Basic

Computer
Programming
Dr. Deniz Kutluay
 Symbolic Math

• SYMBOLIC OBJECTS AND SYMBOLIC

EXPRESSIONS
• CHANGING THE FORM OF AN EXISTING
SYMBOLIC EXPRESSION
• SOLVING ALGEBRAIC EQUATIONS
• DIFFERENTIATION
• INTEGRATION
• SOLVING AN ORDINARY DIFFERENTIAL
EQUATION
• PLOTTING SYMBOLIC EXPRESSIONS
• NUMERICAL CALCULATIONS WITH SYMBOLIC
EXPRESSIONS
 Mission & Goals
Mission
Listen to me carefully, and practice some examples using Matlab by following me

Goal #1 Goal #2 Goal #3

To be able to To perform symbolic To compute

manipulate operations such as numerical
mathematical differentiation or calculations with
expressions in terms integration of symbolic expressions.
of symbolic variables. mathematical
expressions.
 Basic Computer Programming Dr. Deniz Kutluay

Symbolic objects and

symbolic expressions
Creating Symbolic Objects
 A symbolic object can be a variable
(without a preassigned numerical Symbolic objects can be variables or numbers. They
value), a number, or an expression can be created with the sym and/or syms commands.
made of symbolic variables and
numbers.

 A symbolic expression is a mathematical

expression containing one or more
symbolic objects.

001
 Basic Computer Programming Dr. Deniz Kutluay

Symbolic objects and

symbolic expressions
Creating Symbolic Objects

 A single letter or a combination of

several letters (no spaces). Examples:
'a', 'x', 'yad'.

 A combination of letters and digits

starting with a letter and with no
spaces, Examples: 'xh12', 'r2d2'.

 A number. Examples: '15', '4'.

002
 Basic Computer Programming Dr. Deniz Kutluay

Symbolic objects and

symbolic expressions
Creating Symbolic Objects

 As mentioned, symbolic objects can

also be numbers.

 The numbers don't have to be typed as

strings.

 The display of symbolic objects starts

at the beginning of the line and is not
indented as is the display of numerical
variables. 003
 Basic Computer Programming Dr. Deniz Kutluay

Symbolic objects and

symbolic expressions
Creating Symbolic Objects

 Several symbolic variables can be

created in one command by using the
syms command.

 The command creates symbolic objects

that have the same names as the
symbolic variables.

004
 Basic Computer Programming Dr. Deniz Kutluay

Symbolic objects and

symbolic expressions
Creating Symbolic Expressions

 Symbolic expressions are mathematical

expressions written in terms of symbolic
variables.

 When a symbolic expression, which

includes mathematical operations that
can be executed, is entered, MATLAB
executes the operations as the
expression is created.
005
 Basic Computer Programming Dr. Deniz Kutluay

Symbolic objects and

symbolic expressions
Creating Symbolic Expressions

 An expression that is created can

include both symbolic objects and
numerical variables.

 However, if an expression includes a

symbolic object (or several), all the
mathematical operations will be carried
out exactly.

006
 Basic Computer Programming Dr. Deniz Kutluay

Symbolic objects and

symbolic expressions
Additional facts about symbolic
expressions and symbolic objects:

 The double(S) command can be used

to convert a symbolic expression
(object) S that is written in an exact
form to numerical form.

007
 Basic Computer Programming Dr. Deniz Kutluay

Symbolic objects and

symbolic expressions
Additional facts about symbolic expressions
and symbolic objects:

 A symbolic object that is created can

also be a symbolic expression written
interms of variables that were not first  It is impossible to perform symbolic math operations
created as symbolic objects. associated with the individual variables in the object.
 It is important to understand that in
this case, the variables a, b, c, and x  For example, it will not be possible to differentiate f with
included in the object do not exist respect to x.
individually as independent symbolic
objects 008
 Basic Computer Programming Dr. Deniz Kutluay

