Matlab Tutorial and Reference

December 9, 2009
c Barry G Adams

Contents
1 Quick Tour of the Matlab Environment 2
1.1 Command window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
1.2 Current directory window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.3 Workspace window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.4 Command history window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.5 Configuring the windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

2 Using Matlab as a Super Calculator 3

2.1 Scalar variables and arithmetic expressions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
2.1.1 Standard scalar arithmetic operations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
2.1.2 Variables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
2.1.3 Built-in mathematical functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
2.2 Anonymous functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
2.3 Vector operations and expressions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
2.3.1 Row and column vectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
2.3.2 Arithmetic operations with vectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
2.4 Matrix and array operations and expressions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
2.4.1 Matrix operations from linear algebra . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
2.4.2 Array (element by element) operations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
2.5 Vectorization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
2.6 Plotting tables and functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
2.6.1 Using fplot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
2.6.2 Plotting tables of values . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
2.6.3 Plotting two functions on one graph . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

3 Interactive Scripts and Function M-files 24

3.1 Interactive scripts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
3.1.1 Script for solving a quadratic equation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
3.1.2 An algorithm for square roots . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
3.2 Function M-files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
3.2.1 Factorial example . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
3.2.2 Example: A falling object . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
3.2.3 Local variables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

4 Some Applications 33
4.1 Root finding example for a falling object . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

5 Command and Function Reference 34

5.1 Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
5.2 Elementary Math Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
5.2.1 Trigonometric functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
5.2.2 Exponential Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Matlab Tutorial and Reference Page 2 of 40

5.2.3 Complex Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

5.2.4 Rounding and Remainder Funtions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
5.3 Arithmetic Operators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
5.4 Relational Operators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
5.5 Logical Operators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
5.6 Special variables and constants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
5.7 Elementary matrices and matrix manipulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
5.7.1 Elementary matrices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
5.7.2 Basic array information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
5.7.3 Matrix manipulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
5.7.4 Multi-dimensional array functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
5.7.5 Array utility functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
5.7.6 Specialized matrices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
5.8 Operators and special characters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
5.8.1 Arithmetic operators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
5.8.2 Relational operators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
5.8.3 Logical operators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
5.8.4 Special characters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

1 Q UICK T OUR OF THE M ATLAB E NVIRONMENT

Before starting MATLAB for the first time make yourself a directory (folder) that will contain your
MATLAB scripts. When you have done this run MATLAB .

1.1 Command window

Commands are typed here after the >> prompt. To make your command window look like the one in
this tutorial enter the two commands (press enter after each one)

>> format compact

>> format short

Enter the command

>> pi + 1
ans =
4.1416
>>

Here ans is a variable whose value is the last quantity calculated. If you terminate a command or
statement with a semi-colon the command output is not shown. Try this:

>> pi + 1;
>>
Matlab Tutorial and Reference Page 3 of 40

1.2 Current directory window

Later we will write scripts that are stored in files and can be run from the command window. Such
scripts are assumed to be in the current directory.
To make the directory you created the current directory on the MATLAB toolbar there is box that
you can use to navigate to the directory you have made to hold your scripts. This can also be done
using the toolbar at the top of the current directory window itself.

1.3 Workspace window

Variables you have defined are shown in this window. Their values can be displayed and/or edited in
this window. You should see your ans variable. To edit a variable double click on it.

1.4 Command history window

This window contains a list of commands that have been entered. One of these commands can be
executed in the command window by double clicking on it. To copy a command from the history
window to the command window without executing it simply select the command and drag it to the
command window.

1.5 Configuring the windows

The windows can be configured by choosing various entries from the Desktop menu. Try some
choices to see what happens and then return to the default option.

2 U SING MATLAB AS A S UPER C ALCULATOR

Before writing scripts we show how to use MATLAB as a super calculator.

2.1 Scalar variables and arithmetic expressions

Unless stated otherwise in this tutorial we assume the following statements have been executed

format short
format compact

The first displays only 4 digits after the decimal point and the second does not leave blank lines in the
output.
If you want to leave blank lines and show the maximum digits in a floating point number you can
use the commands

format long
format loose
Matlab Tutorial and Reference Page 4 of 40

2.1.1 Standard scalar arithmetic operations

The usual arithmetic operators +, −, ∗ and / are available. Enter the following statements and note
that division is a floating point division not an integer division.

