Q.Find the value of the following: [24−23]
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Determinant Evaluation Using Identities
Expanding a 4×4 or 5×5 determinant term by term is painful and error-prone. The smarter route is to transform the determinant into an easy form using properties (the "identities") that change its value in a known, controlled way — then read the answer off a triangular matrix.
The geometric intuition
A determinant measures the signed "volume" of the box spanned by the rows in n-dimensional space. Sliding one row parallel to another doesn't change that volume; swapping two rows flips its sign; scaling a row scales the volume. The algebraic identities are just these facts translated into rules.
The three row (or column) operations
- Swap two rows: det→−det (sign flips).
- Scale a row by k: det→kdet (the factor comes out).
- Add a multiple of one row to a different row (Ri→Ri+λRj, i=j): det unchanged.
The identical rules hold for columns. There is also row-wise linearity: if a row is a sum Ri=Ri′+Ri′′, the determinant splits into the sum of two determinants with all other rows fixed.
Row-wise linearity is not det(A+B)=detA+detB — that is false. The splitting works one row at a time.
The strategy
- Use operation 3 to create zeros in a row or column (value unchanged).
- Factor out common factors with operation 2.
- Swap rows if needed to reach upper-triangular form (track the sign change).
- The determinant is then the product of the diagonal entries.
Worked example
det1472583610.
Apply R2→R2−4R1 and R3→R3−7R1 (no change), then R3→R3−2R2: …
The key idea is to evaluate a 2×2 determinant using the formula det=ad−bc.
Step 1: Identify the entries: a=2, b=−2, c=4, d=3.
Step 2: Apply the formula: …
The determinant of a 2×2 matrix [acbd] is ad−bc. Applying this to [24−23] gives 2⋅3−(−2)⋅4=6+8=14.
The determinant is a single number that captures key information about a matrix — for a 2×2 matrix, it tells you the area scaling factor of the linear transformation it represents. The formula is straightforward: multiply the top-left and bottom-right entries, then subtract the product of the top-right and bottom-left entries.
Let’s work through it:
-
Identify the entries.
For the matrix [24−23], we have:
- a=2 (top-left)
- b=−2 (top-right)
- c=4 (bottom-left)
- d=3 (bottom-right)
-
Apply the determinant formula.
The determinant is ad−bc. Substituting:
det=(2)(3)−(−2)(4)
- Compute carefully. First term: 2×3=6. Second term: (−2)×4=−8. But note the minus sign in front: ad−bc means we subtract bc, so: det=6−(−8)=6+8=14 …
Method: Evaluating a 2×2 Determinant
The baseline technique for any 2×2 determinant with mixed positive/negative entries.
Steps
Step 1: Identify the four entries, keeping their signs
Label acbd, reading each entry exactly as printed, including its sign.
Step 2: Apply the formula
acbd=ad−bc.
Step 3: Compute each product carefully, then subtract …
Showing the 12 most recent of 59 on this concept.
- CBSE 2024Set 65/1/11 markMCQQ.x+1x2+x+1x−1x2−x+1 is equal to : (A) 2x3 (B) 2 (C) 0 (D) 2x3−2
›Reveal solutionSolution
Expand the 2×2 determinant as ad−bc; the cube-sum and cube-difference collapse to a constant. The value is 2, option (B).
For a 2×2 determinant, acbd=ad−bc.
Δ=x+1x2+x+1x−1x2−x+1=(x+1)(x2−x+1)−(x−1)(x2+x+1)
Use the standard factorisations a3+b3=(a+b)(a2−ab+b2) and a3−b3=(a−b)(a2+ab+b2) with a=x, b=1: …
- CBSE 2026Set 65/1/11 markMCQQ.If Δ1=100020003 and Δ2=010200006, then (A) Δ1=2Δ2 (B) Δ2=−2Δ1 (C) Δ1=Δ2 (D) Δ2=−Δ1
›Reveal solutionSolution
The first determinant is diagonal; the second requires one row interchange to reach diagonal form. Each interchange flips the sign; evaluating both determinants gives Δ2=−2Δ1. The answer is (B).
Why determinants change under row operations
A determinant measures the signed volume of the parallelepiped spanned by the row vectors. When you swap two rows, you reflect the figure across a hyperplane—the volume stays the same in magnitude but the orientation reverses, flipping the sign.
The diagonal determinant is the easiest to compute: the product of the diagonal entries. The second determinant looks scrambled, but a single row swap will bring it into a form we recognize.
Step-by-step evaluation
1. Compute Δ1 directly.
The matrix is diagonal:
Δ1=100020003=1⋅2⋅3=6.
2. Recognize the structure of Δ2.
Δ2=010200006.
The first two rows are out of order compared to a diagonal form. Swap rows 1 and 2 to bring the 1 into the top-left position.
3. Apply the row-interchange property.
Swapping rows 1 and 2:
Δ2=−100020006.
The negative sign comes from the single interchange.
4. Evaluate the new diagonal determinant.
100020006=1⋅2⋅6=12.