Symbolic objects and

symbolic expressions
The findsym Command and the Default
Symbolic Variable

 The findsym command can be used to

find which symbolic variables are
present in an existing symbolic
expression.
 The findsym(S) command displays the
names of all the symbolic variables that
are in the expression S in alphabetical
order.
009
 Basic Computer Programming Dr. Deniz Kutluay

Symbolic objects and

symbolic expressions
Default Order for one-letter Symbolic Variables

 The default order starts with x, and followed by letters, according to their closeness to x. If
there are two letters equally close to x, the letter that is after x in alphabetical order is first
(y before w, and z before v). (Consider v-w-x-y-z)
 The default symbolic variable in a symbolic expression is the first variable in the default
order.
 The default symbolic variable in an expression S can be identified by typing findsym(S,1) .

010
 Basic Computer Programming Dr. Deniz Kutluay

Changing the form of

an existing symbolic
expression
 The expressions created by MATLAB The collect command:
might not be in the simplest form or in a
form that the user prefers.  The collect command collects the terms in the
expression that have the variable with the same
 The form of an existing symbolic power.
expression can be changed to the
desired form.  In the new expression, the terms will be ordered
in decreasing order of power.
 The collect, expand, and factor
commands can be used to perform the
mathematical operations that are
implied by their names. 011
 Basic Computer Programming Dr. Deniz Kutluay

Changing the form of

an existing symbolic
expression
The collect command:

 The collect command collects the

terms in the expression that have the
variable with the same power.

 In the new expression, the terms will

be ordered in decreasing order of
power.

012
 Basic Computer Programming Dr. Deniz Kutluay

Changing the form of

an existing symbolic
expression
The collect command:

 The collect command collects the

terms in the expression that have the
variable with the same power.

 In the new expression, the terms will

be ordered in decreasing order of
power.

013
 Basic Computer Programming Dr. Deniz Kutluay

Changing the form of

an existing symbolic
expression
The expand command:

 It carries out products of terms that

include summation (used with at least
one of the terms), and it uses
trigonometric identities and
exponential and logarithmic laws to
expand corresponding terms that
include summation

014
 Basic Computer Programming Dr. Deniz Kutluay

Changing the form of

an existing symbolic
expression
The factor command:

 The factor command changes an

expression that is a polynomial to a
product of polynomials of a lower
degree.

015
 Basic Computer Programming Dr. Deniz Kutluay

Changing the form of

an existing symbolic
expression
The simplify command:

 The simplify command uses

mathematical operations (addition,
multiplication, rules of fractions,
powers, logarithms, etc.) and
functional and trigonometric
identities to generate a simpler form
of the expression.

016
 Basic Computer Programming Dr. Deniz Kutluay

Changing the form of

an existing symbolic
expression
The simple command:

 The simple command finds the form

of the expression with the fewest
number of characters.

 MATLAB creates several forms of the

expression by applying the collect,
expand, factor, and simplify
commands, and other simplification
functions
017
 Basic Computer Programming Dr. Deniz Kutluay

Changing the form of

an existing symbolic
expression

018
 Basic Computer Programming Dr. Deniz Kutluay

Solving algebraic
equations
Solving a single equation:

 A system of equations can be solved

for several variables with the solve
function

 If the equation has one variable, the

solution is numerical.

 If the equation has several symbolic

variables, a solution can be obtained
for any of the variables in terms of
the others. 019
 Basic Computer Programming Dr. Deniz Kutluay

Solving algebraic
equations
Solving a single equation:

 The argument eq can be the name of

a previously created symbolic
expression, or an expression that is
typed in. MATLAB solves the equation
eq = 0.
 An equation of the form f(x) = g(x)
can be solved by typing the equation
(including the = sign) as a string for
eq.
020
 Basic Computer Programming Dr. Deniz Kutluay

Solving algebraic
equations
Solving a single equation:

 If the equation to be solved has more

than one variable, the solve(eq)
command solves for the default
symbolic variable.

