7.

matlab code:
clc,clear all
A=[0 1 0 0 ;
0 0 -7 0;
0 0 0 1;
-53.68 0 0 0];
Q=eye(4);
X=lyap(A,Q);
P = X
P1=det(P(1,1))
P2=det(P(1:2,1:2))

Output:

P =1.0e+15 *
0.0646 -0.0000

0.0859

0.0000

-0.0000

0.6016

0.0000

3.4658

0.0859

0.0000

0.4951

0.0000

0.0000

3.4658

0.0000

4.6133

P1 = 6.4564e+13
P2 = 3.8841e+28
The beam and ball system is asymptotically stable since both p1 and p2 are
positive.