Chapter 3

Introduction to MATLAB

3.1Beginning a MATLAB Session
3.2Basic Entities in MATLAB
3.2.1 Data Types
3.2.2 Variable Names
3.2.3 Assignment of Values to Variables
3.2.4 Commands
3.3A Sampling of MATLAB Capabilities
3.3.1 Creating and Examining Arrays
3.3.2 Simple Mathematical Manipulations
3.3.3 Matrix Manipulations
3.3.4 Solving Linear Equations
3.3.5 A First Graph
3.4Properties, Objects, and Handles
3.5Saving and Retrieving the MATLAB Session
3.6Loops, Logical Expressions, and Conditionals
3.7Reading Data from a File
3.8On-line Help
3.9m-Files
3.10Eigenvalues and Eigenvectors
3.11Graphing Scalar Functions of One Variable
3.11.1 The Basic Strategy
3.11.2 Plotting Several Graphs on One Set of Axes
3.11.3 Polar Plots and Custom Axes
3.11.4 Multiple Plots On a Page
3.11.5 Plotting Experimental Data
3.12Making Hard Copy
3.12.1 ... of Text
3.12.2 ... of Graphs
3.13Graphing Scalar Functions of Two Variables
3.13.1 A Preliminary: The Function meshgrid
3.13.2 Surface Plots: The Function mesh
3.13.3 Contour Plots: The Function contour
3.13.4 Shaded Surfaces: The Function surf
3.13.5 Features of the Figure Window
3.13.6 The Functions meshc, surfc, and surfl
3.13.7 Functions of Two Variables in Polar Coordinates
3.14Graphing Scalar Functions of Three Variables
3.14.1 Reduction to Two-Dimensional Displays
3.14.2 Isosurfaces
3.15Graphing Vector Fields
3.15.1 The Function quiver
3.15.2 More Elaborate Displays
3.15.3 Three-Dimensional Vector Fields
3.16Animation
3.17Advanced Graphing Features
3.17.1 Fonts
3.17.2 Space Curves
3.17.3 Using Multiple Windows
3.17.4 Customizing Axes
3.17.5 Working with Color
3.18Miscellaneous Occasionally Useful Tidbits
3.19References
3.20Exercises
3.20.1 Writing MATLAB Statements
3.20.2 Finding Eigenvalues and Eigenvectors
3.20.3 Graphing Scalar Functions of a Single Variable
3.20.4 Graphing Scalar Functions of Two Variables
3.20.5 Graphing Scalar Functions of Three Variables
3.20.6 Graphing Vector Fields
3.20.7 Animations


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