Determinants, Cramer’s Rule:

Chapter 9.5 and 9.6

Definition: A determinant of order n is a square array of n 2
numbers aij ( i = 1, 2, ….n, j = 1, 2, …….n) enclosed
between two vertical bars and generally written in the
following form,
a11 a12 .... .... a1n
a21 a22 .... .... a2 n
. . .... .... .
. . . . .
an1 an 2 .... .... ann
the numbers aij ( i = 1, 2, ….n, j = 1, 2, …….n) are called
the elements of the determinant. The horizontal lines of
elements are called rows and vertical lines of elements are
called columns of the determinant.
Principal Diagonal :
The sloping line of elements extending from a11 to ann is
called the principal diagonal of the determinant.
a11 a12 .... .... a1n
a21 a22 .... .... a2 n
. . .... .... .
The determinant D = . . . . .
an1 an 2 .... .... ann
is equal to the sum of the products of the elements of any
row or column and their respective co-factors, which is
given by;
D  a11 A11  a12 A12  .......  a1n A1n
or
D  a11 A11  a21 A21  .......  an1 An1 ,
Here, A ij is the co-factor of the element a ij , A1 j is the
co-factor corresponding to the element a1 j (j = 1, 2,
……n) or Aj1 is the co-factor corresponding to the
element a j1 (j= 1, 2,…..n)
Minors and Cofactors : Let us consider the determinant
a11 a12 .... .... a1n
a21 a22 .... .... a2 n
. . .... .... .
D = . . . . . , and if we delete the ith row
an1 an 2 .... .... ann
and jth column in the D and we form a determinant from all
the remaining elements, we have (n-1) rows and (n-1)
columns which is called the minor of the elements aij and
is denoted by M ij .
i j
If we multiply the minor M ij by (1) is called the
co-factor of aij in D and will be denoted by Aij and is
i j
given by; Aij  (1) M ij
Value of the Determinant :
1 2 a11 a12
D D
2 4 , a 21 a 22
 D= a11A11 +a12 A12
D  1 A11 +2  A12
 1 ( M 11 )  2   M 12
 1  4  2  2
 44
=0

Relationship between minors and co-factors of a

determinant
Aij  (1)i  j M ij
If i + j is even number i.e. 1+1 = 2, 2+2 = 4, 3+1 =4,
1+3 = 4 , then
A ij =M ij ,  i and j
If i + j is odd number i.e. 1+2 = 3, 2+1 = 3, 3+2 =5,
2+3 = 5 , then
Aij =  Mij ,  i and j
Thus we have
A11 = M11 = a 22 = 4
A12 =  M12 =  a 21 =2
A21   M 21  a12  2
A22  M 22  a11  1
1 2 3
D 4 5 0
3 2 7
 1 A11  2  A12  3 A13
 1 M 11  2  M 12  3M 13
5 0 4 0 4 5
1 2 3
2 7 3 7 3 2
 1{35  0}  2{28  0}  3{8  15}
 41
The expression a1b2  a2b1 is called the value of the
determinant
a1 b1
a2 b2 .
Similarly the expression
a1 (b2c3  b3c2 )  b1 (a2c3  a3c2 )  c1 (a2b3  a3b2 ) is called the
value of the determinant
a1 b1 c1
a2 b2 c2
a3 b3 c3
Properties of Determinant :
(1) If all the elements in a row or in a column of a
determinant are zero, the determinant is equal to zero.
0 0 0
a2 b2 c2  0
a3 b3 c3
(2) If two columns or two rows of a determinant are same,
the determinant is equal to zero.
a1 b1 c1
a1 b1 c1  0
a3 b3 c3
(3) The interchange of any two rows or two columns of a
determinant changes the sign of the determinant
a1 b1 c1 a2 b2 c2
a2 b2 c2   a1 b1 c1
.
a3 b3 c3 a3 b3 c3
(4) The value of the determinant is not altered when the
rows are changed to columns and the columns are changed
to rows.
a1 b1 c1 a1 a2 a3
a2 b2 c2  b1 b2 c3
a3 b3 c3 c1 c2 c3

(5) If every element in a row or in a column is multiplied by

scalar k, the determinant is multiplied by that scalar k.
ka1 b1 c1 a1 b1 c1
ka2 b2 c2  k a2 b2 c2
ka3 b3 c3 a3 b3 c3

(6) If each element of a row or column is multiplied by a

constant factor and then added to the corresponding
element of another row or column, the value of the
determinant is unchanged.
ka1  b1 b1 c1 a1 b1 c1
ka2  b2 b2 c2  a2 b2 c2
ka3  b3 b3 c3 a3 b3 c3
(7) If determinant vanishes by putting x=a, then (x-a) is a
factor of the determinant.
1 1 1
a b c .
2 2 2
a b c

If we put a=b, then first and second column are identical so

the value of determinant is zero, so (a-b) is factor of the
determinant.

