Minors, Cofactors, and the Adjoint

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.

1 1 2
Example: Find the minors of the matrix 2 1 1 .
1 1 1
*Note: This step procedure just outlines finding the minor M11 of the matrix.
1. Delete the ith row and jth column of the matrix.
1 1 2
2 1 1

1 1 1
2. Compute the determinant of the remaining matrix after deleting the row and
column of step 1.
1 1 2
2 1 1 M = det 1 1 = (1)(1) (1)(1) = 0
11
1 1

1 1 1
Using the same steps above, the other minors of the matrix are given below.
2 1
2 1
3
=

M
=
det
M 12 = det
13

1 1 = 3

1 1

1 2
M 21 = det
= 1
1 1
1 1
M 23 = det
=2
1 1
1 2
M 32 = det
= 3
2 1

1 2
M 22 = det
= 3
1 1
1 2
M 31 = det
=1
1 1
1 1
M 33 = det
=1
2 1

Thus, the minor matrix is given by

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

cofactor matrix C yields C = 1 3 2

1 3
1
Adjoint:
To find the adjoint of a matrix denoted by adj(A), just transpose the cofactor
matrix.

1 1 2
Example: Find the adjoint of the matrix 2 1 1 .
1 1 1
Since we know the cofactor matrix, we can just transpose the matrix which yields
the following result.
T
3
0 3
0 1 1
adj ( A) = C T = 1 3 2 = 3 3 3
1 3
3 3 1
1

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

R 3 R1
R 3 2 R 2
det 2 1 1 det 0 1 3
det 0 1 3
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)

0 1 1
1
= 3 3 3
3
3 3 1
0 1 / 3 1 / 3
= 1 1
1
1 1 1 / 3
0 1 / 3 1 / 3
Therefore, the inverse is given by A = 1 1
1 .
1 1 1 / 3
1