APPENDICES Problem A.1 Show that the determinant of a matrix can be calculated by picking any row or column. Estimated student timeto complete: 10-15 minutes Prerequisite knowledge required: Text Section(s) A.1 Solution: For an arbitrary matrix:
⎡a b c⎤ A = ⎢ d e f ⎥ ⎢ ⎥ ⎢⎣ g h i ⎥⎦ det A = a( ei − fh) − b( di − fg) + c( dh− eg)
= aei − afh − bdi + bfg + cdh− ceg det A = −d ( bi − ch) + e( ai − cg) − f ( ah− bg)
= −dbi + dch+ eai − ecg − fah+ fbg det A = −b( di − fg) + e( ai − cg) − h( af − cd)
= −bdi + bfg+ eai − ecg − haf + hcd They are all the same.