We are now in a position to define the determinant function.

Definition. Let A be a square matrix. The determinant function is denoted by det, and
we define det (A) to be the sum of all signed elementary products from A. The number det
(A) is called the determinant of A.
EVALUATING 2 x 2 AND 3 x 3 DETERMINANTS
Example 7. Referring to example 6, we obtain:
a11
a
21

a12
a 22

a11
a
21
a31

a12

(a) det

(ii) det

a 22
a32

a11a 22 a 22 a 21

a13

a 23
a33

a11a 22 a33 a12 a 23 a31 a13 a 21a32

a13a 22 a31 a12 a 21a33 a11a 23 a32
=

To avoid memorizing these unwieldy expressions we suggest using the

mnemonic devices described in Figure 2. The first formula in Example 7 is
obtained from Figure 2a by multiplying the entries on the rightward arrow and
subtracting the product of the entries on the leftward arrow. The second formula
in Example 7 is obtained by recopying the first and second columns as shows in
Figure 2b. The determinant is then computed by summing the products on the left
arrows.
a11
a
21

a12

a 22

a11
a
21
a31

a12
a 22
a32

(a)
Example 8 Evaluate the determinants of

a13 a11 a12

a 23 a 21 a 22
a33 a31 a 32
(b)

Figure 2

A=

1
4

3 1
4 2

and

B=

2
5

8 9

Solution. Using the method of Figure 2a gives

det(A) = (3)(-2) (1)(4) = -10
Using the method of Figure 2b gives
det(B) = (45) + (84) + (96) (105) (-48) (-72) = 240

2 3 1
1
2
4 5 6

4 5
7 8 9 7 8

Warning. We emphasize that the methods shows in Figure 2 do not work for
determinants of 4 x 4 matrices or higher.
Evaluating

determinants

directly

from

the

definition

leads

to

computational difficulties. Indeed, evaluating a 4 x 4 determinant directly would

involve computing 4! = 24 signed elementary products, and a 10 x 10 determinant
would involve 10! = 3,628,800 signed elementary products. Even the fastest of
digital computers cannot handle the computation of a
25 x 25 determinant by this method in a practical amount of time. Much of the
reminder of this chapter is devoted, therefore, to developing properties of
determinants that will simplify their evaluation.
COMMENTS ON NOTATION AND TERMANOLOGY
We conclude this section with some comments about terminology and
notation. First, we note that the symbol |A| is an alternative notation for det(A).
For example, the determinant of a
3 x 3 matrix can be written as

 a11
a
21
a31

a12
a 22
a32

a13

a 23
a33

a11

a12

a13

a 21

a 22

a 23

a31

a 32

a33

or

In the latter notation the determinant of the matrix A in Example 8 would be

written as
3 1
10
4 2
REMARK .

Strictly speaking, the determinant of a matrix is a number. However, it is

common practice to abuse the terminology slightly and use the term
determinant to refer to the matrix whose determinant is being computed. Thus,
we might refer to
3 1
4 2
as a 2 x 2 determinant and call 3 the entry in the first row and first column of the
determinant.
Finally, we note the determinant of A is often written symbolically as
a j1 a j 2 ...a njn

det(A) =

(1)

where indicates that the terms are to be summed over all permutations
( j1 , j 2 ,.... j n )
and the + or is selected in each term according to whether the
permutation is even or odd. This notation is useful when the definition of a
determinant needs to be emphasized.