The determinant of a matrix is a scalar value that can be computed from a square matrix. It is used to find the area or volume of a parallelepiped, the inverse of a matrix, and to solve systems of linear equations. The determinant of a 4×4 matrix can be computed using the following steps:
1. Find the cofactors of each element in the first row. 2. Multiply each cofactor by the corresponding element in the first row. 3. Add the products together. 4. Repeat steps 1-3 for each row in the matrix. 5. Add the results from steps 1-4.
