Net Factors
Net Factors
There are many useful applications of the determinant. Cofactor expansion is one technique in computing determinants. Now, we discuss how to find these cofactors through minors of a matrix and use both of these elements to find the adjoint of A. Then by the adjoint and determinant, we can develop a formula for finding the inverse of a matrix. Minors: To find the minors of any matrix, expand block out every row and column one at a time until all the minors are found. Steps to Finding Each Minor Of A Matrix: 1. Delete the ith row and jth column of the matrix. 2. Compute the determinant of the remaining matrix after deleting the row and column of step 1.
0 3 3 M = 1 3 2 1 3 1
Cofactors: To find the cofactors of a matrix, just use the minors and apply the following formula: Cij = (-1)i + j Mij where Mij is the minor in the ith row, jth position of the matrix.
1 1 2 Example: Find the cofactors of the matrix 2 1 1 . 1 1 1 0 3 3 We know that the minor matrix is given by M = 1 3 2 . So computing the 1 3 1 3 0 3 1 3 2 cofactor matrix C yields C = 1 3 1
Adjoint: To find the adjoint of a matrix denoted by adj(A), just transpose the cofactor matrix.
Finding Inverses Using the Adjoint: The inverse can be easily calculated using the following formula: 1 A 1 = adj ( A) det( A) 1 1 2 Example: Using the adjoint, find the inverse of the matrix 2 1 1 . 1 1 1 0 1 1 1. From earlier, we found tha thte adj(A) is given by the matrix 3 3 3 . 3 3 1 2. Find det(A). Use row/column operations to introduce zeros to use cofactor expansion or reduce the matrix to triangular form. 1 1 2 R 2 2 R1 1 1 2 1 1 2 2 1 1 R 3 R1 det 0 1 3 R 3 2 det 0 1 3 R2 det 1 1 1 0 2 3 0 0 3 Since the matrix is upper triangular then the determinant will be the product of the main diagonal. 1 1 2 det 0 1 3 = (1)(1)(3) = 3 0 0 3 *Note: If the determinant is zero, then the inverse does not exist. 3. Use (1) and (2) to find the inverse. 1 A 1 = adj ( A) det( A)