Chapter eight

Matrices and Determinants

A matrix is a rectangular array of elements (scalars) from a

field. The order, or size, of a matrix is specified by the number of
rows and the number of columns, i.e. A an “m by n” matrix
has m rows and n columns, and the element in the i th row
and j th column is often denoted by aij :

 a 11 a 12 .... a1 n 
a a 22 .... a 2 n 
 21
 
A  a ij   .... .... .... .... 
 
 .... .... .... .... 
 a m 1 am 2 .... a mn 

A vector is a matrix with a single row (or column) of n

elements , i.e. the column vector is:-
 a1 
a 
 2
A . and row vector is A  a 1 a2 . . an 
 
 .
 a n 

The matrix is square if the number of rows and columns are

equal (i.e. m = n) and the elements aij of a square matrix are
called the main diagonal.

1 0 .... 0
0 1 .... 0 

The identity matrix: I   .... .... .... .... is square matrix
 
 .... .... .... ....
 0 0 .... 1 
with one in each main diagonal position and zeros else.

١
  a1 0 .... 0
0 a2 .... 0 

The diagonal matrix D   .... .... .... ....  has the elements
 
 .... .... .... .... 
 0 0 .... a n 
a1, a2 ,…..,an in its main diagonal position and zeros in all other
locations, some of the ai may be zero but not all.

A n  n triangular matrix has the pattern:-

a11 a12 .... a1 n   a11 0 .... 0 
0 a
 22 .... a 2 n  a
 21 a 22 .... 0 

 .... .... .... ....  or  .... .... .... .... 
   
 .... .... .... ....   .... .... .... .... 
 0 0 .... a nn   a n 1 a n 2 .... a nn 
lower triangular matrix upper triangular matrix

0 0 .... 0
0 0 .... 0 

The m  n null matrix:- 0   .... .... .... ....  has zero in each of
 
 .... .... .... .... 
 0 0 .... 0 
its positions.

Elementary operations with matrices and vectors

1. Equality:- Two m  n matrices and A and B are said to be

equal if: a ij  bij  pairs of i and j.

EX-1 – Find the values of x , y for the following matrix equation:

 x  2 y 0  3 0 
 2 
 6    2 x  y 


Sol. –

٢
 x  2y  3
x  2y  3 ....(1)  2 x  2 y  12
 
x y6 ....(2)  2 3 x  15  x  5

substitution x  5 in (2)  5  y  6  y  1

2. Addition:- The sum of two matrices of like dimensions is the

matrix of the sum of the corresponding elements. If:-
 a11 a12 .... a1 n   b11 b12 .... b1 n 
a a 22 .... a 2 n  b b22 .... b2 n 
A  21
, B  21

 .... .... .... ....   .... .... .... .... 

   
 a m 1 a m 2 .... a mn   bm 1 bm 2 .... bmn 
then
 a11  b11 a12  b12 .... a1 n  b1 n 
 a b a  b .... a  b 
A B   
21 21 22 22 2 n 2 n

 .... .... .... .... 

 
 a m 1  bm 1 a m 2  bm 2 .... a mn  bmn 
thus:
1) A+B = B+A
2) A+(B+C) = (A+B)+C
3) A-(B-C) = A-B+C

EX-2- Find A+B and A-B if:-

2 1 3  1  2 2 
A   2 3  1
, B
1 0  2 

Sol.-

2  1 1  2 3  2  3  1 5 
A B    3 3  3
 1  2 0  3  2  1  

 2  1 1  ( 2 ) 32   1 3 1 
A B   
  
 1  2 0  ( 3 )  2  ( 1 )   1  3  1

٣
3. Multiplication by a scalar:- The matrix A is multiplied by the
scalar C by multiplying each element of A by c:-
 ca 11 ca 12 .... ca 1 n 
 ca 
 21 ca 22 .... ca 2 n 
CA   .... .... .... .... 
 
