Using row reduction to calculate the inverse and the

determinant of a square matrix

Notes for MATH 0290 Honors by Prof. Anna Vainchtein

1 Inverse of a square matrix

An n n square matrix A is called invertible if there exists a matrix X such that

AX = XA = I,

where I is the n n identity matrix. If such matrix X exists, one can show that it is unique.
We call it the inverse of A and denote it by A1 = X, so that

AA1 = A1 A = I

holds if A1 exists, i.e. if A is invertible. Not all matrices are invertible. If A1 does not exist,
the matrix A is called singular or noninvertible.
Note that if A is invertible, then the linear algebraic system

Ax = b

has a unique solution x = A1 b. Indeed, multiplying both sides of Ax = b on the left by A1 ,

we obtain
A1 Ax = A1 b.
But A1 A = I and Ix = x, so
x = A1 b
The converse is also true, so for a square matrix A,

Ax = b has a unique solution if and only if A is invertible.

2 Calculating the inverse

To compute A1 if it exists, we need to find a matrix X such that

AX = I (1)

Linear algebra tells us that if such X exists, then XA = I holds as well, and so X = A1 .

1
 Now observe that solving (1) is equivalent to solving the following linear systems:
Ax1 = e1
Ax2 = e2
...
Axn = en ,

where xj , j = 1, . . . , n, is the (unknown) jth column of X and ej is the jth column of the
identity matrix I. If there is a unique solution for each xj , we can obtain it by using elementary
row operations to reduce the augmented matrix [ A | ej ] as follows:

[ A | ej ] [ I | xj ].

Instead of doing this for each j, we can row reduce all these systems simultaneously, by attaching
all columns of I (i.e. the whole matrix I) on the right of A in the augmented matrix and
obtaining all columns of X (i.e. the whole inverse matrix) on the right of the identity matrix
in the row-equivalent matrix:
[ A | I ] [ I | X ].
If this procedure works out, i.e. if we are able to convert A to identity using row operations,
then A is invertible and A1 = X. If we cannot obtain the identity matrix on the left, i.e. we
get a row of zeroes, then A1 does not exist and A is singular.

Example 1. Find the inverse of

1 2 3
A= 2 4 5
3 5 6
or show that it does not exist.

Solution: 
1
2 3  1 0 0
form the augmented matrix [ A | I ]: 2
4 5  0 1 0
3
5 6  0 0 1

1 2 3 1 0 0


R3 3R1 R3 : 2 4 5 0 1 0


0 1 3 3 0 1 

1 2 3 1 0 0


R2 2R1 R2 : 0 0 1 2 1 0 

0 1 3 3 0 1 

1 2 3  1 0 0
interchange R2 and R3 : 0 1 3  3 0 1

0 0 1  2 1 0

2
 
1 2 3  1 0 0
R2 (1), R3 (1) : 0 1 3  3
 0 1
0 0 1  2 1 0

1 2 3  1 0 0
R2 3R3 R2 : 0 1 0  3 3 1
0 0 1  2 1 0

1 0 3  7 6 2
R1 2R2 R1 : 0 1 0  3 3 1
0 0 1  2 1 0

1 0 0  1 3 2
R1 3R3 R1 : 0 1 0  3 3 1
0 0 1  2 1 0
So
1 3 2
A1 = 3 3 1
2 1 0

Example 2. Find the inverse of

1 2 1
A = 2 1 8
1 2 7

or show that it does not exist.

Solution:

1 2 1  1 0 0

form the augmented matrix [ A | I ]: 2 1 8  0 1 0

1 2 7  0 0 1

1 2 1  1 0 0

R3 R1 R3 : 2 1 8  0 1 0

0 4 8  1 0 1

1 2 1  1 0 0
R2 + 2R1 R2 : 0 5 10  2 1 0
0 4 8  1 0 1

1 2 1 
 1 0 0
R2 /5, R3 /(4) : 0 1 2  2/5 1/5 0

0 1 2  1/4 0 1/4

3
 
1 2 1  1 0 0
R3 R2 R3 : 0 1 2 
 2/5 1/5 0
0 0 0 3/20 1/5 1/4

The row of zeroes on the left means we cannot get the identity matrix there, and thus A is
singular (no inverse exists).
Applying this procedure to an arbitrary 2 2 matrix
 
a b
A= ,
c d

we obtain (check!)  
1 1 d b
A = ,
detA c a
where
detA = ad bc,
provided that detA 6= 0. Otherwise, the inverse does not exist. In general, it is true that

A is invertible if and only if detA 6= 0.

You can check that in the Example 2 above detA = 0.

3 Calculating determinants using row reduction

We can also use row reduction to compute large determinants. The idea is to use elementary
row operations to reduce the matrix to an upper (or lower) triangular matrix, using the fact that

Determinant of an upper (lower) triangular or diagonal matrix equals the product of its
diagonal entries.

As we row reduce, we need to keep in mind the following properties of the determinants:

1. detA =detAT , so we can apply either row or column operations to get the determinant.

2. If two rows or two columns of A are identical or if A has a row or a column of zeroes,
then detA = 0.

3. If the matrix B is obtained by multiplying a single row or a single column of A by a

number , then
detB = detA.
If all n rows (or all columns) of A are multiplied by to obtain B, then

detB = n detA.

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 4. If B is obtained by interchanging two rows of A, then

detB = detA.

5. If B is obtained by adding a multiple of one row (or column) of A to another, then

detB = detA.

Example: use row reduction to compute the determinant of

2 3 3 1
0 4 3 3
A= 2 1 1 3 =

0 4 3 2

Solution:  

 2 3 3 1 
 2 1 1 3 
Interchange R2 and R3 : detA =  =
 0 4 3 3 
 0 4 3 2 
(note that the determinant changes sign, by property 4 above)
 
 2 3 3 1 
 
 0 4 4 4 
R2 R1 R2 =  =
 0 4 3 3 

 0 4 3 2 
(determinant does not change)
 

 2 3 3 1 
 0 4 4 4 
R4 + R3 R4 =  =
 0 4 3 3 
 0 0 0 1 
(determinant does not change)
 

 2 3 3 1 

 0 4 4 4 
R3 + R2 R3 =  =
 0 0 1 7 

 0 0 0 1 
(determinant does not change, and we get an upper triangular matrix)

Compute the determinant of the upper triangular matrix: = 2 (4) (1) (1) = 8

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4 Homework problems
1. For each of the following matrices, find the inverse or show that it does not exist. In the
latter case, check by calculating the determinant.

1 1 1 2 1 0
a) 2 1
1 b) 0
2 1
1 1 2 0 0 2

1 1 1 2 3 1
c) 2
1 0 d) 1
2 1
3 2 1 4 1 1

2. Use the method of row reduction to evaluate the following determinants:

   
 1 4 4 1   1 0 0 3 
   
 0 1 2 2   0 1 2 0 
a)   b)  
 3 3 1 4   2 3 2 3 

 0 1 3 2   0 3 3 3