 A solution for any of the variables can

be obtained with the solve(eq,var)
command by typing the variable
name for var.
021
 Basic Computer Programming Dr. Deniz Kutluay

Solving algebraic
equations
Solving a single equation:

 It is also possible to use the solve

command by typing the equation to
be solved as a string, without having
the variables in the equation first
created as symbolic objects.

 However, if the solution contains

variables, the variables do not exist
as independent symbolic objects.
022
 Basic Computer Programming Dr. Deniz Kutluay

Solving algebraic
equations
Solving a system of equations:

 If the number of equations and the

number of variables are the same,
the solution is numerical.
 If the number of variables is greater
than the number of equations, the
solution is symbolic for the desired
variables in terms of the other
variables.
 The variables for which solutions are
obtained are chosen by MATLAB
according to the default order. 023
 Basic Computer Programming Dr. Deniz Kutluay

Solving algebraic
equations
Solving a system of equations:

 When the number of variables is

greater than the number of
equations n, the user can select the
variables for which the system is
solved.

 This is done by using the second

format of the solve command and
entering the names of the variables
var1, var2,…., varn.
024
 Basic Computer Programming Dr. Deniz Kutluay

Solving algebraic
equations
Solving a system of equations:

 The output from the solve command, which is the solution of the system, can have two
different forms. One is a cell array and the other is a structure.

 A cell array is an array in which each of the elements can be an array.

 A structure is an array in which the elements (called fields) are addressed by textual field
designators. The fields of a structure and the elements of a cell array can be arrays of
different sizes and types.

025
 Basic Computer Programming Dr. Deniz Kutluay

Solving algebraic
equations
Solving a system of equations: [varA, varB, varC] = solve (eq1,eq2,eq3)

 When a cell array is used in the output

of the solve command, the command
has the following form (in the case of a
system of three equations).

 Notice that the system of two

equations is solved by MATLAB for x
and y in terms of t, since x and y are  Consider the order of
r-s-t-u-v-w-x-y-z
the first two variables in the default
order.
026
 Basic Computer Programming Dr. Deniz Kutluay

Solving algebraic
equations
Solving a system of equations:

 The system, however, can be solved

for different variables.

 As an example, the system is solved

next for y and t in terms of x.

[varA, varB] = solve (eq1,eq2,var1,var2)

027
 Basic Computer Programming Dr. Deniz Kutluay

Solving algebraic
equations
Solving a system of equations:

 When a structure is used in the output

of the solve command, the command
has the form (in the case of a system
of three equations).

AN = solve (eq1, eq2, eq3)

 To display the content of a field, the

user has to type the address of the
field.
028
structure_name.field_name
 Basic Computer Programming Dr. Deniz Kutluay

Differentiation
 Symbolic differentiation can be carried
out by using the diff command.

 Either S can be the name of a

previously created symbolic
expression, or an expression can be
typed in for S.

 In the diff(S) command, if the

expression contains one symbolic
variable, the differentiation is carried
out with respect to that variable.

029
 Basic Computer Programming Dr. Deniz Kutluay

Differentiation
 If the expression contains more than
one variable, the differentiation is
carried out with respect to the default
symbolic variable.

 In the diff(S,var) command the

differentiation is carried out with
respect to the variable var.

 The second or higher (nth) derivative

can be determined with the diff(S,n)
or diff(S,n,var) command, where n is
a positive number.
030
 Basic Computer Programming Dr. Deniz Kutluay

Integration
 Symbolic integration can be carried out For indefinite integration
by using the int command. The
command can be used for determining
indefinite integrals and definite
integrals.

 Either S can be the name of a previously

created symbolic expression, or an
expression can be typed in for S.

