Example

1 3 1
1 2 2 2 2 1
2 1 2 =1 −3 +1
−1 2 1 2 1 −1
1 −1 2

= 1 4 − 3 2 + 1 −3 = −5
Definition let 𝐴 be a matrix of order 𝑛 × 𝑛 and
𝑎𝑖𝑗 be a general element of 𝐴. Then the minor
of the element 𝑎𝑖𝑗 is the determinant of the
matrix obtained by deleting the 𝑖𝑡ℎ row and 𝑗𝑡ℎ
column of 𝐴. The minor of 𝑎𝑖𝑗 is denoted by 𝑀𝑖𝑗 .
The value 𝐴𝑖𝑗 = −1 𝑖+𝑗 𝑀𝑖𝑗 is called the cofactor
of 𝑎𝑖𝑗 .
 Laplace Expansion

The determinant of the matrix

𝐴 = [𝑎𝑖𝑗 ] is equal to the sum of
the products obtained by
multiplying elements of any
row(or column) of A by their
respective cofactors.
Gauss elimination method
Compute the determinant of
BLOCK MATRICES
 Determinants of block matrices

Theorem: Consider the block matrix

where and are square matrices. Then

More generally, if is a triangular block matrix
with square matrices, 𝐴1 , 𝐴2 , … , 𝐴𝑚 on the
diagonal.