SIMULTANEOUS LINEAR

EQUATIONS UP TO THREE
VARIABLES

CRAMER’S
RULE
 Introduction

• Cramer’s Rule is a method for solving linear simultaneous

equations. It makes use of determinants and so a
knowledge of these is necessary before proceeding.

• Cramer’s Rule relies on determinants.

 Cramer’s Rule
Consider the set of linear equations:

𝑎11 𝑥 + 𝑎12 𝑥 + 𝑎13 𝑧 = 𝑏1

𝑎21 𝑥 + 𝑎22 𝑥 + 𝑎23 𝑧 = 𝑏2
𝑎31 𝑥 + 𝑎32 𝑥 + 𝑎33 𝑧 = 𝑏3
• As we saw in the preceding section, an
y such system can be written in matrix
form as:

 a11 a12 a13   x1   b1 

a a22 a23   x2   b2 
 21    
 a31 a32 a33   x3  b3 
𝑨 𝑿 = 𝑩
STEP TO SOLVE CRAMER’S RULE

1. Write the equations in matrix form, 𝑨 𝑿 = 𝑩

2. Find the determinant of matrix A, 𝐴
3. Find another 3 determinants. ( 𝐴1 , 𝐴2 , 𝐴3 )
4. Find the value of 𝑿
 Example:
Solve the following simultaneous linear equations using
Cramer’s Rule
−𝑥 − 2𝑦 + 4𝑧 = 12
3𝑥 − 6𝑦 + 𝑧 = 15
2𝑥 + 5𝑦 = −1

Step 1 Write the equations in matrix form, 𝑨 𝑿 = 𝑩

−1 −2 4 𝑥 12
3 −6 1 𝑦 = 15
2 5 0 𝑧 −1
𝑨 𝑿 =𝑩
Step 2 Find Determinant 𝐴

−6 1 3 1 3 −6
𝐴 = −1 - (−2) + (4)
5 0 2 0 2 5

= −1 −6 × 0 − 5 × 1 + 2 3 × 0 − 2 × 1 + 4 3 × 5 − 2 × −6
= −1 0 − 5 + 2 0 − 2 + 4 15 − −12
= −1 −5 + 2 −2 + 4 27
= 109
Step 3 Find Determinant 𝐴1 , 𝐴2 , 𝐴3
Step 4 Find the value of 𝑿

218 −109 327

𝑥= 𝑦= 𝑧=
109 109 109

𝑥=2 𝑦 = −1 𝑧=3
 Example 2

Solution
Solution

Answer
EXERCISE :
1. If 𝐴 = 2, calculate the value of x, y and z in the following
equations by using Cramer’s Rule:
5𝑥 − 𝑦 + 7𝑧 = 4
6𝑥 − 2𝑦 + 9𝑧 = 5
2𝑥 + 8𝑦 − 4𝑧 = 8

2. Calculate the value of x, y and z in the following

equations by using Cramer’s Rule
2𝑥 + 𝑦 + 𝑧 =3
𝑥−𝑦−𝑧 =0
𝑥 + 2𝑦 + 𝑧 = 0

𝐴𝑛𝑠𝑤𝑒𝑟 1: 𝑥 = 22, 𝑦 = −13, 𝑧 = −17

𝐴𝑛𝑠𝑤𝑒𝑟 2: 𝑥 = 1, 𝑦 = −2, 𝑧 = 3