 .... .... .... .... 
 ca m 1 ca m 2 .... ca mn 

3 2 1 
EX-3- Assume A    , find 3A.
 0 5  1

Sol.-

3  3 32 3  1  9 6 3 
3A   
3  0 35 3  ( 1 ) 0 15  3 

4. Matrix multiplication:- For the matrix product AB to be defined

it is necessary that the number of columns of A be equal to the
number of rows of B. The dimensions of such matrices are said to be
conformable. If A is of dimensions mp and B is pn , then the ij th
element of the product C=AB is computed as:-
p
C ij  
k1
a ik b kj

This is the sum of the products of corresponding elements in the i th

row of A and j th column of B. The dimensions of AB are of
course mn.

6 5 4 
 1 2 3   1 1  1
  1 0 and B 
1 
EX-4- Assume A   find AB.
  0 2 0 

Sol.-

 1  6  2( 1 )  3  0 1 5  2  1  3  2 1  4  2( 1 )  3  0 
AB   
 1  6  0( 1 )  1  0  1  5  0  1  1  2  1  4  0( 1 )  1  0 
 4 13 2 
 
 6  3  4 

٤
Properties of multiplication:-
a ) A( B  C )  AB  AC distributi ve law
b) A(BC)  (AB)C associativ e law
c) AB  BA commutativ e law does not hold
d) AI  IA  A

1 2  3  1
EX-5- Assume A    and B    , verify that AB  BA .
0 3 2 1 

Sol.-

1 2 3  1 7 1  3  1 1 2  3 3
AB        & BA    0 3  2 7 
0 3  2 1   6 3  2 1    
Hence AB  BA

5. Transpose of matrix:- Let A is any mn matrix the transpose of A

is nm matrix A formed by interchanging the role of rows and
columns.

 a 11 a 12 .... a 1 n   a 11 a 21 .... a m 1 
a a 22 .... a 2 n  a a 22 .... a m 2 
A   21
  12

 .... .... .... ....   .... .... .... .... 

   
 a m 1 a m 2 .... a mn   a 1 n a 2 n .... a mn 
If a matrix is square and equal to its transpose, it is said to be
symmetric, then aij = aji for all pairs of i and j.

Properties of transpose are:-

a ) ( A  B)  A  B
b) (AB )  BA

c)  A   A

3 2 5 4  1 0 
  and B  5 4 3  , show that:-
EX-6- Assume A  2  1 4
5 4 0   2 1  1

1 ) A is symmetric matrix 2 ) ( A  B)  A  B

3) (AB )  BA

٥
Sol.-


3 2 5 3 2 5 
1 ) A   2  1 4    2  1 4   A  A is a symmetric matrix.
5 4 0  5 4 0 


7 1 5  7 7 7 
2) L.H.S.  (A  B)  7 3 7    1 3 5 
7 5  1 5 7  1
3 2 5  4 5 2  7 7 7 
R.H.S.  A  B   2  1 4    1 4 1    1 3 5   L.H .S .
5 4 0   0 3  1 5 7  1
 (A  B)  A  B


 32 10 1   32 11 40
3) L.H.S.  (AB)   11  2  7   10  2 11 
40 11 12   1  7 12
4 5 2   3 2 5   32 11 40
R.H.S.  BA   1 4 1   2  1 4   10  2 11   L.H .S .
 0 3  1 5 4 0   1  7 12

 (AB)  BA

6. Vector inner product:- The inner product of two vectors with the
same number of elements is defined to be the sum of the products of
the corresponding elements:-

 b1 
b  n
A B  a 1 an     a
2
a2  bi
 i1
i

 
 bn 
Since the inner product is a scalar, hence A B  BA . Moreover, the
inner product of two vectors may be taken the following term:-

٦
  a1   a 1b1 a 1 b2  a 1 bn 
a  a b  a 2 bn 
A B     b1 b2  bn  
2  2 1 a 2 b2
      
   
an   a n b1 a n b2  a n bn 
Which is n  n matrix.

