Given that A is a square matrix of order 3 and ∣A∣=−5.
For a square matrix of order n, when multiplying by a scalar k:
∣kA∣=kn×∣A∣
Here, the matrix A has order n=3 and the scalar is k=3.
Applying the formula:
∣3A∣=33×∣A∣
∣3A∣=27×(−5)
∣3A∣=−135
Note: The scalar must be raised to the power of the matrix order. A common error is calculating ∣3A∣=3×(−5)=−15, which is incorrect.
Therefore, ∣3A∣=−135.