>> 1 + 2*3 - 5.23

ans =
1.7700
>> (2.5 - 3.2)*(6.2 + 3.27) / 4
ans =
-1.6573
>> 2/3
ans =
0.6667
>>

Scientific notation can also be used:

>> 1.5e-15 + 2.3e-12

ans =
2.3015e-012
>>

The exponentiation operator is the caret (ˆ) but it associates from left to right (unconventional):

>> 2ˆ3ˆ4
ans =
4096
>> (2ˆ3)ˆ4
ans =
4096
>> -4 ˆ 2
ans =
-16
>>

The last result shows that exponentiation takes precedence over negation. A complete list of opera-
tions can be obtained using either of the help commands

>> help ops

>> helpwin ops
Matlab Tutorial and Reference Page 5 of 40

2.1.2 Variables
Variable names begin with a letter which can be followed by 0 or more letters or digits. The underscore
character is considered to be a letter. Each variable can hold a value of any type. For example try the
following statements.

>> x = ’hello’
x =
hello
>> x = 3
x =
3
>> y = 4
y =
4
>> z = xˆ2 + yˆ2
z =
25
>>

Note how variable x first holds a string value and then holds a numeric value.
If you look at the workspace window you will see that x, y and z appear as workspace variables.
To remove the variable x from the workspace use the command

>> clear x

To see the value of any variable, say z, simply type its name and press enter:

>> z
z =
5
>>

To remove all variables use the command

>> clear all

If you try to access a variable that was removed you get an error message:

>> x
??? Undefined function or variable ’x’.
Matlab Tutorial and Reference Page 6 of 40

2.1.3 Built-in mathematical functions

M ATLAB has a large collection of elementary mathematical functions including trigonometric, inverse
trigonometric, hyperbolic, inverse hyperbolic, logarithmic and exponential functions. The complete
list can be obtained with either of the help commands

>> help elfun

>> helpwin elfun

You can also use the help browser from the main Help menu. Try these examples noting that log, not
ln, is the logarithm to base e.

>> x = 3;
>> y = 4;
>> z = sqrt(xˆ2 + yˆ2)
z =
5
>> sin(pi/2)ˆ2 + cos(pi/2)ˆ2
ans =
1
>> log(1.12)
ans =
0.1133
>> exp(1.0)
ans =
2.7183
>>

Here pi is the value of π and there is also e for the value of e1 . Angles for trigonometric functions
must be in radians and the inverse trigonometric functions return an angle in radians. Sometimes it is
more convenient to use angles in degrees. M ATLAB provides degree versions sind(x) and similarly
for the other 5 trigonometric functions. For the inverse functions the value returned from asind(x)
is in degrees. Try the following statements.

>> sind(90)
ans =
1
>> asind(1)
ans =
90
>>
Matlab Tutorial and Reference Page 7 of 40

Example Evaluate the expression

s  
gL 2πd
v= tanh
2π L

where v m/s is the velocity of a water wave, d = 50 m is the depth of water without the wave,
L = 100 m is the wave length of the wave, and g = 9.81 m/s2 is the acceleration due to gravity.

>> g = 9.81;
>> L = 100;
>> d = 50;
>> v = sqrt( (g*L)/(2*pi)*tanh(2*pi*d/L))
v =
12.4719
>>

Example Evaluate the expression

v2 sin 2θ
h=
2g
where h m is the maximum height of a projectile moving in a vertical plane at an angle θ = 50 degrees
from the horizontal and having speed v = 20 m/s, and g = 9.81 m/s2 is the acceleration due to gravity.

>> g = 9.81;
>> v = 20;
>> theta = 50*pi/180;
>> h = vˆ2*sin(2*theta)/(2*g)
h =
20.0776
>>

To convert from degrees to radians we have multiplied 50 by π/180. As mentioned earlier MATLAB
has the usual trig functions sin, cos, and tan for angles in radians and sind, cosd, and tand for
angles in degrees. Here is the previous calculation using sind

>> g = 9.81;
>> v = 20;
>> theta = 50;
>> h = vˆ2*sind(2*theta)/(2*g)
h =
20.0776
>>
Matlab Tutorial and Reference Page 8 of 40

2.2 Anonymous functions

The format of an anonymous function of one variable is

f-name = @(var-name) expression

where f-name is the name of the function, var-name is the name of the independent variable and
expression is the expression defining the function in terms of the independent variable. The function
name is also called a function handle.