So Δ2=−12. …
- CBSE 2026Set A1 markMCQQ.233663121026112637=(a) 1(b) −1(c) 0(d) 2
›Reveal solutionSolution
The determinant equals 0 because one column is the sum of the other two.
Inspect the columns of
233663121026112637.
Check: 12+11=23, 10+26=36, 26+37=63.
…
- CBSE 2026Set A1 markMCQQ.cos15∘sin75∘sin15∘cos75∘=(a) 1(b) 0(c) −1(d) 21
›Reveal solutionSolution
The determinant equals cos90∘=0.
Expand:
cos15∘sin75∘sin15∘cos75∘=cos15∘cos75∘−sin15∘sin75∘.
…
- CBSE 2026Set A1 markMCQQ.a+ib−c+idc+ida−ib=(a) a2+b2+c2+d2(b) a2−b2−c2−d2(c) a2−b2+c2+d2(d) a2+b2+c2−d2
›Reveal solutionSolution
Expand the 2×2 determinant and simplify the complex products.
a+ib−c+idc+ida−ib=(a+ib)(a−ib)−(c+id)(−c+id).
First term: (a+ib)(a−ib)=a2−(ib)2=a2+b2. …
- CBSE 2026Set ANNUAL1 markMCQQ.Value of x2−x+1x+1x−1x+1 will be(a) x2−x+2(b) x3+x2−2(c) x3−x2+2(d) x3+x2+4
›Reveal solutionSolution
Expand the 2×2 determinant using acbd=ad−bc.
Δ=(x2−x+1)(x+1)−(x−1)(x+1)
(x2−x+1)(x+1)=x3+1 (the middle terms cancel).
(x−1)(x+1)=x2−1.
…
- CBSE 2026Set ANNUAL1 markQ.The value of determinant Δ=1−14231400 is __________.
›Reveal solutionSolution
Expand the 3×3 determinant along the first row.
Δ=1−14231400
Expanding along row 1: …
- CBSE 2026Set ANNUAL1 markQ.Find the value of determinant Δ=0−sinαcosαsinα0−sinβ−cosαsinβ0.
›Reveal solutionSolution
The matrix is skew-symmetric (each aij=−aji) and every odd-order skew-symmetric matrix has determinant 0.
Check: a12=sinα=−a21, a13=−cosα=−a31, a23=sinβ=−a32, and all diagonal entries are 0 — so the matrix is skew-symmetric.
…
- CBSE 2026Set ANNUAL1 markMCQQ.cos30∘sin30∘sin30∘cos30∘=(a) 21(b) 23(c) 0(d) None of these
›Reveal solutionSolution
This determinant has the form cos2θ−sin2θ=cos2θ.
cos30∘sin30∘sin30∘cos30∘=cos30∘⋅cos30∘−sin30∘⋅sin30∘=cos230∘−sin230∘
…
- CBSE 2026Set ANNUAL1 markQ.Evaluate the determinant \Delta = \begin{vmatrix}1 & 2 & 4\ -1 & 3 & 0\ 4 & 1 & 0\end{vmatrix}.
›Reveal solutionSolution
Expand the 3×3 determinant along the first row (or any row/column) using cofactors.
Working: Expanding along Row 1:
Δ=1−14231400 …
- CBSE 2025Set 65/4/11 markMCQQ.If M and N are square matrices of order 3 such that det(M)=m and MN=mI, then det(N) is equal to : (A) −1 (B) 1 (C) −m2 (D) m2
›Reveal solutionSolution
The key idea is that MN=mI implies N=mM−1, so det(N)=m3det(M−1)=m3⋅m1=m2. The correct option is (D).
The problem gives us two square matrices M and N of order 3, with det(M)=m and MN=mI, where I is the 3×3 identity matrix. We need det(N).
The central concept here is the relationship between matrix multiplication and determinants. When two matrices multiply to give a scalar times the identity, that scalar is intimately connected to the determinant of the first matrix. The equation MN=mI is not just a product — it tells us that N is essentially a scaled inverse of M.
Why? Because if MN=mI, then multiplying both sides on the left by M−1 (assuming M is invertible) gives N=mM−1. But we must first check: is M invertible? Yes — since det(M)=m=0 (the problem doesn't state m=0 explicitly, but if m=0, then MN=0, which would make N singular and the answer ambiguous; in standard exam contexts, m is taken as a non-zero scalar, often a real number, and the options suggest m=0). So M−1 exists.
Now, the determinant of a scalar multiple of a matrix: for an n×n matrix A, det(kA)=kndet(A). Here n=3, so det(mM−1)=m3det(M−1).
And we know det(M−1)=det(M)1=m1.
Putting it together:
- From MN=mI, take determinant on both sides: det(MN)=det(mI).
- det(MN)=det(M)⋅det(N)=m⋅det(N). …
- CBSE 2025Set E1 markMCQQ.212564111527101037=(a) 1190(b) 841(c) 0(d) 1
›Reveal solutionSolution
A column that is the sum of the other two makes the determinant zero.
Examine the columns of
212564111527101037.
Check C2+C3 against C1:
11+10=21,15+10=25,27+37=64.
…
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