5 2
   
EX-7- Let A   2 and B   1 , find A B and AB 
 1   3 

Sol.-
 2 
A B  5 2 1    1   5  2  (  2 )  (  1 )  1  3  15
 3 
 5   10  5 15 
A B     2  2  1 3     4 2  6 
 1   2  1 3 

Determinants
The minor of the element aij in a matrix A is the determinant of
the matrix that remains when the row and column containing aij are
deleted. For example, let:-
 a11 a12 a13 
 a12 a13 
A   a 21 a 23  then the minor of a 21 is 
a 33 
a 22
 a 31 a 32 a 33   a 32

 a11 a12 a13 a 14 

a  a11 a13 
a 24 
a 12
then the minor of a 34 is  a 21 a 23 
a 22 a 23
A
21
a 22
 a 31 a 32 a 33 a 34 
   a 41 a 42 a 43 
 a 41 a 42 a 43 a 44 

and so on .

٧
 The cofactor of aij is the determinant Aij that is (-1)i+j times the
minor of aij . Thus:-
a 11 a 12 a 11 a 12
for matrix (3  3)  A23  (  1 )2  3 
a 31 a 32 a 31 a 32
a 11 a 13 a 14 a 11 a 13 a 14
for matrix (4  4)  A31  (  1 )3  1 a 22 a 23 a 24  a 22 a 23 a 24
a 42 a 43 a 44 a 42 a 43 a 44

With each square matrix A we associate a number det A or A

or a ij called the determinant of A, calculated from the entries of A
in the following way:-
for n  1 , A  a   A  a
a a 12 
for n  2 , A   11  A  a 11 a 22  a 12 a 21
 a 21 a 22  _ _ _

 a 11 a 12 a 13  a 11 a 12 a 13 a 11 a 12
for n  3 , A   a 21 a 22 a 23   A  a 21 a 22 a 23 a 21 a 22
 a 31 a 32 a 33  a 31 a 32 a 33 a 31 a 32

+ + +
A  a 11 a 22 a 33  a 12 a 23 a 31  a 13 a 21 a 32  a 13 a 22 a 31  a 11 a 23 a 32  a 12 a 21 a 33 

The determinant of a square matrix can be calculated from the

cofactors of any row or any column.

2 1 3
 
EX-8- Find the determinant of the matrix:- A   3  1  2
 2 3 1 
Sol.- _ _ _
1st method
2 1 3 2 1
A   3  1  2 3  1
 2 3 1  2 3
+ +
+
 2( 1 )  1  1( 2 )  2  3  3  3  3( 1 )  2  2( 2 )  3  1  3  1
 36

٨
2nd method
If we were to expand the determinant by cofactors according to
elements of its third column, say, we would get:-
A  a13 A13  a23 A23  a33 A33
3 1 2 1 2 1
 3( 1 )13  ( 2 )( 1 )23  1( 1 )3 3
2 3 2 3 3 1
 39  ( 2 )  26  2    2  3  36

Useful facts about determinants:-

F-1: If two rows of matrix are identical, the determinant is zero.

3 1 2
EX-9 Show that:- 2  3 5  0
3 1 2
Sol.-
3 1 2 3 1
2 3 5 2 3  18  15  4  ( 18  15  4 )  0
3 1 2 3 1

F-2: Interchanging two rows of matrix changes the sign of its

determinants.
2 1 5 1 0 3
EX-10 Show that:-  1 0 3   2 1 5
1 2 4 1 2 4
Sol.-
2 1 5 2 1
L.H .S .   1 0 3 1 0  0  3  10  ( 0  12  4 )  29
1 2 4 1 2
1 0 3 1 0
R.H .S .  2 1 5 2 1   4  0  12  ( 3  10  0 )  29  L.H .S .
1 2 4 1 2
2 1 5 1 0 3
1 0 3  2 1 5
1 2 4 1 2 4

٩
F-3: The determinant of the transpose of a matrix is equal to the
original determinant.

2 1 5 2 1 1
EX-11 Show that:-  1 0 3  1 0 2
1 2 4 5 3 4
Sol.-

L.H .S .  29 from ex - 10
2 1 1 2 1
R.H .S .  1 0  2 1 0  0  10  3  ( 0  12  4 )  29  L.H .S .
5 3 4 5 3
2 1 5 2 1 1
 1 0 31 0 2
1 2 4 5 3 4

F-4: If each element of same row (or column) of a matrix is

multiplied by a constant C, the determinant is multiplied by C.