Example The formula 49(t + 5e−t/5 ) − 245 is an expression that defines a function of t. In MATLAB
this function can be expressed as the anonymous function of t.

>> f = @(t) 49*(t + 5*exp(-t/5)) - 245;

This function can be evaluated at t = 1.5 and t = 11 as follows

>> f(1.5)
ans =
10.0005
>> f(11)
ans =
321.1468

It is also possible to define anonymous functions of more than one variable. For example, the formula
s  
gL 2πd
v= tanh
2π L

can be considered as an anonymous function of the three variables g, d, and L as follows.

>> v = @(g,d,L) sqrt((g*L)/(2*pi)*tanh(2*pi*d/L));

>> v(9.81,50,100)
ans =
12.4719
>>

It is also possible to have anonymous functions inside other anonymous functions. For example,
if f (x) = x2 , g(x) = 3x, the composition is h(x) = ( f ◦ g)(x) = f (g(x)). This can be expressed in
MATLAB as

>> f = @(x) xˆ2;

>> g = @(x) 3*x;
>> h = @(x) f(g(x));
Matlab Tutorial and Reference Page 9 of 40

2.3 Vector operations and expressions

So far our variables have been scalars. The fundamental structure in MATLAB is the m × n matrix (m
rows and n columns). A vector is a special case since it is either a 1 × n matrix (row vector) or an
m × 1 matrix (column vector). In fact a scalar is just a 1 × 1 matrix. The power of MATLAB comes
from its ability to work easily with vectors and matrices.

2.3.1 Row and column vectors

A row vector x = [x1 , x2 , . . . , xn ] can be entered in two ways, with or without commas:

>> x = [6 5 4]
x =
6 5 4
>> x = [6,5,4]
x =
6 5 4

Each element has an index and indices always begin at 1. Thus x has 3 elements. Parentheses are
used to access an individual element using its index. Thus, the three elements of x can be obtained as
x(1), x(2), and x(3). The following statement accesses the second element of the vector x.

>> x(2)
ans =
5

The following statements show that the elements of a vector can also be changed.

>> x = [6 5 4]
x =
6 5 4
>> x(2) = 99
x =
6 99 4

Similarly column vectors can be expressed in two ways. The first way is to use a semi-colon to
terminate each row and the second way is to press the enter key at the end of each row. Try the
following statements.

>> x = [6;5;4]
x =
6
5
4
Matlab Tutorial and Reference Page 10 of 40

>> x = [
6
5
4
]
x =
6
5
4
>>

Length of a vector The number of elements in a row or column vector is given by the length
function. Try the following statements.

>> x = [6,5,4]
x =
6 5 4
>> length(x)
ans =
3

Constructing zero vectors The zeros function can be used to construct vectors and matrices whose
elements are initialized to zero: The first argument of the zeros function gives the number of rows
and the second argument gives the number of columns.

>> x = zeros(1,4)
x =
0 0 0 0
>> y = zeros(4,1)
y =
0
0
0
0
>>

Arithmetic sequence vectors These important sequences can be constructed using the colon oper-
ator. The expression a:b gives a row vector whose elements go from a up to b inclusive in steps of 1,
the expression a:c:b creates a vector whose elements go from a up to b inclusive in steps of c if c is
positive, or from a down to b in steps of |c| if c is negative. Try the following examples.

>> x = 1:4
Matlab Tutorial and Reference Page 11 of 40

x =
1 2 3 4
>> y = 1:2:10
y =
1 3 5 7 9
>> z = 10:-1:2
z =
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2
>>

The linspace function This function can be used to divide an interval into equally spaced subinter-
vals and put the results into a row vector. For example linspace(0,1,11) divides the interval 0 to
1 using 11 points. The width of each subinterval is 0.1. If the third argument is not present then 100
points are used. Try the following statements (some output is omitted to save space).

>> x1 = linspace(0,1,11)
x1 =
Columns 1 through 6
0 0.1000 0.2000 0.3000 0.4000 0.5000
Columns 7 through 11
0.6000 0.7000 0.8000 0.9000 1.0000
>> x2 = linspace(0,1)
x2 =
Columns 1 through 6
0 0.0101 0.0202 0.0303 0.0404 0.0505
Columns 7 through 12
0.0606 0.0707 0.0808 0.0909 0.1010 0.1111
Columns 13 through 18
0.1212 0.1313 0.1414 0.1515 0.1616 0.1717
.
.
.

