Discovering Properties of Matrix Determinants
Suppose we have two matrices, and , as follows:
Determinant of the Product of Two Matrices
Let's investigate the relationship between the determinant of the product of two matrices () and the product of their individual determinants ().
Step : Calculate the Determinant of Matrix ()
The determinant of matrix is:
Step : Calculate the Determinant of Matrix ()
The determinant of matrix is:
Step : Determine the Product of Matrix and ()
Matrix is obtained by multiplying matrix and :
Step : Calculate the Determinant of Matrix ()
Now, let's calculate the determinant of the product matrix :
Step : Compare with
We have obtained , , and .
Let's calculate :
Notice that the value of is the same as the value of .
Formula for the Property of Determinant of Matrix Product
If and are two square matrices of the same order, then the determinant of the product of matrices and is equal to the product of their individual determinants.
Determinant of a Matrix with Scalar Multiplication
Now, let's investigate what happens to the determinant of a matrix if each element of the matrix is multiplied by a scalar (constant).
Suppose we use matrix from the previous example and a scalar .
We already know that . Matrix is a order matrix, so .
Step : Determine Matrix
Multiply each element of matrix by the scalar :
Step : Calculate the Determinant of Matrix ()
The determinant of matrix is:
Step : Compare with
We have . The scalar , the order of the matrix , and .
Let's calculate :
Notice that the value of is the same as the value of .
Formula for the Property of Determinant of Scalar Multiplication
If is a square matrix of order and is a scalar, then the determinant of matrix is multiplied by the determinant of matrix .
Here, is the order (number of rows or columns) of the square matrix .