Determinant by Elimination

A common method of taking the determinant of matrices of 4 x 4 or larger involves using the Gaussian Elimination technique discussed in a previous lesson. The process of elimination is used until an upper or lower triangle matrix results. Once this triangular matrix is formed the determinant can be computed by multiplying the main diagonal terms.

Then, the determinant of is the product of all terms on the main diagonal.
|A| = (a₁₁)(a₂₂)(a₃₃)(a₄₄)
Example

|B| = 1*1*1*2 = 2