How to prepare Matrices and Determinants for Any Competitive Exam 

Perpetually, Matrix related questions are asked in pretty much every SSC and Railway related serious test, be it SSC CGL, SSC CHSL, SSC MTS, SSC CPO, SSC Steno, SSC Constable, SSC JE, HSSC Patwari, HSSC Canal Patwari, HSSC Sachiv, HSSC Clerk, Delhi Police, RRB Group D, RRB JE, RRB NTPC, RRB ALP or some other related recruitment exams in government sector in India.

Not only this, Matrices and Determinant is a topic useful in coordinate transformation, some concepts of differential equations, the binomial theorem, and other major concepts asked in various competitive exams conducted in Indian every year.

You should be through with this chapter as well as help some of those concepts as well as it will help you to score some easy marks in exams.

On that note, let’s discuss a few important sub-topics, tips, and books that can help you prepare well for such questions in any exam.

Important Matrix and Determinant Tips/Tricks

• Begin by grasping fundamental concepts such as the definition of a matrix, matrix algebra, matrix transpose, and so on.

• Concentrate on solving numerical problems rather than memorizing the Matrix theory.

• Then move on to more advanced concepts such as adjoint and inverse of matrices, followed by systems of equations, determinants, Cramer’s Rule, and homogeneous equations.

• After you’ve gone over these concepts, go through some solved examples before moving on to MCQs and practicing the problem to ensure you’ve grasped the topic.

• Solve the questions in the books you’re reading, then go over the papers from previous years.

• You can study the determinant first, then the matrix, or the matrix first, then the determinant. Different order has been followed in different books; you can choose your own order or the order of the coaching or material you are using.

• While going through the concepts, make sure you understand the derivation of formulas and try to derive them on your own, since you will often not need the exact formula but some steps of derivation will be very helpful in solving the problem if you understand the derivation.

• Since this topic is heavily calculative, practice as much as you can. To grasp the topic, take multiple Matrix quizzes and online mock tests.

• Try to prepare your own short notes for quick revision at the conclusion of the chapter, and make a list of formulae to revise quickly before tests or whenever you are required to revise the chapter; this will save you a lot of time.

Important Topics: Matrices and Determinants

A few of the most important matrix and determinant sub-topic include Operation on Matrices, Types of a matrix, symmetric and skew-symmetric matrix, Determinant of a matrix, Conjugate of the matrix, hermitian and skew-hermitian matrix, Elementary row operations, Adjoint and inverse of a matrix, Minor and cofactor of an element of matrix/determinant, Cramer’s rule, System of homogeneous linear equations and so on.

Best Books for Matrix and Determinant Preparation

Complete all of the ideas, examples, and questions in the NCERT Maths Book first. You must be well-versed in NCERT theory, Then you can look up Algebra in a book like Arihant by Dr. SK Goyal or RD Sharma or Cengage Mathematics Algebra, however, just one of these should be used.

The ideas of matrix and determinant are well-explained in these books, and there are plenty of questions with crystal clear concepts.

The appropriate reference book for you will depend on how well you understand the concepts and the difficulty of the questions you need to answer.