
Some other properties of determinants

1. det(AB) = det(A) *det(B).

2. det(cA) = cndet(A)

3. If A is invertible then det(A-1) = 1/det(A).

4. det(A) = det(AT).
Another way to simplify matrices

 Fact: When elementary column operations

are applied to a matrix A to obtain a matrix
B, they have the same effect on the
determinant as row operations.
Determinants by cofactors:
Minor and cofactor of a matrix entry
Definition:
If A is a square matrix, then the minor of entry aij is denoted
by Mij and is defined to be the determinant of submatrix that
remains after the ith row and jth column are deleted from A.
The number (-1)i+jMij is denoted by Cij and is called the
cofactor of entry aij.
a11 a12 a13
A= a21 a22 a23
For 3x3 matrix
a31 a32 a33

a22 a23
M11 = C11 =(-1)1+1 M11 = M11
a32 a33
 1 2 3
Example 4 A= 2 5 3
1 0 8

5 3
The minor of M11= = 5X8 - 3X0=40
a11 is: 0 8

The cofactor
of a11 is: C11=(-1)i+jMij=(-1)2M11=M11=40
1 2
The minor of M23= = 1X0 - 2X1=-2
a23 is: 1 0

The cofactor
of a23 is: C23=(-1)i+jMij=(-1)5M23 =-M23 =2
Finding determinant using the cofactor
a11 a12 a13
a21 a22 a23
a31 a32 a33
a22 a23 a21 a23 a21 a22
C11=
C12= - C13=
a32 a33 a31 a33 a31 a32

a11 a12 a13

a21 a22 a23 = a11C11 +a12C12 +a13C13

a31 a32 a33

And for nxn matrix: = a11C11 +a12C12 +…..+a1nC1n

 Example: evaluate det(A) for:

1 0 2 -3
A= 3 4 0 1
det(A) = a11C11 +a12C12 + a13C13 +a14C14
-1 5 2 -2
0 1 1 3
4 0 1 3 0 1 3 4 1
det(A)=(1) 5 2 -2 - (0) -1 2 -2 +2 -1 5 -2
1 1 3 0 1 3 0 1 3
3 4 0
- (-3) -1 5 2 = (1)(35)-0+(2)(62)-(-3)(13)=198
0 1 1
 Example 5: evaluate
1 5 -3
det(A)= 2
1 0
2

3 third
By a cofactor along the -1 column

det(A)=a13C13 +a23C23+a33C33

1 0 1 5 1 5
det(A)= -3* (-1)4 +2*(-1)5 +2*(-1)6
3 -1 3 -1 1 0

= det(A)= -3(-1-0)+2(-1)5(-1-15)+2(0-5)=25
 Class assignment: Exercise set 2.1-2
 Let
-1 2 3
A= 4 1 -6
-3 5 2
• Find det(A) using
• (a) the duplicate column method.
• (b) cofactor expansion along the first row.
• (c) cofactor expansion along the third row.
• (d) cofactor expansion along the first column.
• (e) cofactor expansion along the second column.
 Solution

a)
b)
c)
Using Multiple rows or columns in a
Laplace Expansion Method

Refer to board notes