Problem: Are the following assertions true or false? Prove or give a counterexample:
1) If $A$ is an $(n \times n)$-matrix, then for every $c \in \mathbb{R}$ we have $\det(c I_n - A) = c^n - \det(A)$.
2) If $A$ is an $(n \times n)$-matrix, then for every $c \in \mathbb{R}$, we have $\det(c I_n - A^T) = \det(c I_n - A)$.
Attempt: 1) This is false. Let $c I_2 = \begin{pmatrix} 2 & 0 \\ 0 & 2 \end{pmatrix}$. Let $A = \begin{pmatrix} 1 & 0 \\ 2 & 3 \end{pmatrix}$. Then \begin{align*} \det(c I_2 - A) = \det \begin{pmatrix} 1 & 0 \\ -2 & -1 \end{pmatrix} = -1. \end{align*} But \begin{align*} c^2 - \det(A) = 2^2 - 3 = 1. \end{align*}
2) For the second assertion, I think this is true. I tried to find a counter example, but couldn't. So how can I prove it?
For (2), note that $$cI_n-A^T = (cI_n)^T-A^T = (cI_n-A)^T,$$ and then that $\det A = \det A^T$ for any $A$.