Columns 91 through 96
0.9091 0.9192 0.9293 0.9394 0.9495 0.9596
Columns 97 through 100
0.9697 0.9798 0.9899 1.0000
>>

Subvectors The colon operator can be used to make a subvector. Try the following statements.

>> x = [5,4,3,2]
Matlab Tutorial and Reference Page 12 of 40

x =
5 4 3 2
>> y = x(2:3)
y =
4 3
>> y(1)
ans =
4
>>

Here 2:3 is used to make a vector y from the second and third elements of the vector x. The special
value end refers to the last element of a vector. Try the following statements.

>> x = [5 6 7 3 4 8 9]
x =
5 6 7 3 4 8 9
>> y = x(4:end)
y =
3 4 8 9
>>

Transpose of a vector A row vector can be converted to a corresponding column vector and vice
versa using the transpose operation which is the single quote character. Try the following statements:

>> x = [6,5,4]
x =
6 5 4
>> y = x’
y =
6
5
4
>>

2.3.2 Arithmetic operations with vectors

There are two kinds of arithmetic operations with vectors: the ones from linear algebra and the ele-
ment by element operations that are not used in linear algebra.

Vector operations from linear algebra In linear algebra vectors of the same length and type (row
or column) can be added and subtracted and multiplied by a scalar. This is easily done in MATLAB.
We illustrate the operations using row vectors but the same rules also apply to column vectors. Try
the following statements.
Matlab Tutorial and Reference Page 13 of 40

>> x = [6,5,3];
>> y = [2,4,3];
>> x + y
ans =
8 9 6
>> x - y
ans =
4 1 0
>> 2*x + 4*y
ans =
20 26 18
>>

Adding scalars and vectors In linear algebra it is not possible to add or subtract a scalar and a
vector but this is possible and useful in MATLAB. Such operations are called array operations or
element-by-element operations as opposed to matrix operations. For example 3 + x is obtained by
adding 3 to each element of x, x - 1 is obtained by subtracting 1 from each element of x, and 2 - x
is obtained by subtracting each element of x from 2. Try the following statements.

>> x = [6,5,4];
>> 3 + x
ans =
9 8 7
>> x - 1
ans =
5 4 3
>> 2 - x
ans =
-4 -3 -2
>>

Element by element exponentiation Exponentiation of each element in a vector can be done using
an element-by-element version of the exponentiation operator ˆ, denoted by .ˆ, and pronounced “dot
hat”. Try the following statements.

>> x = [6,5,4]
x =
6 5 4
>> xˆ2
??? Error using ==> mpower
Matrix must be square.
Matlab Tutorial and Reference Page 14 of 40

>> x.ˆ2
ans =
36 25 16
>>

This shows why the operator ˆ cannot be used. It is a matrix operation so xˆ2 is trying to multiply x
by itself and this operation is only defined for square matrices (n × n) matrices. Therefore we need a
new operator to do element by element exponentiation (don’t put a space between . and ˆ).

Example The square of the length of a vector x = [x1 , x2 , . . . , xn ] is given by x12 + x22 + · · · xn2 . This
can be done in MATLAB two ways. Try the following

>> x = [6,5,4]
x =
6 5 4
>> x * x’
ans =
77
>> sum(x.ˆ2)
ans =
77
>>

Here we multiply x by its transpose x’. This is a matrix multiplication of a 1 × 3 column vector and a
3 × 1 row vector to give a 1 × 1 scalar to get the sum of squares, This can also be done using the sum
function which adds together all the elements of a vector.

2.4 Matrix and array operations and expressions

An m × n matrix can be expressed in MATLAB by using spaces or commas to separate elements in a
row and a semi-colon to end each row. Try the following statements which construct a 2 × 3 matrix A,
a 3 × 3 square matrix B, and another 2 × 3 matrix C.

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

A =
1 2 9
3 6 8
>> B = [6,9,0; 6,4,6; 1,8,4]
B =
6 9 0
6 4 6
1 8 4
>> C = [6,7,2; 9,2,3]
Matlab Tutorial and Reference Page 15 of 40

C =
6 7 2
9 2 3
>>

The size function The size function can be used to determine the number of rows and columns in
a matrix. This function returns the row and column dimensions as a two element row vector. Try the
following statements.

