Chapter 10

Systems of Equations and

Inequalities

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10.6 Determinants and Cramer ’s Rule

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duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
Objectives
• Determinant of a 2 × 2 Matrix
• Determinant of an n × n Matrix
• Row and Column Transformations
• Cramer’s Rule
• Areas of Triangles Using Determinants

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Determinants and Cramer’s Rule
If a matrix is square (that is, if it has the same number of rows as columns),
then we can assign to it a number called its determinant.
Determinants can be used to solve systems of linear equations, as we will see
later in this section.
They are also useful in determining whether a matrix has an inverse.

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duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
Determinant of a 2 × 2 Matrix

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duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
Determinant of a 2 × 2 Matrix
We denote the determinant of a square matrix A by the symbol det (A) or A .
We first define det (A) for the simplest cases. If A = [a] is a 1 × 1 matrix, then
det (A) = a.
The following box gives the definition of a 2 × 2 determinant.
DETERMINANT OF A 2 × 2 MATRIX
a b
The determinant of the 2 × 2 matrix A    is
c d

a b
det( A)  A   ad  bc
c d

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Example 1 – Determinant of a 2 × 2 Matrix
6 3 
Evaluate A for A    .
2 3

Solution:

= 6 · 3 − (−3)2
= 18 − (−6)
= 24

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Determinant of an n × n Matrix

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Determinant of an n × n Matrix (1 of 7)
To define the concept of determinant for an arbitrary n × n matrix, we need the
following terminology.
MINORS AND COFACTORS
Let A be an n × n matrix.
1. The minor Mij of the element aij is the determinant of the matrix obtained by
deleting the ith row and jth column of A.
2. The cofactor Aij of the element aij is

Aij  ( 1)i  j M ij

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Determinant of an n × n Matrix (2 of 7)
For example, if A is the matrix
 2 3 1
 0 2 4
 
 2 5 6 

then the minor M12 is the determinant of the matrix obtained by deleting the first
row and second column from A. Thus

= 0(6) − 4(−2) = 8

So the cofactor A12  ( 1)12 M12  8.

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Determinant of an n × n Matrix (3 of 7)
Similarly,

=2·2−3·0=4

So A33  ( 1)33 M33  4.

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Determinant of an n × n Matrix (4 of 7)
Note that the cofactor of aij is simply the minor of aij multiplied by either 1 or −1,
depending on whether i + j is even or odd.
Thus in a 3 × 3 matrix we obtain the cofactor of any element by prefixing its
minor with the sign obtained from the following checkerboard pattern.

  
  
 
    

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Determinant of an n × n Matrix (5 of 7)
We are now ready to define the determinant of any square matrix.
THE DETERMINANT OF A SQUARE MATRIX
If A is an n × n matrix, then the determinant of A is obtained by multiplying
each element of the first row by its cofactor and then adding the results. In
symbols,

a11 a12  a1n

a21 a22  a2 n
det( A)  A   a11A11  a12 A12    a1n A1n
   
an1 an 2  ann

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Example 2 – Determinant of a 3 × 3 Matrix
Evaluate the determinant of the matrix.
 2 3 1
A 0 2 4
 
 2 5 6 
Solution:
2 3 1
det( A)  0 2 4
2 5 6
2 4 0 4 0 2
2 3  ( 1)
5 6 2 6 2 5

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Example 2 – Solution
= 2(2  6 − 4  5) − 3[0  6 − 4(−2)] − [0  5 − 2(− 2)]
= −16 − 24 − 4
= −44

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Determinant of an n × n Matrix (6 of 7)
In our definition of the determinant we used the cofactors of elements in the
first row only.
This is called expanding the determinant by the first row. In fact, we can
expand the determinant by any row or column in the same way and obtain the
same result in each case (although we won’t prove this).
The next example illustrates this principle.

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Example 3 – Expanding a Determinant About a
Row and a Column
Let A be the matrix of Example 2. Evaluate the determinant of A by expanding
(a) by the second row
(b) by the third column
Verify that each expansion gives the same value.