 In the int(S) command, if the expression

contains one symbolic variable, the
integration is carried out with respect to
that variable. 031
 Basic Computer Programming Dr. Deniz Kutluay

Integration
For indefinite integration
 If the expression contains more than
one variable, the integration is carried
out with respect to the default symbolic
variable.

 In the int(S,var) command, the

integration is carried out with respect to
the variable var.

032
 Basic Computer Programming Dr. Deniz Kutluay

Integration

For definite integration

 a and b are the limits of integration.

 The limits can be numbers or symbolic

variables.

 For example, determination of the

definite integral with MATLAB:

033
 Basic Computer Programming Dr. Deniz Kutluay

Solving an ordinary
differential equation
 An ordinary differential equation (ODE)
can be solved symbolically with the A first-order ODE A second-order ODE
dsolve command.

 The command can be used to solve a

single equation or a system of
equations. A solution is a function y = f(t) that satisfies the equation.

 Only single equations will be learned in

this course.

034
 Basic Computer Programming Dr. Deniz Kutluay

Solving an ordinary
differential equation
General solution:
 The solution can be general or particular.

 A general solution contains constants.

 eq is the equation to be solved. It has to be
 In a particular solution the constants are typed as a string even if the variables are
determined. symbolic objects.
 In the dsolve('eq') command the independent
variable is assumed by MATLAB to be t (default).
 In the dsolve('eq', ‘var') command the user
defines the independent variable by typing it for
var (as a string).
035
 Basic Computer Programming Dr. Deniz Kutluay

Solving an ordinary
differential equation
 In specifying the equation the letter D  A second derivative is typed as D2, third
denotes differentiation. If y is the derivative as D3, and so on. For example, the
dependent variable and t is the equation
𝑑𝑦
independent variable, Dy stands for 𝑑𝑡 .

 For example, the equation

is typed in as

is typed in as

036
 Basic Computer Programming Dr. Deniz Kutluay

Solving an ordinary
differential equation
 The variables in the ODE equation that is  A general solution of the first-order ODE
typed in the dsolve command do not
have to be previously created symbolic
variables.

 In the solution MATLAB uses C1, C2, C3,

and so on, for the constants of
integration.

037
 Basic Computer Programming Dr. Deniz Kutluay

Solving an ordinary
differential equation
 The variables in the ODE equation that is
typed in the dsolve command do not
have to be previously created symbolic  A general solution of the second-order ODE
variables.

 In the solution MATLAB uses C1, C2, C3,

and so on, for the constants of
integration.

038
 Basic Computer Programming Dr. Deniz Kutluay

Solving an ordinary
differential equation

 The following examples illustrate the

solution of differential equations that
contain symbolic variables in addition
to the independent and dependent
variables

039
 Basic Computer Programming Dr. Deniz Kutluay

Solving an ordinary
differential equation
 A particular solution of an ODE can be Particular solution:
obtained if boundary (or initial)
conditions are specified.

 For solving equations of higher order,

additional boundary conditions have
to be entered in the command.

 If the number of conditions is less than

the order of the equation, MATLAB
returns a solution that includes
constants of integration (C1, C2, C3,
and so on). 040
 Basic Computer Programming Dr. Deniz Kutluay

Solving an ordinary
differential equation
Particular solution:
 The boundary conditions are typed in as
strings in the following:

For example, the first-order ODE with the initial condition

 The argument 'var' is optional and is

used to define the independent variable
in the equation. If none is entered, the
default is t.

041
 Basic Computer Programming Dr. Deniz Kutluay

Solving an ordinary
differential equation
Particular solution:
 The second-order ODE with the initial
conditions

042
 Basic Computer Programming Dr. Deniz Kutluay

Plotting symbolic
expressions
 Plotting a symbolic expression S that
contains one or two variables can be
done by using ezplot command.

 S can be the name of a previously

created symbolic expression, or an
expression can be typed in for S.