(8) If any row or column is the sum of two or more

elements, then the determinant can be expressed as the sum
of two more determinants of the same order.
a1  k1 a2  k2 a3  k3 a1 a2 a3 k1 k2 k3
b1 b2 c3  b1 b2 c3  b1 b2 c3
c1 c2 c3 c1 c2 c3 c1 c2 c3
(1) Evaluate the value of the following determinants
1 2 3 2 0 3 2 2 0 2 1 1
4 5 0 1 6 5 3 1 2 2 3 0
; ; ; ;
3 2 7 1 2 0 1 3 1 1 2 1
Application of Determinants to Linear Equations:
(Cramer’s Rule)
Let us consider the following n linear non-homogeneous
equations in n unknowns x1 , x2 ,........, xn
a11 x1  a12 x2  ........  a1n xn  b1
a21 x1  a22 x2  ........  a2 n xn  b2
...............................................
.................................................
an1 x1  an 2 x2  ........  ann xn  bn
Let us define,
a11 a12 ... ... a1n
a21 a22 ... ... a2 n
D . . ... ... . 0
. . ... ... .
an1 an 2 ... ... ann
Then the system has a unique solution which is given by;
 D1
x1  ;
D
D
x2  2 ;
D
..
..
Dn
xn 
D
where,
b1 a12 ... ... a1n
b2 a22 ... ... a2 n
D1  . . ... ... .
. . ... ... . ;
bn an 2 ... ... ann
a11 b1 ... ... a1n
a21 b2 ... ... a2 n
D2  . . ... ... .
;
. . ... ... .
an1 bn ... ... ann
…
…
…
a11 a12 ... ... b1
a21 a22 ... ... b2
Dn  . . ... ... .
. . ... ... .
an1 an 2 ... ... bn

Problem 1: Suppose a company produces two product

namely (i) P and (ii) Q, using two raw materials namely (i)
R1 and (ii) R2. The following table provides the basic data
of the problem;
P Q Availability of
x y Resources
R1 (a11 ) 4 (a12 ) 3 24 (b1 )
R2 (a 21 ) 2 (a 22 ) 3 16 (b2 )
Profit per unit 3 2
(in USD)
Form a system of linear equation. Solve using matrix
Solution: Let us define x is the quantity of shirt and y is the
quantity of T-shirt that the company produces using the
resources.
4x+3y = 24
2x+3y = 16
4 3
D
2 3
 12  6
6
Dx Dy
x= ;y=
D D
24 3
Dx 
16 3
 72  48
 24
4 24
Dy 
2 16
 64  48
 16
24
x= =4
6
 16
y= =2.67
6

Problem: Let a company produces three products namely P,

Q and R from three raw materials namely R1, R2 and R3.
One unit of product P requires 2 units of R1 and 3 units of
R2 and 2 units of R3. One unit of product Q requires 2 units
of R1. 2 units of R2 and 5 units of R3 and one unit of
product R requires 3 units of R1, 2 units of R2 and 4 units
of R3. The company needs 8 units of raw material R1, 10
units of raw material R2 and 15 units of raw material R3 to
produce them. Profits from per units of product P, Q and R
are $ 3, $ 5 and $ 4 respectively. Find the quantity of P, Q
and R using Cramer’s rule that the company produced and
hence the hence profits.
Solution: Let, x, y and z are the quantities of product P, Q
and R that the company will produce. All the information
are given below in tabular form:

Markets Production Totality

P Q R of Raw
x y z Materials
R1 2 2 3 12
R2 3 2 2 10
R3 2 5 4 16
Profit from 3 5 4
per unit
Thus the system of linear equations is given by:
2x+2y+3z = 12
3x+2y+2z = 10
2x+5y+4z = 16
 2 2 3
D 3 2 2
2 5 4
2 2 3 2 3 2
2 2 3
5 4 2 4 2 5
 28  10  2{12  4}  2{15  4}
 4  16  22
2
The values of x, y and z are given by:
Dx Dy D
x= ;y= ; z= z
D D D
Now we have
12 2 3
Dx  10 2 2
16 5 4
2 2 10 2 10 2
 12 2 3
5 4 16 4 16 5
 24  16  54
 10

2 12 3
Dy  3 10 2
2 16 4
10 2 3 2 3 10
2  12 3
16 4 2 4 2 16
 16  96  84
4
And
2 2 12
Dz  3 2 10
2 5 16
2 10 3 10 3 2
2 2  12
5 16 2 16 2 5
 36  56  132
 40
Thus we have
10
x= =5;
2
4
y =  2;
2
40
z =  20
2

The profit function is given by:

Profit= 3(5)+5(2)+4(20)
= 15+10+80
= 105 $
Solve the following Systems of Equations using Matrix and
Determinants.

23. 27.
x-2y = 2 3x-6y = 1
3x-5y = 6 -5x+9y = -1
29. 31.
x+3y +3z = 1 2x+2y -4z = 12
x+4y+3z = 0 2x+6y= 16
x+3y+4z = -1 -3x-3y+5z = -20

By Applying Cramer’s Rule Solve Each of the Following

Systems of Linear Equations;

(1) (3)
x+2y-z = 1 x+y+z=0
3x-2y+z=0 2x+5y+3z=1
2x+y+z=2 2x+5y+3z=1
(2) 4.
2x-y+2z=2 2x-y-z = 4
x+10y-3z=5 x+10y-3z = 5
x+10y-3z=5 x+10y-3z = 5
(5) 6.
3x + 2y – z = 20 x+y-3z = 4
2x + 3y + 6z = 70 2x+4y-4z + 8
2x + 3y + 6z = 70 -x+y+4z = -3