The Further Mathematics Support Programme

Degree Topics in Mathematics

Cramer’s Rule
To study this topic, you will need to be familiar with matrices and how to find the determinant
of a 2x2 or a 3x3 matrix.

If you are not familiar with matrices and determinants, or need to revise them the following links
might be helpful:
 A basic reminder of matrices from Maths Is Fun
 Finding the determinant of a 2x2 or 3x3 matrix
 An introduction to matrices and determinants from the University of Surrey

Cramer’s Rule is a method used to find the solution of a set of equations. It is important that
there are the same number of variables as there are equations, e.g. two equations in two
unknown variables 𝑥 and 𝑦.
We can express a system of equations in matrix form. For example:
2𝑥 + 5𝑦 = 11
3𝑥 − 4𝑦 = 28
2 5 11
can be expressed in the form [ ]
3 −4 28

Matrix of Column vector

coefficients of constants

We will call the matrix on the left-hand side of the dotted line A, and the column vector on
then right-hand side of the dotted line b.

Cramer’s Rule
A simple statement of Cramer’s rule is:
 Find the determinant of matrix A
 Replace column 1 of matrix A with column b. Call this matrix A1
 Find the determinant of matrix A1
 Repeat these two steps for each column of A
Then the solution to the equations is:
det(𝐴1 ) det(𝐴2 )
𝑥1 = ⁡, 𝑥2 = ⁡,⁡⁡⁡𝑒𝑡𝑐 …
det⁡(𝐴) det⁡(𝐴)

These stages are often expressed more formally in undergraduate textbooks, for example in
this straightforward guide for Engineering University from Sheffield University.
 The Further Mathematics Support Programme

Example
Use Cramer’s Rule to solve the equations:
2𝑥 + 5𝑦 = 11
3𝑥 − 4𝑦 = 28
Formulating the equations in an augmented matrix we get:
2 5 11
[ ]
3 −4 28

2 5 11
So A = [ ] and b = [ ]
3 −4 28
2 5
det (A) can be written | |. This is calculated as (2 x -4) – (3 x 5) = -23
3 −4
11 5
Replacing the first column of A by column b gives A1= [ ] which has determinant
28 −4
(11 x -4) – (5 x 28) = -184
2 11
Replacing the second column of A by column b gives A2 = [ ] which has determinant
3 28
(2 x 28) – (3 x 11) = 23
−184 23
Then 𝑥 = ⁡ −23
= 8 and 𝑦 = −23 = −1.

The answer can be checked by substituting the values of 𝑥 and 𝑦 back into the original
equations.

Task 1
Use Cramer’s Rule to solve the equations:
7𝑥 − 2𝑦 = 3
3𝑥 + 𝑦 = 5

Task 2
Use Cramer’s Rule to solve the equations:
3𝑥 − 5𝑦 = 26
5𝑥 + 𝑦 = 6

Who was Cramer?

Gabriel Cramer (1704-1752) was a Swiss mathematician and
although he isn’t necessarily remembered as one of the greatest mathematicians
of his day, he is well regarded as a disseminator of mathematical
ideas. Cramer is remembered for his statement of Cramer’s Rule (for
solving equations), which is outlined in this worksheet, and he also
extensively studied Devil’s curves, which are curves of the form:
𝑦 2 (𝑦 2 − 𝑎2 ) = 𝑥 2 (𝑥 2 − 𝑏 2 ) (see image, right)
Images taken from http://www-history.mcs.st-and.ac.uk/PictDisplay/Cramer.html
and http://mathworld.wolfram.com/DevilsCurve.html
 The Further Mathematics Support Programme

Cramer’s rule can be used for 𝑛 equations in 𝑛 unknowns. This means we can use it to
solve 3 equations in 3 unknowns, as long as we can find the determinant of a 3x3 matrix.