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

>> size(A)
ans =
2 3
>> [rows,cols] = size(A)
rows =
2
cols =
3
>>

Subscript notation To reference the element of A in row i and column j the notation A(i,j) is
used. Try the following statements.

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

>> A(1,1)
ans =
1
>> A(2,3)
ans =
8
>>

Submatrices and the colon operator The colon operator can be used to refer to individual rows
and columns and submatrices. Try the following statements.

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

>> B = [6,9,0; 6,4,6; 1,8,4];
>> row2 = A(2,:)
row2 =
3 6 8
>> col2 = A(:,2)
col2 =
Matlab Tutorial and Reference Page 16 of 40

2
6
>> B2 = B(1:2,1:2)
B2 =
6 9
6 4
>>
Here A(2,:) refers to all columns of row 2, A(:,2) refers to all rows of column 2, and B(1:2,1:2)
refers to the first two rows and columns of B which is just the top left 2 × 2 matrix.

2.4.1 Matrix operations from linear algebra

In linear algebra you learn how to multiply a matrix by a scalar, add or subtract two matrices having the
same size, multiply two compatible matrices, and solve linear systems of equations. These operations
are available in MATLAB.

Scalar multiplication To multiply a matrix by 3 you multiply each element of the matrix by 3. Try
the statement
>> A = [1,2,9; 3,6,8];
>> 3*A
ans =
3 6 27
9 18 24
>>

Adding and subtracting two matrices Try the following statements.

>> A = [1,2,9; 3,6,8];
>> C = [6,7,2; 9,2,3];
>> A - C
ans =
-5 -5 7
-6 4 5
>> -A + C
ans =
5 5 -7
6 -4 -5
>> 3*A - 5*C
ans =
-27 -29 17
-36 8 9
>>
Matlab Tutorial and Reference Page 17 of 40

Matrix multiplication Two matrices A and B can be multiplied to give the product AB only if the
number of columns of A is the same as the number of rows of B. In MATLAB the matrix product is
given by A*B. Try the following statements using the matrices defined above.

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

>> B = [6,9,0; 6,4,6; 1,8,4];
>> A*B
ans =
27 89 48
62 115 68
>> Bˆ2
ans =
90 90 54
66 118 48
58 73 64
>> B*A
??? Error using ==> mtimes
Inner matrix dimensions must agree.
>>

Here B*A does not exist since B has 3 columns and A has only 2 rows.

Solving a linear system An n × n system of linear equations has the form Ax = b where A is the
n × n coefficient matrix, b is the right hand side column vector and x is the column vector for the
solution.
In MATLAB the backslash operator is used to solve the linear system. For example try the following
system.

>> A = [5,1,1; 1,4,1; 1,1,3]

A =
5 1 1
1 4 1
1 1 3
>> b = [5;4;3] % column vector
b =
5
4
3
>> x = A\b
x =
0.7600
0.6800
0.5200
Matlab Tutorial and Reference Page 18 of 40

2.4.2 Array (element by element) operations

The element-by-element, or array, operations are not used in linear algebra but are very useful in
MATLAB .

Element-by-element multiplication This multiplication is denoted by .* and is defined for matri-

ces having the same size. It is quite different than matrix multiplication in linear algebra. If P = A .*
C is the element-by-element product of A and C then the matrix element P(i,j) is A(i,j)*C(i,j).

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

>> C = [6,7,2; 9,2,3];
>> A .* C
ans =
6 14 18
27 12 24
>>

Element-by-element division Similarly there is an element-by-element divide operation which is

denoted by ./ for matrices having the same size. If P = A ./ C is the element-by-element quotient
of A and C then the matrix element P(i,j) is A(i,j)/C(i,j). Try the following statements.

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

>> C = [6,7,2; 9,2,3];
>> A ./ C
ans =
0.1667 0.2857 4.5000
0.3333 3.0000 2.6667
>>

Element-by-element exponentiation Similarly there is an element-by-element exponentiation op-

eration which is defined by .ˆ for matrices having the same size. If P = A .ˆ C is A to the element-
by-element power C then the matrix element P(i,j) is A(i,j)ˆC(i,j). Try the following statements.

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

>> C = [6,7,2; 9,2,3];
>> A .ˆ C
ans =
1 128 81
19683 36 512
>>
Matlab Tutorial and Reference Page 19 of 40

2.5 Vectorization
Instead of writing loops to process vectors and matrices one element at a time it is often possible to
work directly with the vectors and matrices, avoiding loops altogether. This is called vectorization.

