INTRODUCTION TO
MATLAB
by
Mohamed Hussein
compliments to
Prof. Michael Negnevitsky
Univerity of Tasmania
Lecture 1
Introduction to Matlab
Basic
Features
Scientific Features
Array Operations
Script Files or M-files
Basic Features
Matlab is a tool for doing numerical
computations with matrices and vectors. It
can also display information graphically.
I will give an introduction to some of the
most useful features of Matlab. I will include
plenty of examples.
The best way to learn to use Matlab is to run
Matlab, trying the examples and
experimenting.
MATLAB IDE
Simple Math
Matlab can be used as a calculator (Text in yellow is what you
type, text in white is what the computer types back):
>> 2 + 4
ans =
6
>> ans * 3
ans =
18
>> 4*5 + 2*4 - 8/2
ans =
24
Operation
Symbol
Example
Addition, a + b
2+3
Subtraction, a b
54
Multiplication, a b
3.14 * 0.21
Division, a b
8/2
Power, ab
5^2
Expressions are evaluated from left to right.
Order of precedence
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
parentheses, ( ) ~ begins with the innermost
exponentiation, ^
multiplication, X and division, /
addition, + and subtraction, -
TEST YOUR UNDERSTANDING
Use MATLAB to compute the following expressions:
8
11
a. 2 +
+ 5(82 )
15 5(3 + 4)
b. 7 251/4 + 120.37 + 5 10 3
answer:
a. 321.6925
b. 18.1653
can use (5e-3)
The Matlab Workspace
Matlab remembers the commands you enter as well
as the values of any variables you create. These
command and variables are said to reside in the
Matlab Workspace and can be recalled whenever
you wish.
>> a = 4
a=
4
>> a
a=
4
Number Display Formats
When a result is an integer, Matlab displays it
as an integer.
>> a = 4;
>> b = 2;
>> c = a*b
c=
8
Number Display Formats
When a result is a real number, Matlab
displays it with four digits to the right of the
decimal point.
>> a = 4;
>> b = 3;
>> c = a/b
c=
1.333
Variables in Matlab
Variables are case sensitive (fruit, Fruit and
FRUIT).
Variables can contain up to 63 characters
(in MATLAB 7).
Variables must start with a letter, followed
by any number of letters, digits, or
underscores.
Special Variables & Constants
The following names should be avoided to
be used as variables
ans - temporary variable containing the computed
answer
eps - specifies the floating point precision accuracy
i,j
- imaginary unit; -1
Inf - infinity; ex. 5/0
NaN - not a number/undefined result; ex. 0/0
pi
- mathematical constant or 3.1415926 6959
When Matlab performs a calculation, it does so
using the values it knows at the time the requested
command is evaluated.
>> a = 4;
>> b = 3;
>> c = a + b
c=
7
>> b = 5;
>> c
c=
7
Variables in the Matlab workspace can be
unconditionally deleted by using the
command clear.
>> clear a
>> a
??? undefined function or variable a.
>> clear
>> b
??? undefined function or variable b.
Other command and symbols for managing
work session are:
clc
exist (name)
quit
who
whos
: (colon)
, (comma)
; (semicolon)
(ellipsis)
% (percent)
clears the Command window
check the existence of file or variable name
quits MATLAB
displays variables currently used
displays current variables and sizes
generates an array with regularly spaced elements
separates array elements
suppresses screen display/a new row in an array
(three dots) continues in the next line
begins of remarks/comments
Numeric Display Format
format xxx is used to controls how numbers are displayed .
Format commands available in MATLAB are:
format short
- (default) four decimal digits; ex. ans = 789.1234
format long
- 16 digits; ex. ans = 0.123456789123456
format short e - four decimal (maximum five digit ) with exponent;
ex. ans = 7.8912e+02 (denotes 7.8912 x 104)
format long e - 16 digits (with 15 decimals) with exponent;
ex. ans = 1.234567891234500e-01
(denotes 1.234567891234560 x10-1)
format bank - two decimal digits; ex. ans = 789.12
format +
- displays either +ve, -ve or zero; ex. ans = +
format rat
- approximation in ratio; ex. ans = 133/100 (from a
calculated value of 1.33)
Numeric Display Format (cont.)
format compact
format loose
- suppresses excess line feeds to show more
output in a single screen
- revert to less compact display
To see which type is currently in use, type
get(0,'Format')
To see if compact or loose formatting is currently selected, type
get(0,'FormatSpacing')
Summary
Matlab knows addition (+), subtraction (),
multiplication (*), division (/), and power (^).
Matlab evaluates expressions from left to right giving
precedence to powers over multiplication and division
and these over addition and subtraction.
As a default, Matlab stores results in the variable ans.
Matlab 7 remembers only the first 63 characters of a
variable name.
Variables must begin with a letter.
Matlab is case sensitive.
Scientific Features
Matlab offers many common functions
important to mathematics, engineering, and
the sciences.
Matlab handles complex numbers.
Common Mathematical Functions
>> a=sqrt(9)/2
a=
1.5000
>> b=sin(a/2)
b=
0.6816
>> c=round(a)*(b*180/pi)
c=
78.1100
Complex Numbers
Consider the quadratic equation:
a x2 + b x + c = 0
The roots of this equation are given by
b b 2 4ac
x1 , x2 =
2a
Lets find solution using Matlab if
a = 1, b = 5, and c = 6
>> a = 1; b = 5; c = 6;
>> x1 = (- b + sqrt(b^2 - 4*a*c))/(2*a)
x1 =
-2
>> x2 = (- b - sqrt(b^2 - 4*a*c))/(2*a)
x2 =
-3
In this case, the term inside the square root is
positive and the two roots are real numbers.
