Basics of MATLAB

Jiseok Chae

Department of Mathematical Sciences

KAIST

MAS109 Week 2

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Contents

1 Hello MATLAB!

2 Variables

3 Matrices and Vectors

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Welcome to the MATLAB session!

Like today, every Friday with a recitation class, a video will be uploaded.

Brief explanations about the functionalities of MATLAB will be discussed

in the MATLAB session.

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There will be about 6 MATLAB assignments, roughly one every two weeks.

We use MATLAB Grader for assignments.

You should have already received a invitation email for MATLAB Grader.

15% of your final grade is based on recitation class activities and

MATLAB assignments.

⋆ The first assignment is out.

Read the descriptions carefully, and follow the instructions.

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About me:
Jiseok Chae (채지석)
[email protected]

If you have questions about the MATLAB materials and/or assignments,

do not hesitate to contact me.

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 Hello MATLAB!

Contents

1 Hello MATLAB!

2 Variables

3 Matrices and Vectors

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 Hello MATLAB!

MATLAB is a software package with an interactive environment.

MATLAB is specialized for matrix computations, but also a powerful tool

for function and data plotting, data analysis, mathematical modeling, etc.

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 Hello MATLAB!

If you start MATLAB you will see a window that looks something like this:

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 Hello MATLAB!

Each part has the following name:

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 Hello MATLAB!

Commands are expressions you enter so that MATLAB evaluates it to you.

If you first launch MATLAB, the command window will look like:

>>

The symbol >> indicates that the MATLAB is ready to operate.

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 Hello MATLAB!

You can use MATLAB as a highly sophisticated calculator.

Let us type in the following expression...

>> 2 + 3

...and press the Enter key in your keyboard.

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 Hello MATLAB!

You will see the following result.

>> 2 + 3

ans =

The command window contains both your input and MATLAB’s output.
In the slides we will distinguish them by highlighting the inputs by color.

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 Hello MATLAB!

Other basic arithmetic operations can be done similarily.

operation input output
Addition 2 + 3 5
Subtraction 9 - 1 8
Multiplication 6 * 5 30
Division 7 / 4 1.7500
Exponentiation 8 ^ 2 64

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 Hello MATLAB!

There are several predefined functions and constants, not limited to below:

>> sin(pi) + sqrt(2)

ans =

1.4142

>> log(exp(1))

ans =

pi is the constant π, sqrt is the square root, log is the natural log, and
exp is the base-e exponentiation.
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 Hello MATLAB!

You can use the percent symbol (%) to make a comment.

Anything after the symbol % in that line will be ignored by MATLAB.

A comment is colored green in MATLAB by default, so we will also do so.

>> 9 * 7 % / 2 ; The division will not be executed !

ans =

63

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 Variables

Contents

1 Hello MATLAB!

2 Variables

3 Matrices and Vectors

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 Variables

Variables are like named boxes that contain values.

To declare a variable with the name x which contains the value 5, you
simply do the following.

>> x = 5

x =

Variable names must start with an alphabet, and should be consisted of

alphabets, numbers, and underbars.

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 Variables

The simple rule is that MATLAB evaulates the expression on the right
hand side, and stores it in the left hand side.

>> x = 5

x =

>> x = x + 17

x =

22

So = does not really mean an equality; it is rather a substitution.

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 Variables

A semicolon (;) indicates the end of a command, and suppresses the

printing of the output.

You can define variables with values derived from different variables.
>> hello KAIST = 142; welcome = 857;
>> neopjuk = hello KAIST + welcome

neopjuk =

999

>> welcome = 1;
>> neopjuk

neopjuk =

999

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 Variables

Actually, ans is also a variable, automatically generated by MATLAB.

>> 40 + 1

ans =

41

>> ans * 271

ans =

11111

And yes, 41 × 271 is equal to 11111.

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 Matrices and Vectors

Contents

1 Hello MATLAB!

2 Variables

3 Matrices and Vectors

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 Matrices and Vectors

This is how you declare a matrix in MATLAB:

>> A = [1, 9, 7, 1; 2, 0, 2, 4]

A =

1 9 7 1
2 0 2 4

 
1 9 7 1
Now A contains the 2 × 4 matrix .
2 0 2 4

A comma (,) separates entries. A semicolon (;) separates rows.

