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.