How to compute this determinant as quickly as possible (without using any software or calculator)?

If $A^{-1}=\dfrac{A}{25}$ then $A^2=25I$. Similar for other options. Now you need to calculate only one diagonal element of $A^2$ to find the correct option.


We can also solve this problem quickly without using the multiple choice options as hints to cut short any computations. So, suppose that we're given the matrix $A$ and asked to compute its inverse, without being told that the inverse is proportional to $A$ itself. Then observe that the columns of the matrix are orthogonal, so the matrix is an orthogonal matrix up to a normalization factor. The norm of the columns is 5. The inverse of $A/5$ is therefore equal to its transpose, and the transpose is easily seen to be equal to the matrix itself. So, the inverse of $A$ is $A/25$.


The matrix has the form $A=\begin{bmatrix} C & D \\ D & C \end {bmatrix}$

For this kind of block matrices,

$det (A) = det( C.C -D.C^{-1}.D.C) = $

$ = det (C.C + D.D ) = det \left ( \begin{bmatrix} 20 & 0 \\ 0 & 20 \end {bmatrix} + \begin{bmatrix} 5 & 0 \\ 0 & 5 \end {bmatrix} \right ) = 25^2 $

since $ C.D = -D.C $

$A^2=\begin{bmatrix} C & D \\ D & C \end {bmatrix} \begin{bmatrix} C & D \\ D & C \end {bmatrix} = \begin{bmatrix} C^2 + D^2 & 0 \\ 0 & C^2 + D^2 \end {bmatrix} = \begin{bmatrix} 25 & 0 & 0 & 0 \\ 0 & 25 & 0 & 0 \\ 0 & 0 & 25 & 0 \\ 0 & 0 & 0 & 25 \end{bmatrix} $