 It is also possible to type the expression

to be plotted as a string without having
the variables in the expression first
created as symbolic objects.
043
 Basic Computer Programming Dr. Deniz Kutluay

Plotting symbolic
expressions

 If S has one symbolic variable, a plot of

S(var) versus (var) is created, with the
values of var (the independent variable)
on the horizontal axis, and the values of
S(var) on the vertical axis.

044
 Basic Computer Programming Dr. Deniz Kutluay

Plotting symbolic
expressions
 If the symbolic expression S has two
symbolic variables, var1 and var2, the
expression is assumed to be a function
with the form S(varl,var2) = 0.

 MATLAB creates a plot of one variable

versus the other variable.

 The variable that is first in alphabetic

order is taken to be the independent
variable.
045
 Basic Computer Programming Dr. Deniz Kutluay

Plotting symbolic
expressions

 The ezplot command can also be used

to plot a function that is given in a
parametric form.

 In this case two symbolic expressions,

S1 and S2, are involved, where each
expression is written in terms of the
same symbolic variable.

 The command creates a plot of S2(var)

versus S1(var).
046
 Basic Computer Programming Dr. Deniz Kutluay

Plotting symbolic
expressions

 In the ezplot(S1, S2) command the

domain of the independent variable is
0 < var < 2π (default domain).

 In the ezplot(S1, S2, [min, max])

command the domain for the
independent variable is defined by min
and max:
min< var <max.

047
 Basic Computer Programming Dr. Deniz Kutluay

Numerical calculations
with symbolic
expressions
 There may be a need to substitute 1- Substituting a numerical value for one symbolic
variable:
numbers for the symbolic variables and
calculate the numerical value of the A numerical value (or values) can be substituted for one
expressions. symbolic variable when a symbolic expression has one
or more symbolic variables.
 This can be done by using the subs
command.

 The subs command has several forms

and can be used in different ways.

048
 Basic Computer Programming Dr. Deniz Kutluay

Numerical calculations
with symbolic
expressions
 The value of S is calculated for each
value of number and the result is
assigned to R, which will have the same
size as number.

049
 Basic Computer Programming Dr. Deniz Kutluay

Numerical calculations
with symbolic
expressions
 If S has one variable, the output R is
numerical.

 If S has several variables and a

numerical value is substituted for only
one of them, the output R is a symbolic
expression.

050
 Basic Computer Programming Dr. Deniz Kutluay

Numerical calculations
with symbolic
expressions
 The variables are typed as a cell array 2- Substituting a numerical value for two or more
symbolic variables:
(inside curly braces { } ).
A numerical value (or values) can be substituted for two
 A cell array is an array of cells where or more symbolic variables when a symbolic expression
each cell can be an array of numbers or has several symbolic variables.
text.

 The first cell in the numbers cell array

(number1) is substituted for the variable
that is in the first cell of the variable cell
array (var1), and so on.
051
 Basic Computer Programming Dr. Deniz Kutluay

Numerical calculations
with symbolic
expressions

 If all the numbers that are substituted

for variables are scalars, the outcome
will be one number or one expression (if
some of the variables are still symbolic).

052
 Basic Computer Programming Dr. Deniz Kutluay

Numerical calculations
with symbolic
expressions
 If, for at least one variable, the
substituted numbers are an array, the
mathematical operations are executed
element-by-element and the outcome is
an array of numbers or expressions.

 It should be emphasized that the

calculations are performed element-by-
element even though the expression S is
 This also means that all the arrays substituted for
not typed in the element-by-element different variables must be of the same size.
notation.
053
 Basic Computer Programming Dr. Deniz Kutluay

Numerical calculations
with symbolic
expressions
 A second method for substituting
numerical values for symbolic variables
is to first assign numerical values to the
variables and then use the subs
command.

 Once the symbolic variables are

redefined as numerical variables they
can no longer be used as symbolic.

054
Thank
You

Dr. Deniz Kutluay

Electrical-Electronics Engineering

Design Architect at Vestel

[email protected]
[email protected]