6 3 15 2 1 5
EX-12 Show that:-  1 0 3  3  1 0 3
1 2 4 1 2 4
Sol.-
6 3 15 6 3
L.H .S .   1 0 3 1 0  0  9  30  ( 0  36  12 )  87
1 2 4 1 2
R.H .S .  3  29  87  L.H .S .
6 3 15 2 1 5
 1 0 3  3 1 0 3
1 2 4 1 2 4

F-5: If all elements of a matrix above the main diagonal (or all below
it) are zero, the determinant of the matrix is the product of the
elements on the main diagonal.

١٠
 5 0 0
EX-13 Find:- 2 3 0
1 1 4
Sol.-
5 0 05 0
2 3 02 3  60  0  0  ( 0  0  0 )  60
1 1 4 1 1
Or directly 5  3  4  60

F-6: If each element of a row of a matrix is multiplied by a constant

C and the results added to a different row, the determinant is not
changed.

2 1 5
 3 and B is the matrix
EX-14 Show that A  B if A   1 0
 1  2 4
resultant from multiplying row (1) by 2 and adding to row (3).
 2 1 5
 
i.e. B   1 0 3 
 5 0 14
Sol.-
A  29 from ex - 10
2 1 5 2 1
B  1 0 3 1 0  0  15  0  ( 0  0  14 )  29
5 0 14 5 0
 AB

1 2 3 1
2 1 0 2
EX-15 Find  1 2 1 2
0 1 2 1
Sol.-

١١
 1 2 3 1
 2 R1  R2 2 1 0 2
 Expanding the determinant by using the
1 2 1 2
0 1 2 1
5 2 0 5 2
first column.  1  0 4  1 0 4  20  6  0  ( 0  10  0 )  36
1 6 1 1 6

Linear Equations
There are many methods to solve a system of linear equations:
AX=B
I) Row Reduction method It is often possible to transform the linear
equations step by step into an equivalent system of equations that is
so simple it can be solved by inspection.
We start with n  ( n  1 ) matrix  A B  whose first n columns
are the columns of A and whose last column is B. We are going to
transform this augmented matrix with a sequence of elementary row
operations into I  S  where S is the solution of X.
2 x  3 y  4 z  3
EX-16 Solve the following linear equation: x  2 y  3z  3
3x  y  z  6
Sol.
2 3  4  x   3
AX  B where A   1 2 3  , X   y  , B   3 
 
 3  1  1   z   6 
 2 3  4   3   2 R  R 0  1  10   9 
A  B    1 2 3  3   1 3  3 
2 1
2
 3 R2  R3 
 3  1  1  6  0  7  10   3 
1 2 3 3  1 0  17   15 
2 R2  R1
 0  1  10   9   0
   1  10   9 
int er change

R1 and R2 7 R2  R3
0  7  10   3  0 0 60  60 
17 1 0
R3  R1
0 2 
R2 ( 1 )
1 0 0  2 
60
  0  1 0  1    0 1 0   1   I  S 
1
R  R2   R3  60 
1 
0 0 60  60  0 0 1  1 
6 3

١٢
  x  2 
Hence  y    1  x  2 , y  1 , z  1
   
 z   1 

II) Cramer’s Rule When the determinant of the coefficient matrix A

of the system AX=B is not zero (i.e. A  0 ) the system has a unique
solution that it may be found from the formulas:
A
Xi  i Where Ai is the determinant of the matrix, comes
A
from replacing the i th column in A by the column
of constant B.

EX-17 Resolve example 16 using Cramer’s rule:

Sol.
2 3 4 2 3
A1 2 3 1 2  4  27  4  ( 24  6  3 )  60
3 1 1 3 1
3 3 4 3 3
A1  3 2 3 3 2  6  54  12  ( 48  9  9 )  120
6 1 1 6 1
2 3 4 2 3
A2  1 3 3 1 3  6  27  24  ( 36  36  3 )  60
3 6 1 3 6
2 3 32 3
A3  1 2 3 1 2  24  27  3  ( 18  6  18 )  60
3 1 6 3 1
A1 120
 x   x2
A 60
A2  60
y   y  1
A 60
A3 60
z   z1
A 60
The same result in ex - 16.

