Exercise · ZW-COFACTOR-LAPLACE-EXPANSION-006 · ★★☆ Intermediate

Compute \(\det\begin{pmatrix}1 & 0 & 2 \\ 3 & 0 & 1 \\ 4 & 5 & 6\end{pmatrix}\) by expanding along the most convenient column.

Choose one option.

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  • D. \(25\)

Explanation

Column 2 has two zeros: \(\det=5\,C_{32}=5\cdot(-1)^{5}\det\begin{pmatrix}1&2\\3&1\end{pmatrix}=-5\cdot(-5)=25\).

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Review the concept: Cofactor and Laplace expansion

The minor \(M\) of an entry is the determinant of the submatrix left after deleting its row and column; the cofactor \(C\) is that minor with an alternating sign.

\[C_{ij}=(-1)^{i+j}M_{ij}\]

More practice problems: cofactor and laplace expansion

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