Matrices 2

Exercise 1: The determinant and inverse of a 2 x 2 matrix

1. Find the determinant of each of the following matrices:

2 2
a) ( )
−1 4

5 −1
b) ( )
−3 1

−7 −2
c) ( )
4 −2

3 −8
d) ( )
−5 7

2 2
a) | | = 8 − −2 = 10
−1 4

5 −1
b) | |= 5−3= 2
−3 1

−7 −2
c) | | = 14 − −8 = 22
4 −2

3 −8
d) | | = 21 − 40 = −19
−5 7
2. The triangle with vertices at (−2, 4), (1, 4) and (0, −6) is transformed with a transformation
3 −1
represented by the matrix ( )
4 −2

Find the area of the image of the triangle under the transformation.

1
Area of triangle = 2 × 3 × 10 = 15 sq units

3 −1
| | = −6 − −4 = −2
4 −2

Area of transformed triangle = 2 × 15 = 30 sq units

1 −2 −2 1 −1 −2
3. Given matrices 𝐏 = ( ), 𝐐 = ( ) and 𝐑 = ( )
3 −2 1 −2 −3 4

find

a) |𝐏| b) |𝐐| c) |𝐑|

d) |𝐏𝐐| e) |𝐑𝐐| f) |𝐏𝐑|

a) |𝐏| = −2 − −6 = 4

b) |𝐐| = 4 − 1 = 3

c) |𝐑| = −4 − 6 = −10

d) |𝐏𝐐| = 4 × 3 = 12

e) |𝐑𝐐| = −10 × 3 = −30

f) |𝐏𝐑| = 4 × −10 = −40

 𝑘 3−𝑘
4. The matrix ( ) where 𝑘 is an integer and 𝑘 ≠ 0 is singular.
−𝑘 2𝑘

Find the value of 𝑘.

𝒌 𝟑−𝒌
| |=0
−𝒌 𝟐𝒌

2𝑘 2 − −𝑘(3 − 𝑘) = 0

2𝑘 2 + 3𝑘 − 𝑘 2 = 0

𝑘 2 + 3𝑘 = 0

𝑘(𝑘 + 3) = 0

𝑘 = −3

𝑘−1 𝑘−1
5. Find all the values of 𝑘 for which the matrix ( ) is singular.
𝑘2 𝑘+6

𝒌−𝟏 𝒌−𝟏
| 𝟐 |=0
𝒌 𝒌+𝟔

(𝑘 − 1)(𝑘 + 6) − 𝑘 2 (𝑘 − 1) = 0

(𝑘 − 1)(𝑘 + 6 − 𝑘 2 ) = 0

−(𝑘 − 1)(𝑘 2 − 𝑘 − 6) = 0

(𝑘 − 1)(𝑘 − 3)(𝑘 + 2) = 0

𝑘 = −2, 𝑘 = 1 or 𝑘 = 3
 1 2 3 0 0 1
6. Matrices 𝐒 = ( ), 𝐓 = ( ) and 𝐔 = ( ) represent three transformations of the Cartesian
0 1 0 3 1 0
plane.

a) Find det(𝐒𝐓𝐔)
b) Find det(𝐓𝐔𝐒)
c) What is the area of the image (in square units) when the unit square is transformed by the
transformation represented by 𝐒𝐔𝐓

|𝑺| = 1, |𝑻| = 9, |𝑼| = −1

a) |𝑺𝑻𝑼| = 1 × 9 × −1 = −9
b) |𝑻𝑼𝑺| = −9
c) 9 sq units

7. Which of the following matrices are singular?

3 −4 1 −4 12 12
𝐏=( ), 𝐐=( ), 𝐑=( ),
6 −8 2 8 4 4

2𝑥 −2 2 𝑝2 𝑞 −𝑝𝑞 2
𝐒=( ), 𝐓 = (−𝑥 𝑥(3𝑥 − 2)) , 𝐔=( 2 )
−3𝑥𝑦 3𝑦 𝑥 2𝑥 − 3 𝑝 (𝑝𝑞)2 −(𝑝𝑞)3

|𝑷| = −24 − −24 = 0, |𝑸| = 8 − −8 = 16, |𝑹| = 48 − 48 = 0, |𝑺| = 6𝑥𝑦 − 6𝑥𝑦 = 0,

|𝑻| = −𝑥 2 (2𝑥 − 3) − 𝑥 2 (3𝑥 − 1) = 𝑥 2 (3 − 2𝑥 + 1 − 3𝑥) = 𝑥 2 (4 − 5𝑥)

4
𝑇 could be singular but only if 𝑥 = 0 or 𝑥 = 5. You cannot say for sure so this will not be one of
the answers

|𝑼| = −𝑝5 𝑞 4 + 𝑝5 𝑞 4 = 0

The (definitely) singular matrices are 𝐏, 𝐑, 𝐒 and 𝐔

 3 −4 𝑎 𝑏 1 0
8. Given that ( )( )=( ), find the values of 𝑎, 𝑏, 𝑐 and 𝑑.
1 2 𝑐 𝑑 0 1

There are two ways to consider this problem to reach the same result:

𝑎 𝑏 Multiply out the left hand side and equate

Use the fact that ( ) is the inverse of
𝑐 𝑑 elements to create two pairs of simultaneous
3 −4
( ) equations
1 2

3 −4 3 −4 𝑎 𝑏 1 0
| | = 10 ( )( )=( )
1 2 1 2 𝑐 𝑑 0 1

3 −4 −1 1 2 4 3𝑎 − 4𝑐 = 1 A
( ) = ( ) 3𝑏 − 4𝑑 = 0 B
1 2 10 −1 3
𝑎 + 2𝑐 = 0 C
2 1 4 2 1 3 𝑏 + 2𝑑 = 1 D
𝑎 = 10 = 5, 𝑏 = 10 = 5, 𝑐 = − 10, 𝑑 = 10

Using A and C

1 × A 3𝑎 − 4𝑐 = 1
2 × B 2𝑎 + 4𝑐 = 0 add
1 1
𝑎 = 5, 𝑐 = − 10

Using B and D
1 × A 3𝑏 − 4𝑑 = 0
2 × D 2𝑏 + 4𝑑 = 2 add
2 3
𝑏 = 5, 𝑑 = 10
 𝑎 𝑏 −10 0 20 0
9. Given that ( )( )=( ), find the values of 𝑎, 𝑏, 𝑐 and 𝑑.
𝑐 𝑑 2 4 0 20

You could use the second approach from question 8 for this but this solution will use inverse
matrices:

𝑎 𝑏 −10 0 1 0
( )( ) = 20 ( )
𝑐 𝑑 2 4 0 1

1 𝑎 𝑏 −10 0 1 0 1
( )( )=( ) since the 20 is a scalar, either matrix on the left could be
20 𝑐 𝑑 2 4 0 1
multiplied by it.

1
𝑎 𝑏 −2 0 1 0
( )( 1 1 ) = (0 )
𝑐 𝑑 1
10 5

1
𝑎 𝑏 − 0
( ) is the inverse matrix of ( 1 2 1 )
𝑐 𝑑
10 5

1
−2 0 1
| 1 1| = − 10
10 5

1
𝑎 𝑏 0
( ) = −10 ( 5 1 1)
𝑐 𝑑 − −2
10

𝑎 = −2, 𝑏 = 0, 𝑐 = 1 and 𝑑 = 5

3 5
10. Given that 𝐌 = ( ), find 𝐌−𝟏
2 4

3 5
| | = 12 − 10 = 2
2 4

1 4 −5
𝐌−𝟏 = 2 ( )
−2 3
 −2 5 3 4
11. Given 𝐌 = ( ) and 𝐍 = ( ), find
−3 7 −7 −8

a) 𝐌−𝟏 b) 𝐍−𝟏 c) (𝐌𝐍)−𝟏 d) (𝐍𝐌)−𝟏 e) 𝐌−𝟏 𝐍 −𝟏 f) 𝐍 −𝟏 𝐌−𝟏

7 −5
a) 𝐌−𝟏 = ( )
3 −2
1 −8 −4
b) 𝐍 −𝟏 = 4 ( )
7 3

−2 5 3 4 −41 −48
c) 𝐌𝐍 = ( )( )=( )
−3 7 −7 −8 −58 −68

−41 −48
| |=4
−58 −68

(𝐌𝐍)−𝟏 = (−68 48 )
1
4 58 −41
Note: (𝐌𝐍)−𝟏 = 𝐍−𝟏 𝐌 −𝟏 and this is a quicker way to find the result

7 −5 1 −8 −4 1 7 −5 −8 −4
d) (𝐍𝐌)−𝟏 = 𝐌 −𝟏 𝐍 −𝟏 = ( )4( ) = 4( )( )
3 −2 7 3 3 −2 7 3

1 −91 −43 1 91 43
= 4( ) = −4( )
−38 −18 38 18

1 91 43
e) 𝐌−𝟏 𝐍 −𝟏 = (𝐍𝐌)−𝟏 = − 4 ( )
38 18

1 −68 48
f) 𝐍 −𝟏 𝐌−𝟏 = (𝐌𝐍)−𝟏 = 4 ( )
58 −41
 −1 3 2 3 2 −3
12. Given that 𝐏 = ( ) and 𝐏𝐐 = ( ), find the matrix 𝐐.
4 2 6 16 34 68

2 3 2 −3
𝐏𝐐 = ( )
6 16 34 68

2 3 2 −3
𝐏 −𝟏 𝐏𝐐 = 𝐏 −𝟏 ( )
6 16 34 68

2 3 2 −3
𝐈𝐐 = 𝐏 −𝟏 ( )
6 16 34 68

2 3 2 −3
𝐐 = 𝐏 −𝟏 ( )
6 16 34 68

|𝐏| = −2 − 14 = −14

1 2 −3
𝐏 −𝟏 = − 14 ( )
−4 −1

1 2 −3 2 3 2 −3 1 −14 −42 −98 −210

𝐐 = − 14 ( )( ) = − 14 ( )
−4 −1 6 16 34 68 −14 −28 −42 −56

1 3 7 15
𝐐=( )
1 2 3 4