Excel 2000 in a Nutshell

Name

MDETERM

Synopsis

You can use MDETERM to calculate the matrix determinant for an array. For example, if your matrix array is located in cells A1:B2 the determinant is calculated by taking A1 x B2 - A2 x B1. Of course, the calculation becomes more complex as additional rows and columns are added. Only square matrices have determinants.

To Calculate

=MDETERM(Array)

Array

This required argument must specify an array that has an equal number of rows and columns. The values in the array must all be numeric or the function will return an error.

Example

Figure 14-13 illustrates how to use MDETERM to find the determinant of a matrix. The example also shows how MINVERSE is used to find the inverse of a square matrix and MMULT is used to determine the product of two matrices.

Figure 14-13. When working with matrices they must have an equal number of rows and columns