Second-Order Determinants

A second-order determinant is defined in terms of a square 2 by 2 matrix:

> A:=matrix(2,2,[a1,a2,b1,b2]);

The determinant of A can be calculated in Maple using the "det" command:

> det(A);

It is the product of the elements on the main diagonal minus the product of the elements on the other diagonal.

(The "main" diagonal is the one going from upper left to lower right.)

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