Example As a simple example suppose we have the five element vector d = [0, 30, 45, 60, 90] of
angles in degrees and we want to convert it to a vector r with angles in radians by multiplying each
element of d by π/180. Then we want to convert r to a vector y whose elements are the sines of these
angles. The components of the vectors r and y are given for k = 1, 2, . . . , 5 by
rk = π dk /180,
yk = sin(rk )
Then we would need to use a loop to compute y1 , y2 , . . . , y5 . Try the following statements that
compute the vector r and y using a for loop over the values k from 1 to 5:
>> d = [0,30,45,60,90]
d =
0 30 45 60 90
>> for k = 1:5
r(k) = d(k)*pi/180;
y(k) = sin(r(k));
end
>> r
r =
0 0.5236 0.7854 1.0472 1.5708
>> y
y =
0 0.5000 0.7071 0.8660 1.0000
The vectorized way to do this has no loops:
>> d = [0,30,45,60,90]
d =
0 30 45 60 90
>> r = d*pi/180
r =
0 0.5236 0.7854 1.0472 1.5708
>> y = sin(r)
y =
0 0.5000 0.7071 0.8660 1.0000
Here the factor pi/180 automatically multiplies every element of the vector d to give the vector r.
Then the sin function is designed to work on vectors in the same way by taking the sine of each
element and producing a vector of sines.
If we don’t need the vector r we can obtain y in one statement
Matlab Tutorial and Reference Page 20 of 40

>> y = sin(d*pi/180)
y =
0 0.5000 0.7071 0.8660 1.0000
>>

Example: Displaying a table of values With vectorization it is easy to produce a table of values
of a function. Suppose we want to compute a table of the sine function on the interval 0 to 1 in steps
of 0.1. First we use the colon operator to construct the vector x of points. Then we apply the sine
function to this vector to get a vector y of function values. Then we construct a two column table
(matrix) by transposing the row vectors x and y to column vectors x’ and y’ and concatenating them
together using [x’,y’]. Try the following statements to see the results

>> x = 0:0.1:1;
>> y = sin(x);
>> [x’,y’]
ans =
0 0
0.1000 0.0998
0.2000 0.1987
0.3000 0.2955
0.4000 0.3894
0.5000 0.4794
0.6000 0.5646
0.7000 0.6442
0.8000 0.7174
0.9000 0.7833
1.0000 0.8415
>>

Example: Vectorized anonymous function Try the following statement which defines the func-
tion:
1 1
y= + −6
(x − 0.2) + 0.01 (x − 0.8)2 + 0.04
2

>> y = @(x) 1 ./ ((x-0.2).ˆ2 + 0.01) + 1 ./ ((x-0.8).ˆ2 + 0.04) - 6

Note how vectorization is used in this function. Let’s trace what happens. First 0.2 is subtracted from
each element of the vector x. Then each element of the resulting vector is squared, using .ˆ2. Then
0.01 is added to each element of the resulting vector. Then ./ is applied to 1 and this vector. Call the
result x1.
Then for the second term 0.8 is subtracted from each element of the vector x. Then each element
of the resulting vector is squared, using .ˆ2. Then 0.04 is added to each element of the resulting
vector. Then ./ is applied to 1 and this vector. Call the result x2.
Matlab Tutorial and Reference Page 21 of 40

Finally x1 and x2 are added and 6 is subtracted from each element of the resulting vector to get
the final vector.

2.6 Plotting tables and functions

M ATLAB has two functions for plotting, plot to plot a table of values, and fplot to plot a given
function. The plot function is more general since it can plot a table or a table obtained from a
function, whereas fplot requires an explicit function.

2.6.1 Using fplot

The basic syntax for fplot is

fplot(func, [xmin,xmax])
fplot(func, [xmin,xmax,ymin,ymax])

where func is a function handle (reference to a function). In the first form xmin and xmax are the
horizontal limits for the graph. In the second form the vertical limits are also specified

Example: plotting trig functions To plot one of the built-in functions you need to prefix the func-
tion name with the @ character. This creates a function handle. Try the following plots (WARNING:
plot windows have a nasty habit of hiding behind other windows, so if you don’t see your plot window,
its probably hiding).

