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Exercise 1.8 · Q3

Q.If A=(3512)A=\begin{pmatrix}3 & 5\\ 1 & 2\end{pmatrix}, B=adj⁡AB=\operatorname{adj}A and C=3AC=3A, then ∣adj⁡B∣∣C∣=\dfrac{|\operatorname{adj}B|}{|C|}=

(1) 13\dfrac13
(2) 19\dfrac19
(3) 14\dfrac14
(4) 11
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For a 2×22\times2 matrix MM, ∣adj⁡M∣=∣M∣2−1=∣M∣|\operatorname{adj}M|=|M|^{2-1}=|M|; we chain this through A→B=adj⁡A→adj⁡BA\to B=\operatorname{adj}A\to\operatorname{adj}B, and separately scale ∣A∣|A| up to ∣C∣=∣3A∣|C|=|3A|.

Step 1. Compute ∣A∣|A|. A=(3512)⇒∣A∣=3(2)−5(1)=6−5=1A=\begin{pmatrix}3&5\\1&2\end{pmatrix}\Rightarrow|A|=3(2)-5(1)=6-5=1.

Step 2. Compute B=adj⁡AB=\operatorname{adj}A and ∣B∣|B|. For M=(abcd)M=\begin{pmatrix}a&b\\c&d\end{pmatrix}, adj⁡M=(d−b−ca)\operatorname{adj}M=\begin{pmatrix}d&-b\\-c&a\end{pmatrix}, so

B=adj⁡A=(2−5−13),∣B∣=2(3)−(−5)(−1)=6−5=1.B=\operatorname{adj}A=\begin{pmatrix}2&-5\\-1&3\end{pmatrix},\qquad |B|=2(3)-(-5)(-1)=6-5=1.

(This also confirms the general rule ∣adj⁡A∣=∣A∣n−1=∣A∣1=∣A∣=1|\operatorname{adj}A|=|A|^{n-1}=|A|^1=|A|=1 for n=2n=2.)

Step 3. Compute ∣adj⁡B∣|\operatorname{adj}B|. Using ∣adj⁡M∣=∣M∣|\operatorname{adj}M|=|M| for a 2×22\times2 matrix MM (here M=BM=B):

∣adj⁡B∣=∣B∣=1.|\operatorname{adj}B|=|B|=1.

Step 4. Compute ∣C∣=∣3A∣|C|=|3A|. For an n×nn\times n matrix, ∣kA∣=kn∣A∣|kA|=k^n|A|; here n=2n=2, k=3k=3:

∣C∣=∣3A∣=32∣A∣=9(1)=9.|C|=|3A|=3^2|A|=9(1)=9.

Step 5. Form the ratio.

∣adj⁡B∣∣C∣=19.\frac{|\operatorname{adj}B|}{|C|}=\frac{1}{9}.

(A commonly seen solution states 1/31/3 here — that drops the 323^2 scaling in Step 4 and uses ∣3A∣=3∣A∣|3A|=3|A| by mistake; the correct scaling law for a 2×22\times2 matrix gives 99 in the denominator, so the ratio is 1/91/9.)

✓Final answer

Option (2): ∣adj⁡B∣∣C∣=19\dfrac{|\operatorname{adj}B|}{|C|}=\boxed{\dfrac19}.

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