4.1. Determinant of a 2 x 2 matrix

Finding the determinant of a 2 × 2 matrix

  • Let’s calculate the determinant of the matrix A.

LaTeX in HTML
\[\Large A = \begin{bmatrix} a & b \\ c & d \end{bmatrix} \]

  • The determinant of the 2 × 2 matrix A can be calculated using the following formula.

LaTeX in HTML
\[\Large A = \begin{bmatrix} \color{red}{a} & \color{blue}{b} \\ \color{orange}{c} & \color{purple}{d} \end{bmatrix} \]
\[\Large det(A) = \textcolor{red}{a}\textcolor{purple}{d~} – \textcolor{blue}{~b}\textcolor{orange}{c} \]


LaTeX in HTML
\[\Large \textbf{det(A) = ad – bc} \]

  • By solving the above formula, you can easily get the determinant of a 2 × 2 matrix.

Example:


LaTeX in HTML
\[\Large A = \begin{bmatrix} \color{red}{2} & \color{blue}{3} \\ \color{orange}{4} & \color{purple}{5} \end{bmatrix} \]
\[\Large det(A) = \textcolor{red}{2} × \textcolor{purple}{5~} – \textcolor{blue}{~3} × \textcolor{orange}{4} \] \[\Large det(A) = 10~-~12 \]
\[\Large det(A) = -2 \]

What is the correct formula used to compute the determinant of a 2 × 2 matrix?

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