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Q.If A is a square matrix of order 2 such that det⁡(A)=4\det (A) = 4, then det⁡(4 adj A)\det(4 \text{ adj } A) is equal to : (A) 1616
(B) 6464
(C) 256256
(D) 512512

CBSECBSE Class XII Board 2025MCQ· 1mImportance★★★★★
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The key idea is to use the property det⁡(adj A)=(det⁡A)n−1\det(\text{adj } A) = (\det A)^{n-1} for an n×nn \times n matrix, then combine with the scalar multiplication rule det⁡(kB)=kndet⁡B\det(kB) = k^n \det B. For a 2×22 \times 2 matrix with det⁡A=4\det A = 4, we get det⁡(4 adj A)=42⋅42−1=16⋅4=64\det(4 \text{ adj } A) = 4^2 \cdot 4^{2-1} = 16 \cdot 4 = 64. The answer is (B).

The problem asks for det⁡(4 adj A)\det(4 \text{ adj } A) given that AA is a 2×22 \times 2 matrix with det⁡A=4\det A = 4. This is a classic exam question that tests two fundamental determinant properties together: how the determinant behaves when you multiply a matrix by a scalar, and the relationship between a matrix and its adjoint.

Let’s unpack the intuition first. The adjoint (or adjugate) of a matrix is the transpose of its cofactor matrix. For a 2×22 \times 2 matrix, the adjoint has a simple form: if A=(abcd)A = \begin{pmatrix} a & b \\ c & d \end{pmatrix}, then adj A=(d−b−ca)\text{adj } A = \begin{pmatrix} d & -b \\ -c & a \end{pmatrix}. Notice that det⁡(adj A)=ad−bc=det⁡A\det(\text{adj } A) = ad - bc = \det A. That’s not a coincidence — it’s a special case of a general rule.

For any n×nn \times n matrix AA, det⁡(adj A)=(det⁡A)n−1\det(\text{adj } A) = (\det A)^{n-1}.

For n=2n = 2, this gives det⁡(adj A)=(det⁡A)1=det⁡A\det(\text{adj } A) = (\det A)^{1} = \det A. So here, det⁡(adj A)=4\det(\text{adj } A) = 4.

Now we need det⁡(4 adj A)\det(4 \text{ adj } A). The scalar multiplication rule says: if you multiply an n×nn \times n matrix by a scalar kk, the determinant gets multiplied by knk^n. Why? Because each of the nn rows gets a factor of kk, and pulling out kk from each row gives knk^n times the original determinant.

Watch out

A common mistake is to forget the exponent nn and write det⁡(kB)=kdet⁡B\det(kB) = k \det B. That’s only true for a 1×11 \times 1 matrix. For a 2×22 \times 2 matrix, it’s k2k^2.

So here n=2n = 2 and k=4k = 4, so det⁡(4 adj A)=42⋅det⁡(adj A)=16⋅4=64\det(4 \text{ adj } A) = 4^2 \cdot \det(\text{adj } A) = 16 \cdot 4 = 64.

Let’s walk through it step by step. …

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