INTERMEDIATE METHODS:

THE DETERMINANT
THE DETERMINANT
 A determinant determines whether or not a matrix is
nonsingular.
 A square matrix is nonsingular if and only if the
determinant is nonzero.
 To mathematically define the determinant of a square
matrix, we must first define a Minor and a Cofactor.
 Minor:
 Let A be a nxn matrix. Let Aij be the (n-1)x(n-1) matrix
obtained by deleting row i and column j of A.
 The Minor of A is a scalar: Mij = detAij
 Cofactor:
 The cofactor of A is a scalar: Cij = (-1)i+jMij
THE DETERMINANT
 The Determinant:
 det A = a11C11 + a12C12 + ... + a1nC1n
 det A = a11M11 – a12M12 + ... + (-1)1+nM1n
 Example with a 3x3 Matrix:
a11 a12 a13
a22 a23 a21 a23 a21 a22
a21 a22 a23  a11  a12  a13
a32 a33 a31 a33 a31 a32
a31 a32 a33

 To compute the determinant of a 2x2 matrix (the det of a

1x1 matrix is simply the number) do the below:
a b
 ad  bc
c d
THE DETERMINANT
a11 a12 a13
 You can, in fact, use any column or
row to calculate the determinant for
the matrix – however, you must a21 a22 a23 
stick to it!
 Two main shortcuts when a31 a32 a33
calculating the determinant of a
Matrix:
 Triangular + Diagonal Matrices:  a11 a12 a13 
 The determinant is simply the  
product of the diagonal (top left to
bottom right) entries. Holds for both  a21 a22 a23 

upper and lower triangle matrices.
3x3 Matrices:
a a32 a33 
 Shown in the Matrix to the right.  31 
 Add together the products of the
elements on the red lines, subtract  a11 a12 a13 
the products of the elements on the a a22 a23 
blue lines.
 21
THE DETERMINANT
 Uses of the determinant are primarily for finding the inverse
and using Cramer’s rule.
 However, before that we must define an ADJOINT
MATRIX:
 An adjoint matrix is a transposed Matrix of cofactors. To obtain a
matrix of cofactors replace the i,jth element with Ci,j .
 To receive the Adjoint matrix, you then TRANSPOSE it.

 Inverse of a Matrix using determinants:

 A-1 = (1 / detA).Adj A
 Cramer’s Rule:
 Xi = (det Bi) / (det A)
 Where Xi is the ith unknown in the set X = (x1,..., xn)
 Where Bi is the Matrix A with the ‘ith’ column being replaced by the
right hand side column vector ‘b’:
 This is based off the logic that Ax = b