Hello

There are many useful applications of the determinant. Cofactor expansion is

one technique in computing determinants. Now, we discuss how to find these
cofactors through minors of a matrix and use both of these elements to find the
adjoint of A. Then by the adjoint and determinant, we can develop a formula for
finding the inverse of a matrix.
Minors:
To find the minors of any matrix, expand block out every row and column one at
a time until all the minors are found.
Steps to Finding Each Minor Of A Matrix:
1. Delete the ith row and jth column of the matrix.
2. Compute the determinant of the remaining matrix after deleting the row and
column of step 1.
Example: Find the minors of the matrix

111
211
112
.
*Note: This step procedure just outlines finding the minor M11 of the matrix.
1. Delete the ith row and jth column of the matrix.

111
211
112
2. Compute the determinant of the remaining matrix after deleting the row and
column of step 1.
( 1)( 1) (1)(1) 0

11
11
det
111
211
112
11

M
Using the same steps above, the other minors of the matrix are given below.
3
11
21
det 12

M 3
11
21
det 13

M
1
11
12
det 21

M 3
11
12
det 22

M
2
11
11
det 23

M 1
11
12
det 31

3
21
12
det 32

M 1
21
11
det 33

M
Thus, the minor matrix is given by

131
132
033
M
Cofactors:
To find the cofactors of a matrix, just use the minors and apply the following
formula:
Cij = (-1)i + j Mij
where Mij is the minor in the ith row, jth position of the matrix.
Example: Find the cofactors of the matrix

111
211
112
.
We know that the minor matrix is given by

131
132
033
M . So computing the
cofactor matrix C yields

131
132
033
C
Adjoint:
To find the adjoint of a matrix denoted by adj(A), just transpose the cofactor
matrix.
Example: Find the adjoint of the matrix

111
211
112
.
Since we know the cofactor matrix, we can just transpose the matrix which yields
the following result.

331
333
011
131
132
033
()
T

adj A C
Finding Inverses Using the Adjoint:
The inverse can be easily calculated using the following formula:
()
det( )
1 1 adj A
A
A
Example: Using the adjoint, find the inverse of the matrix