Past exam of the year 1 of the computer science course of the University of Oxford / 2013 / Digital systems, linear algebra, introduction to formal proof / 4 / a / Solution

Apply the elementary row operation $R_1\leftarrow R_1-R_2$, which preserves the determinant. Expanding along the new first row givesA square matrix is an invertible matrix exactly when its determinant is nonzero. Thereforeare precisely the three values making $A$ a singular matrix. They also have direct explanations: at $c=0$ the second row is zero, at $c=2$ the first two rows coincide, and at $c=7$ the last two columns coincide.