Inverses

We call the matrix A invertible if there exists a matrix A 1 such that AA 1 =A 1A = I. In that case, we call
A 1 the inverse of A. For 2 ⇥ 2 matrices, we have the following formula:
✓ ◆ 1 ✓ ◆
a b 1 d b
= , provided ad bc 6= 0.
c d ad bc c a

If A is invertible, then the linear system Ax = b has unique solution x = A 1 b. In particular, Ax = 0 will only
have the trivial solution x = 0.

Properties
• (AB) 1 =B 1A 1 and (kA) 1 =k 1A 1 for k 6= 0
• (AT ) 1 = (A 1 )T

Determinants

For 2 ⇥ 2 matrices, we have the following formula:

✓ ◆
a b a b
det = = ad bc
c d c d

For larger square matrices, the determinant is calculated using a cofactor expansion.
• The cofactor expansion of a matrix is independent of the row or column chosen
• Remember when doing a cofactor expansion, to pick the row/column with the most zeros. Keep in mind
that the sign for each entry alternates according to the following pattern:
0 1
+ - + - ...
B - + - + . . .C
B C
B+ - + - . . .C
@ A
.. .. .. ..
. . . .

Properties
• If A and B are square matrices of the same size, then det(AB) = det(A) det(B)
• If A is a n ⇥ n matrix and k 2 R, then det(kA) = k n det(A)
• In general, det(A + B) 6= det(A) + det(B)
• The determinant of a triangular matrix is just the product of the diagonal entries
• Swapping two rows or columns changes the determinant by a factor of 1
1
• Multiplying a row/column by k 6= 0 changes the determinant by a factor of k

• Adding a multiple of one row/column to another doesn’t change the determinant

Given a matrix A,
1
A exists () det(A) 6= 0
If A 1 exists, then
1 1
det(A )=
det(A)
Exercise Set 1.4
✓ ◆ ✓ ◆
1 1 3 4
31. (a) A = and B = (b) (A + B)(A B) = A2 AB + BA B 2 (c) AB = BA
2 2 3 4
1 1 1 1 1
33. (a) A = A 2I (b) Proof 45. (a) Proof (b) A +B =A (A + B)B

Exercise Set 1.5

0 1 0 1 0p p 1 0 1
2 3 2
40 16 9 1 3 1 26
p p26
0 3.5 0 3
B C
11. (a) @ 13 5 3A (b) N/A 12(a) @ 0 1 1A (b) N/A 14. @ 2 2 2
0 A 15. @ 1 1 0A
13 26
5 2 1 2 2 0 0 0 1 0 1 1
0 1
1 0 0 0 0 1
B 1 2 1 0
1
0 0C
16. B
@ 0
3 3 C 27. @ 1 1 0A 30. Proof
1
5
1
5 0A
1 1 2 1 1
0 0 7 7

Exercise Set 1.6

0 1 0 1
11 12 3 27 26 27 25 25 23
18. (a) x = (0, 0, 0) (b) x = t(1, 0, 1), t 2 R 19. X = @ 6 8 1 18 17A 20. X = 1 @
9
36 40 40 44A
15 21 9 38 35 18 23 32 37
21. Proof 22. Proof 23. Proof

Exercise Set 1.7

01 0 7 1 0 1 0 31
x1 4 x1 2
40. (a) @x2 A = @ 1 A (b) @x2 A = @ 52 A
1
x3 2 x3 3

Exercise Set 2.1

21. 40 22. 66 23. 0 24. k 3 8k 2 10k + 95 25. 240 26. 0 37. If n = 1, then the determinant is 1. If
n 2, then the determinant is 0. 38. The maximum number of zeros is 6. 39. Only addition, subtraction and
multiplication of the entries of a matrix are involved when calculating the determinant; so fractional entries never
arise.
T/F (a) False (b) False (c) True (d) True (e) True (f) True (g) False (h) False (i) False (j) True

Exercise Set 2.2

9. 33 10. 30 13. 2 14. 39 15. 6 18. 6 22. 0 T/F (a) T (b) T (c) F (d) F (e) T (f) T

Exercise Set 2.3

5. det(A + B) 6= det(A) + det(B) 6. det(A + B) 6= det(A) + det(B)
p
5± 17 1
15. k 6= 2 16. k 6= ±2 17. k 6= 1 18. k 6= 4 36. Proof 37. Proof

Chapter 2 Supplementary Exercises

35. HINT: Add 10000 multiples of the first column, 1000 multiples of the second column, 100 multiples of the third
column and 10 multiples of the fourth column to the fifth column.
36. HINT: Subtract (cos ) multiples of the 1st column and (sin ) multiples of the 2nd column from the third column.

Tutorial Questions
0 1 0 1
✓ ◆ 1 0 2 0 0 1
0 1
1. (a) (b) @0 1 0A (c) @0 1 0A
1 0
1 0 1 0 2
0 1 0 1
7 3 11 17 13 21
(Additional Questions) 3(a) @ 5 2 8 A (b) @ 4 3 5 A 5. (x, y, z) = ( 1, 1, 0)
1 0 1 2 2 3