Cofactor Method for Inverses

Let A = (aij) be an nxn matrix

Recall, the co-factor Cij of element
aij is:

Cij = (-1)i+j |
Mij|

Mij is the (n-1) x (n-1) matrix made by

removing the ROW i and COLUMN j of
A

Cofactor Method for Inverses

Put all co-factors in a matrix
called the matrix of co-factors:

C11 C12
C21 C22

C1n
C2n

Cn1 Cn2

Cnn

Cofactor Method for Inverses

Inverse of A is given by:
1
A =
|A|
-1

1
|A|
=

(matrix of co-factors)T

C1 C2
C
C
1 1 1 2

Cn
C
1 n

C1 C2

Cn

Examples
a b

Calculate the inverse of A =

M11 = d

|M11| = d

C11 = d

Examples
a b

Calculate the inverse of A =

M12 = c

|M12| = c

C12 = -c

Examples
a b

Calculate the inverse of A =

M21 = b

|M21| = b

C12 = -b

Examples
a b

Calculate the inverse of A =

M22 = a

|M22| = a

C22 = a

Examples
a b

Calculate the inverse of A =

Found that:

C11 =
d
So,

C12 =
-c

1
A =
|A|
-1

C21 =
-b

C22 =
a

(matrix of co-factors)T

Examples
a b

Calculate the inverse of A =

Found that:

C11 =
d
So,

C12 =
-c

1
A =
(adbc)
-1

C21 =
-b

C22 =
a

(matrix of co-factors

Examples
a b

Calculate the inverse of A =

Found that:

C11 =
d
So,

C12 =
-c

1
-1
A =
(adbc)

C21 =
-b
C11 C12
C2 C22
1

C22 =
a

Examples
a b

Calculate the inverse of A =

Found that:

C11 =
d
So,

C12 =
-c

1
-1
A =
(adbc)

C21 =
-b
C11 C21
C1 C22
2

C22 =
a

Examples
a b

Calculate the inverse of A =

Found that:

C11 =
d
So,

C12 =
-c

1
-1
A =
(adbc)

C21 =
-b
d C21
C1 C22
2

C22 =
a

Examples
a b

Calculate the inverse of A =

Found that:

C11 =
d
So,

C12 =
-c

1
A =
(adbc)
-1

C21 =
-b
d -b
C1 C22
2

C22 =
a

Examples
a b

Calculate the inverse of A =

Found that:

C11 =
d
So,

C12 =
-c

1
A =
(adbc)
-1

C21 =
-b
d -b
-c C22

C22 =
a

Examples
a b

Calculate the inverse of A =

Found that:

C11 =
d
So,

C12 =
-c

1
A =
(adbc)
-1

C21 =
-b
d -b
-c a

C22 =
a

Examples 3x3 Matrix

1 1 1
Calculate the inverse of B =
1 2 2
2 3 4
Find the co-factors:

M11

2
2
=
3 4

|M11| = 2

C11 =
2

Examples 3x3 Matrix

1 1 1
Calculate the inverse of B =
1 2 2
2 3 4
Find the co-factors:

M12

1
2
=
2 4

|M12| = 0

C12 =
0

Examples 3x3 Matrix

1 1 1
Calculate the inverse of B =
1 2 2
2 3 4
Find the co-factors:

M13

1
2
=
2 3

|M13| = -1 C13 =
-1

Examples 3x3 Matrix

1 1 1
Calculate the inverse of B =
1 2 2
2 3 4
Find the co-factors:

M21

1
1
=
3 4

|M21| = 1

C21 =
-1

Examples 3x3 Matrix

1 1 1
Calculate the inverse of B =
1 2 2
2 3 4
Find the co-factors:

M22

1
1
=
2 4

|M22| = 2

C22 =
2

Examples 3x3 Matrix

1 1 1
Calculate the inverse of B =
1 2 2
2 3 4
Find the co-factors:

M23

1
1
=
2 3

|M23| = 1

C23 =
-1

Examples 3x3 Matrix

1 1 1
Calculate the inverse of B =
1 2 2
2 3 4
Find the co-factors:

M31

1
1
=
2 2

|M31| = 0

C31 =
0

Examples 3x3 Matrix

1 1 1
Calculate the inverse of B =
1 2 2
2 3 4
Find the co-factors:

M32

1
1
=
1 2

|M32| = 1

C32 =
-1

Examples 3x3 Matrix

1 1 1
Calculate the inverse of B =
1 2 2
2 3 4
First find the co-factors:

M33

1
1
=
1 2

|M33| = 1

C33 =
1

Examples 3x3 Matrix

1 1 1
Calculate the inverse of B =
1 2 2
2 3 4
Next the determinant: use the top
row:

|B| = 1x |M11| -1x |M12| + 1x |M13|

= 2 0 + (-1) = 1

Examples 3x3 Matrix

Using the formula,
1
B =
|B|
-1

(matrix of co-factors)T

1
=
(matrix of co1
factors)T

Examples 3x3 Matrix

Using the formula,
1
B =
|B|
-1

(matrix of co-factors)T

1
2
0
1
=
1 -1 2 -1
0 -1 1

Examples 3x3 Matrix

Using the formula,
1
B =
|B|
-1

(matrix of co-factors)T

2 -1 0
0 2 -1
-1 -1 1

Same answer obtained by Gauss-Jordan

method