MT210 TEST 3 SAMPLE 5

ILKER S. YUCE
APRIL 30, 2011

SURNAME, NAME:
QUESTION 1. INTRODUCTION TO DETERMINANTS
Specify whether the matrix has an inverse without trying to compute the inverse
 
−1 1 1 0 0
 0 0 −1 0 0 
 
 0 0 1 −1 0 
 .
 0 1 1 0 1 
1 −1 1 1 0

ANSWER
We use the definition of determinant. We calculate the determinant across the 2nd rows and 3rd column.
 
 −1 1 1 0 0   
  −1 1 0 0 
 0 0 −1 0 0  
  0 0 −1 0 
 0 0 1 −1 0  = −(−1) 
 0 1 0 1 
 0 1 1 0 1  
  1 −1 1 0 
 1 −1 1 1 0 
  
 −1 1 0 

= −(−1) −(−1)  0 1 1 
 1 −1 0 
( (  ))
 −1 1 
= −(−1) −(−1) −(1) 
1 −1 
= (1)(1)(−1)((−1)(−1) − (1)(1))
= 0.

Since we have the determinant is 0, the matrix is NOT invertible.

1
 QUESTION 2. THE PROPERTIES OF DETERMINANTS

(a) An n × n matrix A is called skew-symmetric if At = −A. Show that if A is skew-symmetric and n is

an odd positive integer, then A is not invertible.

ANSWER
By the properties of determinant,

det(At ) = det(−A)
det(A) = det(−A)
det(A) = (−1)n det(A)
det(A) = −det(A).

So, we get det(A) = 0 which implies that A is not invertible. Note that −A means that EVERY ROW of A
is multiplied by -1.

 
1 λ 0
(b) Let A =  1 1 1 . Determine those values of λ for which A is invertible.
0 0 1

ANSWER
   
1 λ 0 1 λ 0
A= 1 1 1 ∼B = 0 1−λ 1 .
0 0 1 0 0 1
By IMT, A is invertible if and only if det(A) = det(B) ̸= 0. Thus, A is invertible if and only if 1 − λ ̸= 0 or
λ ̸= 1.

2
 QUESTION 3. THE PROPERTIES OF DETERMINANTS
 
a b c
Let A =  d e f  and assume that det(A) = 10. Find det(3A), det(2A−1 ), det(2A2 ), det(3(AT )−1 ), and
g h i
 
a g d
det  b h e .
g i f

ANSWER
Notice that A is a 3 × 3 matrix. Therefore,

det(3A) = 33 det(A) = 270,

23 8
det(2A−1 ) = = ,
det(A) 10
det(2A2 ) = 23 (det(A))2 = 800,
33 33 27
det(3(AT )−1 ) = T
− = .
det(A ) det(A) 10

Notice that we have

     
a b c a b c a g d
A= d e f 
R2 ÏR3
/ B= g h i  and BT =  b h e .
Interchange
g h i d e f g i f

As a result, we have det(BT ) = det(B) = (−1)det(A) = −10.

3
 QUESTION 4. CRAMER’S RULE, VOLUME, AND LINEAR TRANSFORMATIONS
Find all solutions to the system using Cramer’s Rule.

x1 − 2x2 − 2x3 = 3
−x1 + 2x2 + 3x3 = 1
2x1 − 2x2 − 2x3 = −2

ANSWER
 
 3 −2 −2 
 
 1 2 3 
 
 −2 −2 −2 
x1 =   = −5,

 1 −2 −2 
 −1 2 3 
 
 2 −2 −2 
 
 1 3 −2 

 −1 1 3 

 2 −2 −2 
x2 =   = −8,
 1 −2 −2 
 −1 2 3 

 2 −2 −2 
 
 1 −2 3 

 −1 2 1 

 2 −2 −2 
x3 =   = 4.
 1 −2 −2 
 −1 2 3 

 2 −2 −2 
The solution is (−5, −8, 4).

4
 QUESTION 5. CRAMER’S RULE, VOLUME, AND LINEAR TRANSFORMATIONS
Find the inverse of the matrix A using the inverse formula where
 
1 −1 1
A =  2 −1 0 
1 −2 2

ANSWER
Apply the Inverse Formula(see Example 3) given on page 203 : We have det(A) = −1. We also have

C11 = (−1)1+1 det A11 = −2,

C21 = (−1)2+1 det A21 = 0,

C31 = (−1)3+1 det A31 = 1,
C12 = (−1)1+2 det A12 = −4,
C22 = (−1)2+2 det A22 = 1,
C32 = (−1)3+2 det A32 = 2,
C13 = (−1)1+3 det A13 = −3,
C23 = (−1)2+3 det A23 = 1,
C33 = (−1)3+3 det A33 = 1.
As a result, we obtain    
−2 0 1 2 0 −1
1 
A−1 = −4 1 2  =  4 −1 −2  .
−1
−3 1 1 3 −1 −1

5
 QUESTION 6. CRAMER’S RULE, VOLUME, AND LINEAR TRANSFORMATIONS

(a) Find the volume of the parallelepiped S formed by the triple of vectors in R3

x = (1, 1, 1), y = (2, 3, 4), z = (1, 1, 5).

ANSWER
We know that the volume of a parallelepiped determined by three vector x, y, z is |det([x y z]). As a result,
we obtain  
 1 2 1 
 
|det([x y z]) = |  1 3 1  | = 4 unit 3 .
 1 4 5 

(b) Let T : R3 Ï R3 be the linear transformation defined by

(x1 , x2 , x3 ) 7Ï (x1 + x2 − 2x3 , 3x2 − x3 , 5x3 ).

Find the volume of the parallelepiped T(S) where S is the parallelepiped given in part (a).

ANSWER
We know that the volume of a parallelepiped which is the image of a parallelepiped is

V olume of T(S) = |det(A)| · V olume of S

where A is the standard matrix of T. As a result, we obtain

 
 1 1 −2 
 
V olume of T(S) = |  0 3 −1  |(4 unit 3 )
 0 0 5 
= 60 unit 3 .