**** Relations between determinant and volume of a parallelepiped (平行六面體) and a

tetrahedron (四面體)
*** Claims:
Let points P1 ( x1 , y1 , z1 ) , P2 ( x2 , y2 , z2 ) , P3 ( x3 , y3 , z3 ) , and P4 ( x4 , y4 , z4 ) be the four vertices
of a tetrahedron. Prove that the volume of the tetrahedron is
 x1 y1 z1 1
1  x y2 z2 1
Volume of a tetrahedron = ± det  2
6 x y3 z3 1
 3 
 x4 y4 z4 1
<Proof> Note that the volume of a tetrahedron is one-sixth of that of the relevant parallelepiped.
Use P1 as the pivot point. The volume of the parallelepiped can be written as
 x2 − x1 y2 − y1 z2 − z1 
  
V= ± det  x3 − x1
± P1P2 ⋅ P1P3 × P1P4 = y3 − y1 z3 − z1 
 x4 − x1 y4 − y1 z4 − z1 
Now,
 x2 − x1 y2 − y1 z2 − z1   x2 − x1 y2 − y1 z2   x2 − x1 y2 − y1 z1 
det x3 − x1 y3 − y1 z3 − z1 = det x3 − x1 y3 − y1 z3 − det  x3 − x1 y3 − y1 z1 
   
x − x y − y z − z  x − x y − y z  x − x y − y z 
 4 1 4 1 4 1  4 1 4 1 4  4 1 4 1 1
 x2 − x1 y2 z2   x2 − x1 y1 z2   x2 − x1 y2 z1   x2 − x1 y1 z1 
= det x3 − x1 y3 z3 − det x3 − x1 y1 z3 − det x3 − x1 y3 z1 + det  x3 − x1 y1 z1 
     
x − x y z  x − x y z  x − x y z  x − x y z 
 4 1 4 4  4 1 1 4  4 1 4 1  4 
 1 1 1

=0
 x2 y2 z2   x1 y2 z2   x2 y1 z2   x1 y1 z2 
= det  x3 y3 z3 − det  x1
 y3 z3 − det  x3
 y1 z3 + det  x1 y1 z3 

x y4 z4  x y4 z4   z4   
 4  1  x4 y1  x1 y1 z4 

=0
 x2 y2 z1   x1 y2 z1 
− det  x3 y3 z1 + det  x1 y3 z1 

x y4 z1  x y z 
 4  1
 4 1
=0
 x2 y2 z2  1 y2 z2   x2 1 z2   x2 y2 1
= det x3 y3 z3 − x1 ⋅ det 1 y3
   
z3 − y1 ⋅ det x3 1 z3 − z1 ⋅ det  x3
 y3 1
x y z  1 y z4  x 1 z4  x y4 1
 4 4 4  4  4  4
 x2 y2 z2   y2 z 2 1  x2 z2 1  x2 y2 1
= det  x3 y3 z3  − x1 ⋅ det  y3 z3 1 + y1 ⋅ det  x3 z3 1 − z1 ⋅ det  x3 y3 1
x y z  y z 1 x z 1 x y4 1
 4 4 4  4 4  4 4  4
  y2 z2 1  x2 z2 1  x2 y2 1  x2 y2 z2  
 
= −  x1 ⋅ det  y3 z3 1 − y1 ⋅ det  x3 z3 1 + z1 ⋅ det  x3 y3 1 − det  x3 y3 z3  
  y z 1 x z4 1 x y4 1 x y4 z4  
 4 4   4  4  4
x
 1 y1 z1 1 
 x2 y2 z2 1
= −
x y3 z3 1
 3 
 x4 y4 z4 1
Hence, the proof is completed.

1
**** Relations between determinant and area of a triangle and a parallelogram (平行四邊形)
*** Claims:
Let points P1 ( x1, y1 ) , P2 ( x2 , y2 ) , and P3 ( x3 , y3 ) be the three vertices of a triangle in the
xy-plane. Prove that the area of the triangle is
 x1 y1 1
1
Area of a triangle = ± det  x2 y2 1
2  x y 1
 3 3 
<Proof> Note that the area of a triangle is one half of that of the relevant parallelogram.
Use P1 as the pivot point. The area of the parallelogram can be written as
 
Area of parallelogram =± zˆ ⋅ P1P2 × P1P3
 0 0 1
± det  x2 − x1
= y2 − y1 0 
 x3 − x1 y3 − y1 0 
Now,
 0 0 1
det  x2 − x1 y2 − y1 0 
 x3 − x1 y3 − y1 0 
 0 0 1  0 0 1
det  x2 y2 0  − det  x1 y1 0 
 x3 − x1 y3 − y1 0   x3 − x1 y3 − y1 0 
0 0 1 0 0 1  0 0 1  0 0 1
= det  x2 y2 
0  − det  x2 y2  
0  − det  x1 y1 0  + det  x1 y1 0 

 x3 y3 0   x1 y1 0   x3 y3 0   x1 y1 0 
 
0

1 x1 y1 
x y2  x y1  x y1 
= det  2  + det  1  − det  1  = det 1 x2 y2 
 x3 y3   x2 y2   x3 y3 
1 x3 y3 