Let be two natural numbers $ n\ge 2, k, $ and $ k\quad n\times n $ symmetric real matrices $ A_1,A_2,\ldots ,A_k. $ Then, the following relations are equivalent: $ 1)\quad \left| \sum_{i=1}^k A_i^2 \right| =0 $ $ 2)\quad \left| \sum_{i=1}^k A_iB_i \right| =0,\quad\forall B_1,B_2,\ldots ,B_k\in \mathcal{M}_n\left( \mathbb{R} \right) $ $ || $ denotes the determinant.