Finding the Determinant of a 3x3 Matrix

This solver will show you how to find the determinant of any 3x3 matrix
Enter the individual entries of the matrix (enter numbers only):
13

2305

641

2305

467669

133162

641

133162

41831

If you see an error in any step or in the answer, please let me know.
Solve!

Solution by Finding the Determinant of a 3x3 Matrix

If you have the general 3x3 matrix:

the determinant is:

Which further breaks down to:

Note:
,
and
are determinants themselves.
If you need help finding the determinant of 2x2 matrices (which
is required to find the determinant of 3x3 matrices), check out
this solver
--------------------------------------------------------------

From the matrix

,
,
,

, we can see that

,
,
,
, and

Start with the general 3x3 determinant.

Plug in the given values (see above)
Multiply

Subtract

Multiply

Combine like terms.

===================================================================
===

Answer:

So

, which means that the determinant of

the matrix

is

Using Cramer's Rule to Solve Systems with 3 variables

This solver will show you how to solve a system of equations with 3
variables in 3 equations (provided a solution exists) using Cramer's Rule.

Enter the numerical entries of the system of equations

(enter numbers only):
x+
13

x+
2305

z=
641

y+
467669

x+
641

y+
2305

z=
133162

y+
133162

Let me know if you encounter any errors.

z=
41831

388

82252

24899

Solve!

Solution by Using Cramer's Rule to Solve Systems with 3 variables

First let
. This is the matrix formed by the
coefficients of the given system of equations.

Take note that the right hand values of the system are
and
and they are highlighted here:

These values are important as they will be used to replace the columns of
the matrix A.

Now let's calculate the the determinant of the matrix A to

get
. To save space, I'm not showing the calculations for the
determinant. However, if you need help with calculating the determinant
of the matrix A, check out this solver.

Notation note:

denotes the determinant of the matrix A.

---------------------------------------------------------

Now replace the first column of A (that corresponds to the variable 'x')
with the values that form the right hand side of the system of equations.
We will denote this new matrix
to speak).

(since we're replacing the 'x' column so

Now compute the determinant of

to get
. Again, as a
space saver, I didn't include the calculations of the determinant. Check
out this solver to see how to find this determinant.

To find the first solution, simply divide the determinant of

determinant of

by the

to get:

So the first solution is

---------------------------------------------------------

We'll follow the same basic idea to find the other two solutions. Let's
reset by letting
matrix).

again (this is the coefficient

Now replace the second column of A (that corresponds to the variable

'y') with the values that form the right hand side of the system of
equations. We will denote this new matrix
'y' column in a way).

Now compute the determinant of

(since we're replacing the

to get

To find the second solution, divide the determinant of

determinant of

to get:

So the second solution is

---------------------------------------------------------

by the

Let's reset again by letting

coefficient matrix.

which is the

Replace the third column of A (that corresponds to the variable 'z') with
the values that form the right hand side of the system of equations. We
will denote this new matrix

Now compute the determinant of

to get

To find the third solution, divide the determinant of

determinant of

to get:

by the

So the third solution is

===================================================================
=================
Final Answer:

So the three solutions are

,
, and
giving the ordered triple (-7085679499/963951497,
108669067/963951497, 336419368/963951497)

Note: there is a lot of work that is hidden in finding the determinants.

Take a look at this 3x3 Determinant Solver to see how to get each
determinant.