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Example 3(a) – Solution
Expanding by the second row, we get

2 3 1
det( A)  0 2 4
2 5 6

3 1 2 1 2 3
 0 2 4
5 6 2 6 2 5

= 0 + 2 [2  6 − (−1)(−2)] − 4 [2  5 −
3(−2)]
= 0 + 20 − 64
= −44
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Example 3(b) – Solution (1 of 2)
Expanding by the third column gives

2 3 1
det( A)  0 2 4
2 5 6

0 2 2 3 2 3
 1 4 6
2 5 2 5 0 2

= − [0  5 − 2(−2)] − 4 [2  5 − 3(−2)] + 6(2  2 − 3

 0)
= −4 − 64 + 24
= −44
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Example 3(b) – Solution (2 of 2)
In both cases we obtain the same value for the determinant as when we
expanded by the first row in Example 2.
We can also use a graphing calculator to compute determinants, as shown in
Figure 1.

Figure 1

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Determinant of an n × n Matrix (7 of 7)
The following criterion allows us to determine whether a square matrix has
an inverse without actually calculating the inverse.
This is one of the most important uses of the determinant in matrix algebra,
and it is the reason for the name determinant

INVERTIBILITY CRITERION
If A is a square matrix, then A has an inverse if and only if det (A) ≠ 0.

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Example 4 – Using the Determinant to Show
That a Matrix Is Not Invertible
Show that the matrix A has no inverse.
1 2 0 4
0 0 0 3
A 
5 6 2 6
 
2 4 0 9
Solution:
We begin by calculating the determinant of A. Since all but one of the elements
of the second row is zero, we expand the determinant by the second row.

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Example 4 – Solution (1 of 2)
If we do this, we see from the following equation that only the cofactor A24 will
have to be calculated.
1 2 0 4
0 0 0 3
det( A) 
5 6 2 6
2 4 0 9

= −0  A21 + 0  A22 − 0  A23 + 3 

A24
= 3A24

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Example 4 – Solution (2 of 2)
1 2 0
35 6 2 Expand this by column 3
2 4 0

1 2
 3( 2)
2 4
= 3(−2) (1  4 − 2  2)
=0

Since the determinant of A is zero, A cannot have an inverse, by the Invertibility

Criterion.

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duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
Row and Column Transformations

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Row and Column Transformations
ROW AND COLUMN TRANSFORMATIONS OF A DETERMINANT
If A is a square matrix and if the matrix B is obtained from A by adding a
multiple of one row to another or a multiple of one column to another, then
det (A) = det (B).

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duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
Example 5 – Using Row and Column
Transformations to Calculate a Determinant
Find the determinant of the matrix A. Does it have an inverse?
 8 2 1 4 
 3 5 3 11
A 
24 6 1 12 
 
 2 2 7 1
Solution:
If we add −3 times row 1 to row 3, we change all but one element of row 3 to zeros.
8 2 1 4 
3 5 3 11
 
0 0 4 0
 
2 2 7 1
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Example 5 – Solution (1 of 2)
This new matrix has the same determinant as A, and if we expand its
determinant by the third row, we get
8 2 4
det( A)  4 3 5 11
2 2 1

Now, adding 2 times column 3 to column 1 in this determinant gives us

0 2 4
det( A)  4 25 5 11 Expand this by column 1
0 2 1

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Example 5 – Solution (2 of 2)

2 4
 4( 25)
2 1
 4( 25)[2( 1)  ( 4)2]
 600

Since the determinant of A is not zero, A does have an inverse.