>> fplot(@sin,[0, 2*pi])

>> fplot(@cos,[0, 2*pi])
>> fplot(@tan,[0,2*pi,-5,5])

Since the tan function has vertical asymptotes it is necessary to specify vertical limits.

Example: plotting an anonymous function

>> y = @(x) 1 ./ ((x-0.2).ˆ2 + 0.01) + 1 ./ ((x-0.8).ˆ2 + 0.04) - 6

>> fplot(y, [0 1])
>> grid on % displays a grid over the graph
Matlab Tutorial and Reference Page 22 of 40

100

90

80

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

0
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1

Note that in the call to the fplot function it is not necessary to use the ampersand character since the
right hand side of the definition of y already has the ampersand. In other words f is already a function
handle. On the other hand, when using built-in functions such as sin it is necessary to use @sin to
get a function handle.

2.6.2 Plotting tables of values

The plot function can be used to plot a table of values or a table of values constructed from a function.
The basic syntax is

plot(x,y)

where x is the vector of points to use for the x-axis and y is the vector of points for the y-axis. The
points in the plane are given by (xk , yk ) for k = 1, . . . , n. The plot function joins the points (x1 , y1 ),
(x2 , y2 ), . . . , (xn , yn ) by straight line segments. It follows that the more points you use the smoother
the graph. Try the following statements, and be sure to terminate the first two statements with a
semi-colon.

>> x = linspace(0,2*pi,100);
>> y = tan(x);
>> plot(x,y)
>> axis([0,2*pi,-5,5])
>> xlabel(’x’)
>> ylabel(’y’)
>> title(’Plot of y = tan x’)
Matlab Tutorial and Reference Page 23 of 40

We can also use plot for a table of values not obtained from a function. Try the following statements
which generate random values in the range 0 to 1.

>> x = linspace(0,1,100);
>> y = rand(1,100);
>> plot(x,y)

Plot of y = tan x
5 1

4 0.9

3 0.8

2 0.7

1 0.6

0 0.5
y

−1 0.4

−2 0.3

−3 0.2

−4 0.1

−5 0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1
x

2.6.3 Plotting two functions on one graph

To plot y = sin x and y = cos x on the same graph try the statements

x = linspace(0,2*pi,1000);
y1 = sin(x);
y2 = cos(x);
plot(x,y1,’-’, x,y2,’-’)
axis([0,2*pi,-1,1])

0.8

0.6

0.4

0.2

−0.2

−0.4

−0.6

−0.8

−1
0 1 2 3 4 5 6
Matlab Tutorial and Reference Page 24 of 40

Here each graph will be drawn with a solid line as indicated by the hyphens. They will have different
colors. To plot cos x using a dashed line replace the second hyphen by two hyphens.

3 I NTERACTIVE S CRIPTS AND F UNCTION M- FILES

There are two kinds of M-files (files with extension m) in MATLAB that can be used to save MATLAB
programs.

• Script M-Files: They contain MATLAB statements that can be executed by typing the script
name in the command window (without the file extension). M ATLAB executes the statements
as though they were entered one by one in the command window.

• Function M-files: They contain MATLAB functions that are executed in the same way as the
built-in functions and function M-files.

It is important to change the current directory, if necessary, to the one containing your M-files. M AT-
LAB will look there for scripts we are going to write.

3.1 Interactive scripts

We want to create an M-file for a script that calculates the roots of a quadratic equation. To begin
make sure your current directory is set to the one you created at the beginning of the tutorial.

3.1.1 Script for solving a quadratic equation

Use an editor and choose a name for the script M ATLAB has an editor for creating M-files. From
the MATLAB “File” menu, select “New” and choose “M-file”. This brings up a blank editor window.
To set the file name choose “Save As” from the editor “File” menu and save the file in your directory
with the name quad script.m.

Enter the script Now enter the following script (if you hate typing and you are using the online
version of this PDF file you can cut and paste it from the PDF file to the MATLAB editor).