Lets find solution if a = 1, b = 4, and c = 13.
4 4 2 4 1 13
x1 , x 2 =
2 1
x1 = 2 + 3 1;
x2 = 2 3 1;
The solution is complex. The terms -2 in x1
and x2 are the real part of the solution. The
terms 3 and -3 are the imaginary parts of the
solution.
>> a = 1; b = 4; c = 13;
>> x1 = (- b + sqrt(b^2 - 4*a*c))/(2*a)
x1 =
-2.0000 + 3.0000i
>> x2 = (- b - sqrt(b^2 - 4*a*c))/(2*a)
x2 =
-2.0000 - 3.0000i
A complex number is written as a + bi in
which a is the real part, b is the imaginary
part, and i = -1.
In Matlab, the conversion between polar and
rectangular forms make use of the functions
real, imag, abs, and angle:
>> a = 1-2i
a=
1.0000 - 2.0000i
>> abs(a)
ans =
2.2361
>> real(a)
ans =
1
>> imag(a)
ans =
-2
>> b_angle = angle(a)
b_angle =
-1.1071
>> b_deg = b_angle*180/pi
b_deg =
-63.4349
Other Mathematical Functions
exp (x)
- ex
log (x)
- ln x
log 10(x)
- log10 x
cos (x)
- cosine x
sin (x)
- sine x
tan (x)
- tangent x
acos (x)
- arc-cosine x
asin (x)
- arc-sine x
atan (x)
- arc-tangent x
Summary
Matlab has many mathematical functions.
Complex numbers require no special treatment in
Matlab.
The default value of i (and j) is -1. Appending i
(or j) to the end of a number tells Matlab to make
the number the imaginary part of a complex
number
>> a = 2i
a=
0 + 2.0000i
Array Operations
To create an array in Matlab, you need to start with a
left bracket, enter the desired values separated by
space, then close the array with a right bracket.
>> a = [2 4 6]
a=
2 4 6
>> b = [(1 -2i) 4 (6 -3i)]
b=
1.000 - 2.000i
4.0000
6.0000 - 3.000i
Array Addressing
In Matlab, individual array elements are
accessed using subscripts:
>> a(2) % The second element of a
ans =
4
>> b(3) % The third element of b
ans =
6.0000 - 3.000i
Array Addressing (cont.)
To access a block of elements at one time,
Matlab provides colon notation
>> a = [1 2 3 4 5 6]
a=
1 2 3 4 5 6
>> a(1:3)
ans =
1 2 3
This is the first through third elements in a. 1:3
says: starts with 1 and count up to 3.
Array Addressing (cont.)
>> a = [1 2 3 4 5 6]
a=
1 2 3 4 5 6
>> a(3:-1:1)
ans =
3 2 1
This is the third, second and first elements in
reverse order. 3:1:1 says starts with 3, count
down by 1, and stop at 1.
Array Addressing (cont.)
>> a = [1 2 3 4 5 6]
a=
1 2 3 4 5 6
>> a(2:2:6)
ans =
2 4 6
This is the second, fourth and sixth elements in
a. 2:2:6 says starts with 2, count up by 2, and
stop when you get to 6.
Array Construction
>> a = [1 2 3 4 5 6];
>> b = [5 6 7 8];
>> c = [a b]
c=
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
>> d = [a(1:3) 9 10]
ans =
1 2 3 9 10
More on Array
To create a regularly spaced array
>> a = [0:0.5: 3]
a=
0 0.5000 1 1.5000 2 2.5000 3
Based on the above input, a formula of b=3 sin a is computed as
>> b = 3*sin(a)
b=
0 1.4383 2.5244 2.9925 2.7279 1.7954 0.4234
length function can be used to determine the number of values in
array a
>> c = length (a)
or
>> c = length [0:0.5:3]
c=
7
More on Array(cont.)
linespace command can also be used to create a
linearly spaced array
>> a=linspace(2,4,5)
a=
2 2.5 3 3.5 4
which is equivalent to
>> a=[2:0.5:4]
ans =
2 2.5 3 3.5 4
Polynomial Roots
One of the used of array in MATLAB is to determine the
polynomial roots. An array represents the polynomial coefficient
starting with the highest power (as the first element). For example
the polynomial 6x3 - 4x2 + 7x 3 would be represented with an
array of [6 -4 7 -3]. The roots of this polynomial (the values of x
when 6x3 - 4x2 + 7x 3 =0) can be obtained easily using:
>> a = [6 -4 7 -3]; roots (a)
a=
0.1004 + 1.0310i
0.1004 - 1.0310i
0.4659
or
>> roots ([6 -4 7 -3])
i.e. the roots are 0.4659 and 0.1004 1.0310i
TEST YOUR UNDERSTANDING
Try the followings:
a)
Use MATLAB to determine how many element are there in the
array [sin(0):0.1:log10(100)]. Subsequently write a command to
generate the value of the 15th element.
b)
Using MATLAB, find the roots of polynomial 240 76x+4x2+x3
answer :
a) 21, 1.4000
b) -12, -42i
** produce the same answer by writing the suitable script in m-file
File Manipulation
Variables generated within Matlab command window
can be saved in a *.mat file.
>> save filename.mat or >> save filename
When requried, only selected variables can be saved
or
>> save filename.mat var1 var2
>> save filename var1 var2
Saved variables is re-loaded using load command
>> load filename.mat or >> load filename
Script files, or M-files
Matlab commands can be placed in a text
file, called script or M-file.
To create M-file choose New from the File
menu and select M-file. This procedure
brings up a text editor window.
Commands within the M-file have access to
all variables in the Matlab workspace, and all
variables created in the M-file become part of
the workspace.
