A.3 DETERMINANTS 619
Evaluation of this determinant leads to a single numerical value which
can be determined using Laplace’s expansion. This method makes use of
the determinant’s minors and cofactors. Specifically, each element of a
determinant of nth order has a minor which is a determinant of order
This determinant (minor) remains when the ith row and jth column
in which the element is contained is canceled out. If the minor is
multiplied by it is called the cofactor of and is denoted as
(A–10)
For example, consider the third-order determinant
The cofactors for the elements in the first row are
Laplace’s expansion for a determinant of order n, Eq. A–9, states that
the numerical value represented by the determinant is equal to the sum
of the products of the elements of any row or column and their respective
cofactors, i.e.,
or (A–11)
For application, it is seen that due to the cofactors the number D is defined
in terms of n determinants (cofactors) of order each. These
determinants can each be reevaluated using the same formula, whereby
one must then evaluate determinants of order and so
on.The process of evaluation continues until the remaining determinants
to be evaluated reduce to the second order, whereby the cofactors of the
elements are single elements of D. Consider, for example, the following
second-order determinant
We can evaluate D along the top row of elements, which yields
Or, for example, using the second column of elements, we have
D = 51-12
1 + 2
1-12+ 21-12
2 + 2
132= 11
D = 31-12
1 + 1
122+ 51-12
1 + 2
1-12= 11
D =
`
35
-12
`
1n - 22,1n - 12
n - 1
D = a
1j
C
1j
+ a
2j
C
2j
+
Á
+ a
nj
C
nj
1j = 1, 2, Á , or n2
D = a
i1
C
i1
+ a
i2
C
i2
+
Á
+ a
in
C
in
1i = 1, 2, Á , or n2
C
13
= 1-12
1 + 3
`
a
21
a
22
a
31
a
32
`
=
`
a
21
a
22
a
31
a
32
`
C
12
= 1-12
1 + 2
`
a
21
a
23
a
31
a
33
`
=-
`
a
21
a
23
a
31
a
33
`
C
11
= 1-12
1 + 1
`
a
22
a
23
a
32
a
33
`
=
`
a
22
a
23
a
32
a
33
`
3
a
11
a
12
a
13
a
21
a
22
a
23
a
31
a
32
a
33
3
C
ij
= 1-12
i + j
M
ij
a
ij
1-12
i + j
a
ij
n - 1.
M
ij
a
ij
A