College Algebra: Evaluating a 2×2 matrix
www.mindbites.com In this lesson, you will learn about square matrices (a matrix in which the number of rows equals the number of columns – eg a 2X2 matrix or a 3X3 matrix, but this lesson focuses on 2X2). In a square matrix, you can associate a single number (a scalar) with the collection of numbers that describes the full matrix. This number is called the determinant, and this lesson will walk you through how to execute the matrix to identify what it is. For square matrix A, the determinant of A is denoted as det (A) or lAl (which looks like absolute value but isn’t when A is a matrix). If the determinant of a square matrix is not equal to zero, the matrix is non-singular, and square matrices for which the determinant is zero are considered to be singular. For Professor Burger’s lesson on evaluating determinants of nXn sized matrices, check out www.mindbites.com Taught by Professor Edward Burger, this lesson was selected from a broader, comprehensive course, College Algebra. This course and others are available from Thinkwell, Inc. The full course can be found at www.thinkwell.com The full course covers equations and inequalities, relations and functions, polynomial and rational functions, exponential and logarithmic functions, systems of equations, conic sections and a variety of other AP algebra, advanced algebra and Algebra II topics. Edward Burger, Professor of Mathematics at Williams College, earned his Ph.D. at the University of Texas at Austin, having graduated …