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2.19 Find the determinant of the following matrix:

Solution
The long way to find the determinant of this matrix is to use the definition, Eq. (2.40). This is done in the
following steps:
1. start with the first element in the first row multiplied by other elements whose first indices are successive:
a 11 a 2x a 3x a 4x .
2. Next, set the second indices (arbitrarily) in order: a 11 a 22 a 33 a 44 . Note that none of the second indices are
repeated
3. write down the permutations on the second index with no repetitions, and keeping track of how many index
changes are necessary to go back to the original sequence of the second index in step (2), a 11 a 22 a 33 a 44 . For
example, the first permutation is the product a 11 a 23 a 32 a 44 , which requires 1 index change to restore it to the
form in step (2). The next permutation is a 11 a 24 a 33 a 42 which requires 1 change (interchanging the 2 and the 4 in
the second subscripts of a 22 and a 44 ). There will be 3! or 6 such permutations multiplying a 11 , with the number
of permutations required to revert to the original a 11 a 22 a 33 a 44 in step(2) in parentheses:
a 11 a 22 a 33 a 44 ( k = 0 ), a 11 a 22 a 34 a 43 ( k = 1 ), a 11 a 24 a 33 a 42 ( k = 1 ), a 11 a 24 a 32 a 43 ( k = 2 ), a 11 a 23 a 32 a 44
( k = 1 ), and a 11 a 23 a 34 a 42 ( k = 2 ).
4. Repeat steps (1), (2) and (3) with the second entry of the first row, a 12 : a 12 a 2x a 3x a 4x , followed by a 12 a 21 a 33 a 44 ,
whose permutations and number of interchanges are respectively:
a 12 a 21 a 33 a 44 ( k = 1 ), a 12 a 21 a 34 a 43 ( k = 2 ), a 12 a 24 a 33 a 41 ( k = 2 ), a 12 a 24 a 31 a 43 ( k = 3 ), a 12 a 23 a 31 a 44
(k=2), and
a 12 a 23 a 34 a 41 ( k = 3 ).
5. Repeat steps (1), (2) and (3) with the third entry of the first row, a 13 : a 13 a 2x a 3x a 4x , followed by a 13 a 21 a 32 a 44 ,
whose permutations and number of interchanges are respectively:
a 13 a 21 a 32 a 44 ( k = 2 ), a 13 a 21 a 34 a 42 ( k = 3 ), a 13 a 22 a 31 a 44 ( k = 3 ), a 13 a 24 a 32 a 41 ( k = 3 ), a 13 a 24 a 31 a 42
( k = 2 ), and a 13 a 22 a 34 a 41 ( k = 2 ).

