MATLAB TUTORIAL LAB 01

INTRODUCTION TO MATLAB

Bushra Fatima
NED University of Engineering & Technology
April 11, 2017
 Outline
• Default view of MATLAB desktop

• Command Window

• Command History.

• Scalar variables and their use in arithmetic

calculations

• Elementary Math built-in functions

Textbook: A. Gilat, Matlab: An Introduction with Applications 4th Edition. John Wiley
& Sons, Incorporated, 2017. (Chapter 1: Introduction)
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Introduction
• MAT/LAB: Matrix Laboratory

• Makes matrix computations easy

• Handles scientific and engineering calculations.

• MATLAB system is an Interpreter

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Prerequisites for solving a problem using MATLAB

• Mathematics

• An algorithm

• The exact rules for writing MATLAB statements

• Correct usage of MATLAB utilities

• Converting algorithm into MATLAB statements

and/or program

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Default view of MATLAB desktop

CURRENT WORKSPACE
FOLDER WINDOW
WINDOW
COMMAND WINDOW

COMMAND HISTORY
WINDOW

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Default view: Home  Layout  Default

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Command Window: Executing commands one at a time

• Main window: For executing commands
Command 1: A=5
press enter
•
To execute
Command line: The line with command prompt >>
Command 2: B=10 each
press enter
command:
Command 3: C=A+B
Press Enter
press enter

The cursor next to the command

prompt is prompting the user to enter
the next Command

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Command Window: Executing several commands

3 commands in the same

line separated by a
comma
Order of
execution:
Left to Right

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Command Window: Editing

• Editing:

The already executed command can not be corrected

and re-executed

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Command Window: Editing

Command-line editing:

• Left-arrow, Right-arrow

• Up-arrow and Down-arrow for accessing history

• Smart recall: type some character and press

Up-arrow and Down-arrow

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Command Window: Use of percent symbol (%)

Comment
Comment line is not executed when ENTER is
pressed

Comments are added to aid the programmer for his/her reference

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Command Window: Use of Semi-colon (;)

Output of the command is displayed

Output of the command

is not displayed
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Command Window: Use of Semi-colon (;)

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Command Window: Use of the command clc

clc  clears the command window only

CAUTION: The commands are CASE-SENSITIVE! METU NCC

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Drawbacks of a command window

• The commands in the Command window

cannot be saved and executed again.

• It is not interactive.

• Already executed command can not be

modified

• Better option: script file

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Command Window: Font size: Home  Preferences  Fonts

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Useful commands you should know

CAUTION: The commands are CASE-SENSITIVE!

• help  lists all the primary help topics.

• help <command>  displays information about the command.

• doc On-line help  accesses the hypertext reference manual.

• doc <command>  displays information about the command.

• type <command>  Displays the actual MATLAB code for this

command.

• lookfor <keyword>  Searches all MATLAB commands for this

keyword.

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Useful commands you should know

CAUTION: The commands are CASE-SENSITIVE!

• who  Lists all the current variables.

• whos  Lists all the current variables in more detail than who.

• save  Saves all of your variables.

• ^C  Abort the command which is currently executing (i.e., hold down

the control key and type c).

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Useful commands you should know

CAUTION: The commands are CASE-SENSITIVE!

• clc  clears the command window (but does not clear the saved
variables in the workspace)

• clear all  deletes all the saved variables from the workspace (but
does not clear the command window) and brings the cursor at top

• clear variable  deletes only that particular variable from the

workspace

• date  gives current date

• calendar shows up the calendar of the ongoing month

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Busy…

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Command History

• The Command History Window  includes commands from previous

sessions.

• A command in the Command History Window can be used again in the

Command Window.

• By double-clicking on the command, the command is reentered in the

Command Window and executed.

• It is also possible to drag the command to the Command Window, make

changes if needed, and then execute it.