١٣
 Problems – 8

3 1 
1 2  1 2 3 
1) Let A  , B  , C   4  1 ,
0 4   1 4  2
 0 2 
1 0 4
 3  1
D  0 1 2  , E   . Find:-
 4 2 
0  1 1 
a) AB b) DC c) (D+I)C d) DC+C e) DCB
f) EI g) 3A+E h) -5E+A i) E(2B)
  3 9  6 10    6 42  9 
   1 10  1  
 ans. : a)   b)  4 3  c, d)  8
  2  e)  1 20 6  
   4 16  8 

  4 3    4 5    7 4  18  
  3  1 6 5    14 7   8 4 22  
 f)   g)  4 14  h)   20  6  i)  4 32 16  
 4 2        

2) Find the value of x :-

2 1  x 
0
 
x 4 1   1 0 2 
 7   0
 0 2 5 
4 
 4
 1 
 ans. : x  or x  1 
 2 

3) Find v and w if: 5 w   v  2 1 .

 5
 ans. : w  v   
 2

 0 2 
1 12 
4) Let A    , B   1 3  , Find:-
0 1 4
 5  2 
a ) 2 A  B b) B A  I
 2  3 9  10 19  
 ans. : a )  b) 

 2 5 6  5  6  

 3 0 1
  1 2 0
5) Let A   0 2  , B  
2 
1 , Find:-
  1  1 3
1 5 

١٤
 ( 2 A  I ) B  and show that ( AB )  B A
  5  1 
  
 ans. :   2 11  
   6 26  


x x 1
6) For what value of x will: 2 0 5  0 ?
6 7 1
 ans. : x  2 

7) Let A be an arbitrary 3 by 3 matrix and let R12 be the

matrix obtained from the 3 by 3 identity matrix by
0 1 0
interchanging row 1 and 2 : R12   1 0 0  . a) Compute R12A
 0 0 1 
and show that you would get the same result by interchanging
rows 1 and 2 of A. b) Compute AR12 and show that the result
is that you would get by interchanging column 1 and 2 of A.
  a 21 a 22 a 23   a 12 a 11 a 13  
  
 ans. : a)  a 11 a 12 a 13  b)  a 22 a 21 a 23  
  a 31 a 32 a 33   a 32 a 31 a 33  


8) Solve the following determinants:-

2 3 1 2 1 2 2 1 3
a)4 5 2 b )1 2 1 c )1 0 2
1 2 3 3 0 3 0 2 1
1 1 0 0 1 2 3 4
1 0 1
0 0 2 1 0 1 2 3
d )0 2 2 e ) f )
0 1 0 7 0 0 2 1
2 0 1
3 0 2 1 0 0 3 2
1 1 2 3 0 1 0 0
2  2 6 0 1 1 0
g ) h )
1 0 2 3 1 1 1 1
2 2 0 5 1 1 0 0
 ans. : a )  5 b )0 c )7 d )6 
 
 e ) 38 f )1 g )2 h )  1 

١٥
 9) Solve the following system of equations:-
c) x  y z 2
a ) x  8y  4 b ) 2x  3y  5
2x  y  z  0
3x  y   13 3x  y  2
x  2y  z  4

d ) 2x  y  z  2 e ) 2x  4 y  6 f ) x z  3
x  y z 7 x yz1 2y 2 z  2
2x  2y  z  4 5y  7 z  1 0 2x  z  3

g ) x1  x 2  x 3  x4  2
h ) 2x  3 y  4 z   19
x1  x 2  x 3  x4  1
6x  4 y  2 z  8
x1  x 2  x 3  x4  2
x  5y  4 z  2 3
x1  x 3  x4   1

 ans. : a ) x   4 , y  1 b)x  y  1 
 
 6
c)x  , y 
10
,z  
2
d ) x  3 , y   2 , z  2 
 7 7 7
 
 3 5
e)x  0 , y   ,z  f ) x  2 , y  0 , z  1 
 2 2 
 3 
 g ) x 1  2 , x2  0 , x3  x4   h ) x  2 , y  5 , z  0 
 2 

١٦