Exercise · ZW-COFACTOR-LAPLACE-EXPANSION-007 · ★★☆ Intermediate

Compute the determinant of \(\begin{pmatrix}2 & 0 & 0 & 0 \\ 1 & 3 & 0 & 0 \\ 4 & 5 & 6 & 0 \\ 7 & 8 & 9 & 1\end{pmatrix}\).

Choose one option.

Show answer
  • C. \(36\)

Explanation

Expanding along the first row only \(2\,C_{11}\) survives; repeating on the submatrix leaves the product of the diagonal: \(2\cdot3\cdot6\cdot1=36\).

Study Linear algebra in ZWMath →

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

← ZW-COFACTOR-LAPLACE-EXPANSION-006 ZW-COFACTOR-LAPLACE-EXPANSION-008 →