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6. Repeat steps (1), (2) and (3) with the fourth entry of the first row, a 14 : a 14 a 2x a 3x a 4x , followed by a 14 a 21 a 32 a 43 ,
whose permutations and number of interchanges are respectively:
a 14 a 21 a 32 a 43 ( k = 3 ), a 14 a 21 a 33 a 42 ( k = 2 ), a 14 a 22 a 31 a 43 ( k = 2 ), a 14 a 23 a 32 a 41 ( k = 2 ), a 14 a 23 a 31 a 42
( k = 3 ), and a 14 a 22 a 33 a 41 ( k = 1 ).
k
7. Add the terms from steps (3), (4), (5), and (6) each multiplied by their respective coefficient ( – 1 ) :
0 1 1 2 1
( – 1 ) a 11 a 22 a 33 a 44 + ( – 1 ) a 11 a 22 a 34 a 43 + ( – 1 ) a 11 a 24 a 33 a 42 + ( – 1 ) a 11 a 24 a 32 a 43 + ( – 1 ) a 11 a 23 a 32 a 44
2 1 2 2 3
+ ( – 1 ) a 11 a 23 a 34 a 42 + ( – 1 ) a 12 a 21 a 33 a 44 + ( – 1 ) a 12 a 21 a 34 a 43 + ( – 1 ) a 12 a 24 a 33 a 41 + ( – 1 ) a 12 a 24 a 31 a 43
2 3 2 3 3
+ ( – 1 ) a 12 a 23 a 31 a 44 + ( – 1 ) a 12 a 23 a 34 a 41 + ( – 1 ) a 13 a 21 a 32 a 44 + ( – 1 ) a 13 a 21 a 34 a 42 + ( – 1 ) a 13 a 22 a 31 a 44
3 2 2 3 2
+ ( – 1 ) a 13 a 24 a 32 a 41 + ( – 1 ) a 13 a 24 a 31 a 42 + ( – 1 ) a 13 a 22 a 34 a 41 + ( – 1 ) a 14 a 21 a 32 a 43 + ( – 1 ) a 14 a 21 a 33 a 42
2 2 3 1
+ ( – 1 ) a 14 a 22 a 31 a 43 + ( – 1 ) a 14 a 23 a 32 a 41 + ( – 1 ) a 14 a 23 a 31 a 42 + ( – 1 ) a 14 a 22 a 33 a 41
Substituting the numbers,
( 2 )( 1 )( 1 )( 0 ) – ( 2 )( 1 )( 9 )( 0 ) – ( 2 )( 0 )( 1 )( 1 ) + ( 2 )( 0 )( 1 )( 0 ) – ( 2 )( 1 )( 1 )( 0 )
+ ( 2 )( 1 )( 9 )( 1 ) – ( 0 )( 1 )( 1 )( 0 ) + ( 0 )( 1 )( 9 )( 0 ) + ( 0 )( 0 )( 1 )( 1 ) – ( 0 )( 0 )( 5 )( 0 )
+ ( 0 ) ( 1 ) ( 5 ) ( 0 ) –( 0 )( 1 ) ( 9 ) ( 1 ) + ( 0 ) ( 1 )( 1 ) ( 0 ) – ( 0 ) ( 1 ) ( 9 ) ( 1 ) – ( 0 ) ( 1 ) ( 5 ) ( 0 )
– ( 0)(0)(1)(1) + (0)( 0)(5)(1) + (0)(1)( 9)(1) – (3)( 1)(1)(0) + (3)(1)( 1)(1)
+ ( 3 )( 1 )( 5 )( 0 ) + ( 3 )( 1 )( 1 )( 1 ) – ( 3 )( 1 )( 5 )( 1 ) – ( 3 )( 1 )( 1 )( 1 )
which simplifies to 18 + 3 + 3 – 15 – 3 = 6 .

Thus, the determinant of the given matrix is 6.

There exists a simpler way of calculating the determinant. It can be shown that
i+j
det ( A ) = a 1j C 1j + a 2j C 2j + a 3j C 3j + … + a nj C nj , where C ij = ( – 1 ) det ( M ij ) is called the cofactor of the
minor matrix M ij which is formed by deleting row i and column j. Applying this formula yields:

1 10 0 0 3 0 0 3 0 0 3
2 3 4 5
2 ( – 1 ) det 1 1 9 + 1 ( – 1 ) det 1 1 9 + 5 ( – 1 ) det 1 1 0 + 1 ( – 1 ) det 1 1 0
1 00 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 1 9
= 2 ( 1 ⋅ 0 – 1 ⋅ –9 + 0 ⋅ –1 ) – ( 0 ⋅ 0 – 0 ⋅ –9 + 3 ⋅ –1 ) + 5 ( 0 ⋅ 0 – 0 ⋅ 0 + 3 ⋅ –1 ) – ( 0 ⋅ 9 – 0 ⋅ 9 + 3 ⋅ 0 )
= 2 ( 9 ) – ( – 3 ) + 5 ( – 3 ) – ( 0 ) = 18 + 3 – 15 = 6

Excerpts from this work may be reproduced by instructors for distribution on a not-for-profit basis
for testing or instructional purposes only to students enrolled in courses for which the textbook
has been adopted. Any other reproduction or translation of this work beyond that permitted by
Sections 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act without the permission of the
copyright owner is unlawful.