Tutorial 4
MAM2084S, 2025, UCT
This tutorial tackles the concepts from the third week of lectures - Determinants, Ad-
joints and Cramer’s Rule
1. Consider the following 4 × 4 matrix
1 2 1 1
3 2 x 1
A= .
2 0 1 2
−1 2 3 0
Compute the co-factor associated with the entry x in this matrix.
2. (Hand-in Problem): Evaluate the following determinants (Hint: You can make
use of Gauss reduction if needed to simplify the matrix first). Be sure to motivate
all your steps.
(a)
5 3 10
0 2 7
10 6 16
(b)
8 2 7 4
0 3 −4 0
4 5 3 2
18 8 −2 9
(c)
−1 0 0 0 0
0 −3 0 0 0
2 2 −2 0 0
−3 0 −2 3 0
1 −2 2 3 −1
1 1 0
3. Let A = 1 2 1
2 2 2
(a) Compute det(A).
(b) Calculate the adjoint of A.
(c) Combine the previous two results in an appropriate way to obtain the inverse
of A. Verify that this is indeed the inverse of A.
1
3 −1 −1
4. Consider the matrix B = 1 0 2
2 1 1
(a) Compute the determinant of B.
(b) Does B have an inverse? Motivate your answer.
(c) What is the determinant of B 2 ?
(d) Is the matrix B n invertible for any integer value of n? Motivate your answer.
(e) How many solutions does the equation B n x = b have?
5. In this question you can verify that the solution of a system of linear equations can
be solved in multiple ways. Consider the following system of linear equations
x+y = 2
x + 2y + z = 4
2x + 2y + 2z = 3
(a) Write this system of equations in the form Ax = b
(b) Solve the above system of equations by making use of Gauss reduction
(c) Use the inverse of the matrix you derived in question 3 and show that the
solution from (b) is equal to A−1 b
(d) Solve for y by making use of Cramer’s rule.
6. In this question you will verify that we can test for the linear dependence / inde-
pendence of a set of vectors in a number of ways. Consider the following two sets
of vectors in R3 :
1 −1 1
S= 2 ,
1 , 1
−2
0 1
and
−1 −2
1
T = 3 , 4 , 3
2 2 4
(a) Show, using Gauss reduction, that the equation
−1
1 1 0
α1 2
+ α2 1 + α3 1
= 0
0 −2 1 0
only has the trivial solution which implies the set S is linearly independent.
(b) Argue that the set S forms a basis for R3 .
2
(c) The matrix with the entries of S as its columns is given by
1 −1 1
A= 2 1 1
0 −2 1
Compute det(A) and use this to conclude that the vectors are linearly inde-
pendent.
(d) Prove that the vectors in T are linearly dependent using the definition of linear
dependence.
(e) Express the third vector in T as a linear combination of the first two.
(f) Show that the vectors in T are linearly dependent with an appropriate deter-
minant.
(g) Write down a vector b such that the system of equations
−1 −2
1
x1 3 + x2 4 + x3 3 = b
2 2 4
has no solution.
1 2
7. Consider the set of vectors U = −1 , 1
1 1
(a) Argue that this is a linearly independent set of vectors.
(b) Add a vector to the set U so that the resulting set is linearly independent (Hint:
Question 3 of Tutorial 3 may be useful here). Show the linear independence
by computing a determinant.
(c) Show that the vectors in the set U are in the null space of the matrix
4 −2 −6
P = −2 1 3
−6 3 9
What happens when P acts on the vector you added to U in part (b)?
(d) Can you add a fourth vector to the set you obtained in part (b) so that the
resulting set is linearly independent? Motivate your answer.
8. This question is an extra exercise meant only for enrichment. Consider an arbitrary
3 × 3 matrix
a11 a12 a13
A = a21 a22 a23
a31 a32 a33
3
(a) Write down a matrix P so that
a31 a32 a33
P A = a21 a22 a23
a11 a12 a13
i.e. so that left multiplication by P swaps the first and third row of A.
(b) Compute det(P ) and use this to show that det(P A) = −det(A)
(c) Write down a matrix D so that
ka11 ka12 ka13
DA = a21 a22 a23
a31 a32 a33
i.e. so that left multiplication by D scales the first row of A by a factor k.
(d) Compute det(D) and use this to show that det(DA) = kdet(A)
(e) Write down a matrix M so that
a11 a12 a13
MA = a21 a22 a23
a31 + ka11 a32 + ka12 a33 + ka13
i.e. so that left multiplication by M adds a multiple of the first row of A to
the third row of A.
(f) Compute det(M ) and use this to show that det(M A) = det(A)