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 Matrices and Vectors

The same can be done as the following, in order to enhance the readability
of your input.

>> A = [1, 9, 7, 1;
2, 0, 2, 4]

A =

1 9 7 1
2 0 2 4

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 Matrices and Vectors

Row vectors are matrices with only 1 row.

Column vectors are matrices with only 1 column.

>> a = [2, 5];

>> b = [1; 0; 9];

 
  1
a contains the row vector 2 5 . b contains the column vector 0.
9

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 Matrices and Vectors

There are functions that help you generate special matrices.

zeros(n) makes an n × n zero matrix.
zeros(n, m) makes an n × m zero matrix.
ones(n) makes an n × n matrix with all entries 1.
ones(n, m) makes an n × m matrix with all entries 1.
eye(n) makes an n × n identity matrix.

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 Matrices and Vectors

You can add, subtract, and multiply vectors and matrices with compatible
sizes using +, -, and *.

>> A = [1, -3, 2;

4, 0, -5];
>> x = [3; 1; 2];
>> A * x

ans =

4
2

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 Matrices and Vectors

If you add the dot (.) in front of *, MATLAB computes the elementwise
product.

>> A = [1, 2; 3, 4]; B = [5, 6; 7, 8];

>> A .* B

ans =

5 12
21 32

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 Matrices and Vectors

A dot (.) in general indicates an elementwise operation.

>> A = [1, 2; 3, 4]; B = [5, 6; 7, 8];

>> A ./ B

ans =

0.2000 0.3333
0.4286 0.5000

>> A .^ 2

ans =

1 4
9 16

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 Matrices and Vectors

Some functions, when applied to matrix, is applied elementwise.

>> A = [1, 2; 3, 4];

>> sqrt(A)

ans =

1.0000 1.4142
1.7321 2.0000

Question : what would be the result of sin(A)? exp(A)?

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 Matrices and Vectors

To get the transpose, use an apostrophe (’).

>> A = [1, 2; 3, 4];

>> A’

ans =

1 3
2 4

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 Matrices and Vectors

Let’s see more examples of matrix operations. Let A be a matrix, then

inv(A) computes the inverse of A.
A^k computes the k th power of A.
A^0 will be the identity matrix.
A^-1 is the same as inv(A).
rref(A) computes the reduced row echelon form of A.

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 Matrices and Vectors

You can access to the entries using parentheses (()).

>> a = [2, 5]; b = [1; 0; 9];

>> a(1)

ans =

>> b(3)

ans =

a(1) is the first entry of a, hence 2. b(3) is the third entry of b, hence 9.
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 Matrices and Vectors

You can access to the entries using parentheses (()).

>> A = [1, 2, 3;
4, 5, 6;
7, 8, 9];

>> A(3, 2)

ans =

A(3, 2) means, select from A only the 3rd row and the 2nd column.
Therefore, A(3, 2) means the (3, 2) entry of A, which is A32 = 8.

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 Matrices and Vectors

Instead of specifying the index, a colon (:) can be used to say “select all”.

>> A = [1, 2, 3;
4, 5, 6;
7, 8, 9];

>> A(2, :)

ans =

4 5 6

A(2, :) means, select from A only the 2nd row and all the columns.
Therefore, A(2, :) is the 2nd row vector of A.

Question: what would be the result of A(:, 1)?

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 Matrices and Vectors

More complex selections can be made.

>> A = [1, 2, 3;
4, 5, 6;
7, 8, 9];

>> A([1, 3], 2)

ans =

2
8

A([1, 3], 2) means, select from A only the 1st and 3rd row, and the
2nd column.

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 Matrices and Vectors

A colon (:) can be used to denote a consecutive range of indices.

>> A = [1, 2, 3, 4;
5, 6, 7, 8;
9, 10, 11, 12];

>> A(3, 2:4)

ans =

10 11 12

This is because a:b is automatically translated to the (b − a + 1)-dim’l

row vector [a a + 1 . . . b].

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 Matrices and Vectors

Thank you!

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