A = [[2, 3, 0, 4], [0, 5, -1, 6], [1, 0, -2, 3], [-3, 2, 0, -5]]
We plan to use property 3 of the theorem on row and column transformations of a determinant to introduce three zeros in some row or column. It is convenient to work with an element of the matrix that equals 1 , since this enables us to avoid the use of fractions. If 1 is not an element of the original matrix, it is always possible to introduce the number 1 by using property 2 or 3 of the theorem. In this example, 1 appears in row 3 , and we proceed as follows, with the reason for each equality stated at the right.
=\left|\begin{array}{rrr}23 & 4 & 22 \\0 & -1 & 0 \\-28 & -6 & -32\end{array}\right| \quad \begin{aligned}& 5 C_2+C_1 \rightarrow C_1 \\\\& \quad 6 C_2+C_3 \rightarrow C_3\end{aligned}
\begin{aligned}&\begin{array}{ll}=(-1) \cdot(-1)^{2+2}\left|\begin{array}{rr}23 & 22 \\-28 & -32\end{array}\right| & \begin{array}{l}\text { expand by the } \\\text { second row }\end{array} \\\begin{aligned}=(-1)[(23)(-32)-(-28)(22)]\\=120\end{aligned} & & \begin{array}{l}\text { definition of } \\\text { determinant }\end{array} \\\end{array}\\\end{aligned}