• Clearing Command history:

• Whole history
• A selection

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Simple Arithmetic Operations With Scalars

Addition: 3+2
Subtraction: 3-2
Multiplication: 3*2
Division: 3/2 or 2\3
Exponent: 3^2

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Order of Precedence

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Order of Precedence: Practice

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Display formats
Command Description Example
>> 290/7
format short
upto 4 decimal digits ans =
(default)
41.4286
>> 290/7
ans =
format long upto 15 decimal digits
41.4285714285
71431
>> 290/7
format short e scientific notation with 4 decimal digits ans =
4.1429e+001
>> 290/7
ans =
format long e scientific notation with 15 decimal digits
4.14285714285
7143e+001
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Display formats
Command Description Example
>> 290/7
format short g 5 s.g.f of floating digits ans =
41.429
>> 290/7
ans =
format long g 15 s.g.f of floating digits
41.4285714285
714
>> 290/7
format bank upto 2 decimal digits ans =
41.43
Eliminates empty lines to allow more lines with information
format compact
displayed on the screen.
format loose
Adds empty lines (opposite of compact).
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Display formats: compact vs loose

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Inf & NaN

Infinity:
1/0

inf + 3
Not-a-Number (NaN):
0/0

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Variables: Storing data

Save value in a variable:

x=3 = Assignment
x = 4 (over-ridden) operator

Variables are case-sensitive:

T=2
t=3
Z = t+T;

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Variables: Naming rules

1. May consist of:
 letters A-Z, a-z
 digits 0-9
 underscore ( _ )

2. Must start with a letter.

3. Variable names are case-sensitive

4. Can be up to 63 characters long

5. Avoid using the built-in functions as the variable

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Variables: Predefined keywords that can not be used as

variable name

break for
case function end
catch global return
classdef if spmd
continue otherwise switch
else parfor try
elseif persistent while
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Variables: Predefined variables

ans
pi
…

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Elementary math built-in functions

A function has a name and an argument in parentheses.

a= 4
a = sqrt(4)

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Elementary functions in MATLAB: Trigonometry

Function Description Example
>> sin(pi/6)
sin(x) Sine of angle x (x in radians).
ans =
sind(x) Sine of angle x (x in degrees).
0.5

cos(x) Cosine of angle x (x in radians). >> cosd(30)

cosd(x) Cosine of angle x (x in degrees). ans =
0.86603

tan(x) Tangent of angle x (x in radians). >> tan(pi/6)

tand(x) Tangent of angle x (x in degrees). ans =
0.57735
>> cotd(30)
cot(x) Cotangent of angle x (x in radians).
ans =
cotd(x) Cotangent of angle x (x in degrees).
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Elementary functions in MATLAB: Trigonometry

• Inverse trigonometric functions are:

asin(x), acos(x), atan(x), acot(x) for the angle in

radians.
asind(x), acosd(x), atand(x),acotd(x) for the angle
in degrees.

• Hyperbolic trigonometric functions are

sinh(x), cosh(x), tanh(x), and coth(x).

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Elementary functions in MATLAB: Exponential

Function Description Example

>> sqrt(81)
sqrt(x) square root ans =
9
>> nthroot(80,5)
nthroot(x,n) Real nth root of a real number x. ans =
2.4022
>> exp(5)
exp(x) Exponential ex ans =
148.41
>> log(1000)
log(x) Natural logarithm. ans =
Base e logarithm (ln). 6.9078
>> log10(1000)
log10(x) Base 10 logarithm. ans =
3
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Elementary functions in MATLAB: Rounding & Remainder

Function Description Example
>>
round(3/2)
round(x) Rounds to the nearest integer.
ans =
2
>> fix(3/2)
fix(x) Rounds towards zero. ans =
1
>>
ceil(3/2)
ceil(x) Rounds towards +ve infinity.
ans =
2
>>
floor(3/2)
floor(x) Rounds towards -ve infinity.
ans =
1
>>
rem(35,3)
rem(x,y) Returns the remainder after x is divided by y.
ans =
2
>> sign(5)
sign(x) Signum function. Returns 1 if x > 0, -1 if x < -1 & 0 if x = 0 ans =
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Practice …..

fix and rem

Converting 40 inches to feet-inch.

feet = fix(40/12)
inches = rem(40, 12)

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