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 Cramer’s Rule

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Cramer’s Rule (1 of 6)
The solutions of linear equations can sometimes be expressed by using
determinants. To illustrate, let’s solve the following pair of linear equations for
the variable x.
ax  by  r

cx  dy  s

To eliminate the variable y, we multiply the first equation by d and the second
by b and subtract.
adx  bdy  rd
bcx  bdy  bs
adx  bcx  rd  bs

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Cramer’s Rule (2 of 6)
Factoring the left-hand side, we get (ad − bc)x = rd − bs. Assuming that
ad − bc ≠ 0, we can now solve this equation for x:

rd  bs
x
ad  bc

Similarly, we find

as  cr
y
ad  bc

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Cramer’s Rule (3 of 6)
The numerator and denominator of the fractions for x and y are determinants of 2 × 2
matrices. So we can express the solution of the system using determinants as follows.
CRAMER’S RULE FOR SYSTEMS IN TWO VARIABLES

The linear system ax  by  r


cx  dy  s
r b a r
has the solution
s d c s
x y
a b a b
c d c d

a b
provided that  0.
c d
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Cramer’s Rule (4 of 6)
Using the notation

we can write the solution of the system as

Dx Dy
x and y
D D

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Example 6 – Using Cramer’s Rule to Solve a
System with Two Variables
Use Cramer’s Rule to solve the system.
2 x  6 y  1

 x  8y  2
Solution:
For this system we have
2 6
D   2  8  6  1  10
1 8

1 6
Dx   (1)8  6  2  20
2 8

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Example 6 – Solution

2 1
Dy   2  2  ( 1)1  5
1 2

The solution is
Dx 20
x   2
D 10

Dy
5 1
y  
D 10 2

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Cramer’s Rule (5 of 6)
Cramer’s Rule can be extended to apply to any system of n linear equations in
n variables in which the determinant of the coefficient matrix is not zero.
CRAMER’S RULE
If a system of n linear equations in the n variables x1, x2, . . . , xn is equivalent
to the matrix equation DX = B, and D  0, then its solutions are
if
Dx1 Dx2 Dxn
x1  x2   xn 
D D D

where Dxi is the matrix obtained by replacing the ith column of D by the n × 1
matrix B.

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Example 7 – Using Cramer’s Rule to Solve a
System with Three Variables
Use Cramer’s Rule to solve the system.

2 x  3 y  4 z  1

 x  6z  0
3 x  2y  5

Solution:
First, we evaluate the determinants that appear in Cramer’s Rule. Note that D
is the coefficient matrix and that Dx, Dy, and Dz are obtained by replacing the
first, second, and third columns of D by the constant terms.

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Example 7 – Solution (1 of 2)
2 3 4 1 3 4
D  1 0 6  38 Dx  0 0 6  78
3 2 0 5 2 0

2 1 4 2 3 1
Dy  1 0 6  22 Dz  1 0 0  13
3 5 0 3 2 5

Now we use Cramer’s Rule to get the solution:

Dx 78 39 Dy
22 11
x   y  
D 38 19 D 38 19

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Example 7 – Solution (2 of 2)

Dz
13 13
z  
D 38 38

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Cramer’s Rule (6 of 6)
Cramer’s Rule gives us an efficient way to solve systems of linear equations.
But in systems with more than three equations, evaluating the various
determinants that are involved is usually a long and tedious task (unless you
are using a graphing calculator).
Moreover, the rule doesn’t apply if D  0 or if D is not a square matrix.
So Cramer’s Rule is a useful alternative to Gaussian elimination, but only in
some situations.

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Areas of Triangles Using Determinants

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Areas of Triangles Using Determinants
Determinants provide a simple way to calculate the area of a triangle in the
coordinate plane.
AREA OF A TRIANGLE
If a triangle in the coordinate plane has vertices (a1, b1), (a2, b2), and (a3, b3),
then its area is

a1 b1 1
A   21 a2 b2 1
a2 b3 1

where the sign is chosen to make the area positive.

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Example 8 – Area of a Triangle
Find the area of the triangle shown in Figure 2.

Figure 2

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Example 8 – Solution
The vertices are (1, 2), (3, 6), and ( −1, 4). Using the formula in the preceding
box, we get
1 4 1
A   21 3 6 1   21 ( 12)
1 2 1

To make the area positive, we choose the negative sign in the formula.
Thus the area of the triangle is

1
A   ( 12)  6
2

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