OCR FP1 2013 June — Question 10

Exam BoardOCR
ModuleFP1 (Further Pure Mathematics 1)
Year2013
SessionJune
Topic3x3 Matrices

10 The matrix \(\mathbf { A }\) is given by \(\mathbf { A } = \left( \begin{array} { l l l } a & 2 & 1
1 & 3 & 2
4 & 1 & 1 \end{array} \right)\).
  1. Find the value of \(a\) for which \(\mathbf { A }\) is singular.
  2. Given that \(\mathbf { A }\) is non-singular, find \(\mathbf { A } ^ { - 1 }\) and hence solve the equations $$\begin{aligned} a x + 2 y + z & = 1
    x + 3 y + 2 z & = 2
    4 x + y + z & = 3 \end{aligned}$$