𝑎 𝑏 𝑐
The determinant of a 3x3 matrix [𝑑 𝑒 𝑓 ] can be found using the formula:
𝑔 ℎ 𝑖
𝑒 𝑓 𝑑 𝑓 𝑑 𝑒
𝑎| |−𝑏| |+𝑐| |
ℎ 𝑖 𝑔 𝑖 𝑔 ℎ

Task 3

Use Cramer’s Rule to solve the equations:

𝑥+𝑦+𝑧 =5

𝑥 − 2𝑦 − 3𝑧 = −1

2𝑥 + 𝑦 − 𝑧 = 3

Task 4

Use Cramer’s Rule to solve the equations:

4𝑥 + 5𝑦⁡⁡⁡⁡⁡⁡⁡⁡ = 2

11𝑥 + 𝑦 + 2𝑧 = 3

𝑥 + 5𝑦 + 2𝑧 = 1

Fancy a challenge?
Look at the Maths is Fun website for instructions about how to find the determinant of a 4x4 matrix.
Use this method and Cramer’s Rule to solve the equations:

4𝑥 + 𝑦 + 𝑧 + 𝑤 = 6
3𝑥 + 7𝑦 − 𝑧 + 𝑤 = 1
7𝑥 + 3𝑦 − 5𝑧 + 8𝑤 = −3
𝑥 + 𝑦 + 𝑧 + 2𝑤 = 3
 The Further Mathematics Support Programme

Solutions

Task 1
7 −2 3 −2 7 3
det (A) = | | = 13, det (A1) = | | = 13, det(A2) = | | = 26
3 1 5 1 3 5
13 26
So 𝑥 = 13 = 1, 𝑦 = 13 = 2

Task 2
3 −5 26 −5 3 26
det (A) = | | = 28, det (A1) = | | = 56, det(A2) = | | = −112
5 1 6 1 5 6

56 −112
So 𝑥 = 28 = 2, 𝑦 = 28
= −4

Task 3
1 1 1 5 1 1 1 5 1
det(A) = |1 −2 −3| = 5, det(A1) = |−1 −2 −3| = 20, det(A2) = |1 −1 −3| = −10⁡and
2 1 −1 3 1 −1 2 3 −1
1 1 5
det(A3) = |1 −2 −1| = 15
2 1 3

20 −10 15
Therefore 𝑥 = 5
= 4, 𝑦 = 5
= −2, 𝑧 = 5
=3

Task 4
4 5 0 2 5 0 4 2 0
det(A) = |11 1 2 | = −132, det(A1) = |3 1 2 | = −36, det(A2) = | 11 3 2| = −24⁡and
1 5 2 1 5 2 1 1 2
4 5 2
det(A3) = |11 1 3| = 12
1 5 1

−36 3 −24 2 12 1
Therefore 𝑥 = −132 = 11 , 𝑦 = −132 = 11 , 𝑧 = −132 = − 11

Fancy a challenge?
7 −1 1 3 −1 1 3 7 1 3 7 −1
det(A) = 4 |3 −5 8| − 1 |7 −5 8| + 1 |7 3 8| − 1 |7 3 −5|
1 1 2 1 1 2 1 1 2 1 1 1
= 4(−120) − 1(−36) + 1(−44) − 1(−64)
= - 424
 The Further Mathematics Support Programme

7 −1 1 1 −1 1 1 7 1 1 7 −1
det(A1) = 6 |3 −5 8| − 1 |−3 −5 8| + 1 |−3 3 8| − 1 |−3 3 −5|
1 1 2 3 1 2 3 1 2 3 1 1
= 6(−120) − 1(−36) + 1(196) − 1(−64)
= - 424

1 −1 1 3 −1 1 3 1 1 3 1 −1
det(A2) = 4 |−3 −5 8| − 6 |7 −5 8| + 1 |7 −3 8| − 1 |7 −3 −5|
3 1 2 1 1 2 1 3 2 1 3 1
= 4(−36) − 6(−36) + 1(−72) − 1(0)
=0

7 1 1 3 1 1 3 7 1 3 7 1
det(A3) = 4 |3 −3 8| − 1 |7 −3 8| + 6 |7 3 8| − 1 |7 3 −3|
1 3 2 1 3 2 1 1 2 1 1 3
=4(−196) − 1(−72) + 6(−44) − 1(−128)
= - 848

7 −1 1 3 −1 1 3 7 1 3 7 −1
det(A4) = 4 |3 −5 −3| − 1 |7 −5 −3| + 1 |7 3 −3| − 6 |7 3 −5|
1 1 3 1 1 3 1 1 3 1 1 1
=4(−64) − 1(0) + 1(−128) − 6(−64)
=0

−424 0 −848 0
So 𝑥 = = 1, 𝑦 = = 0, 𝑧 = = 2, 𝑤 = ⁡ =0
−424 −424 −424 −424

You can check these values are correct by substituting the values back into the original
equations.