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In other words, to take the determinant of a 2×2 matrix, you multiply the top-left-to-bottom-right diagonal, and from this you subtract the product of bottom-left-to-top-right diagonal.

"But wait!" I hear you cry; "Aren't absolute values always supposed to be positive? You show that second matrix above as having a negative determinant. What's up with that?" You make a good point. Determinants are similar to absolute values, and use the same notation, but they are not identical, and one of the differences is that determinants can indeed be negative.


http://www.purplemath.com/modules/determs.htm


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Row and columns of the determinant

If we say the ith row of a determinant we mean the ith row of the matrix corresponding with this determinant. If we say the ith column of a determinant we mean the ith column of the matrix corresponding with this determinant.

http://www.ping.be/~ping1339/determ.htm#Row-and-columns-of-t


http://www.ping.be/~ping1339/determ.htm


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--Last edited by saucer on 2007-08-04 09:56:29 --