Documentation/Calc Functions/MDETERM

Function name:
MDETERM

Category:
Array

Summary:
Calculates the determinant of a square matrix, returning a single number that can be used in calculating the inverse of a matrix, in the analysis of linear equations, and in other areas of mathematics.

A call to the MDETERM function need not be entered as an array formula.

Syntax:
MDETERM(Array)

Returns:
Returns a real number that is the determinant of the square matrix passed as argument.

Arguments:
Array contains the square matrix of values to be used to calculate the scalar value of the determinant. This argument can take the form of an explicit cell range (such as A1:C3), the name of a named range, the name of a database range, or an inline constant array.


 * If Array is not a single area reference, then MDETERM reports an invalid argument error (Err:502). The tilde (~) reference concatenation operator cannot be used to join multiple areas in this argument.
 * If Array does not have the same number of rows as columns, then MDETERM reports an invalid argument error (Err:502).
 * If any cell within Array is empty or contains non-numeric data, then MDETERM reports a #VALUE! error.

Details specific to MDETERM function

 * More background information can be found at Wikipedia's Determinant page.

Related LibreOffice functions:
MINVERSE

MMULT

MUNIT

TRANSPOSE

ODF standard:
Section 6.5.2, part 2

Equivalent Excel functions:
MDETERM