% Finding the roots of a quadratic equation

% axˆ2 + bx + c = 0

a = input(’Enter coeff of xˆ2 ’);

b = input(’Enter coeff of x ’);
c = input(’Enter constant coeff ’);

d = b*b - 4*a*c;
Matlab Tutorial and Reference Page 25 of 40

if d > 0
root1 = (-b + sqrt(d)) / (2*a);
root2 = (-b - sqrt(d)) / (2*a);
disp(’Real unequal roots’);
disp(root1);
disp(root2);
elseif d < 0
root_real = -b / (2*a);
root_imag = sqrt(abs(d));
disp(’Complex roots’);
disp(complex(root_real, root_imag));
disp(complex(root_real, -root_imag));
else
root = -b / (2*a);
disp(’Real equal roots’);
disp(root);
end

Explanation of the script Here is a brief explanation of the script.

• Comments begin with the % character.

• Make sure you terminate lines by semi-colons if you don’t want to see their output.

• The input command is used to prompt for and enter 3 floating point numbers. To enter a string
use a statement such as name = input(’Enter your name ’, ’s’);.

• The disp function is used to display an array or a string, a string in our case. The display occurs
whether or not the statement is terminated by a semi-colon.

• M ATLAB can do arithmetic on complex numbers. The complex function takes two arguments,
for the real and imaginary parts of the complex number and constructs a complex number from
them. Then disp displays this complex number.

Although not illustrated in this example script, if you want to break a long line over several lines it is
necessary to use ... at the end of a line to be continued. For example, the two lines defining root1
and root2 could be expressed as

root1 = ...
(-b + sqrt(d)) / (2*a);
root2 = ...
(-b - sqrt(d)) / (2*a);
Matlab Tutorial and Reference Page 26 of 40

Running the script To run the script enter its name, without the file extension, in the command
window (if you get a “not found” error you have saved the file in the wrong directory or the current
directory has not been set to the directory containing your file). Try the following
>> quad_script
Enter coeff of xˆ2 1
Enter coeff of x 1
Enter constant coeff 1
Complex roots
-0.5000 + 1.7321i
-0.5000 - 1.7321i
>> quad_script
Enter coeff of xˆ2 1
Enter coeff of x 2
Enter constant coeff 1
Real equal roots
-1
>> quad_script
Enter coeff of xˆ2 1
Enter coeff of x 2
Enter constant coeff -3
Real unequal roots
1
-3

3.1.2 An algorithm for square roots

√ sq root1.m that uses a simple iterative algorithm

To illustrate the for loop lets write a script called
for finding the square root of a number: To find a let x0 = a/2 and perform the iterations defined by
 
1 a
xk = xk−1 + , k = 1, 2, . . .
2 xk−1
Here is the script that inputs a and the maximum number of iterations and displays the results.
% Simple algorithm for square roots

a = input(’Number to find square root of: ’);

max_iter = input(’Maximum iterations: ’);

x = a/2;
for k = 1:max_iter
x = 0.5*(x + a/x);
disp(x);
end
Matlab Tutorial and Reference Page 27 of 40

Run it in the command window:

>> format long % to display full precision

>> sq_root1
Number to find square root of: 3
Maximum iterations: 5
1.75000000000000
1.73214285714286
1.73205081001473
1.73205080756888
1.73205080756888
>> x*x % Check the result
ans =
3.00000000000000
>> format short % return to short display

Note that we have squared the result as a check. The for loop uses the colon operator to define the
range of the loop index. A more general range could be specified by the arithmetic sequence a:c:b
which goes from a up to b in steps of c if c > 0 and from a down to b in steps of |c| if c < 0.

Using a while loop The following while loop version is equivalent. Try it and save it in the file
sq root2.m:
% Simple algorithm for square roots
% This version uses a while loop

a = input(’Number to find square root of: ’);

max_iter = input(’Maximum iterations: ’);

x = a/2;
k = 1;
while k <= max_iter
x = 0.5*(x + a/x);
disp(x);
k = k + 1; % don’t forget this
end

A third version We can write a version of the square root algorithm that terminates if a given
tolerance (maximum error) is obtained or if a maximum number of iterations is exceeded. We will
stop the algorithm if the relative error of successive iterations is met. This means that we stop iterating
if
 
 xk − xk−1 
  < tol

k x 
Matlab Tutorial and Reference Page 28 of 40

Try this version and save it in the file sq root3.m.

% Simple algorithm for square roots

% This version uses a for loop with a break

a = input(’Number to find square root of: ’);

max_iter = input(’Maximum iterations: ’);
tol = input(’Enter tolerance: ’);

x_old = a/2;

for k = 1:max_iter

x_new = 0.5*(x_old + a/x_old);

disp(x_new);

if abs(x_new - x_old) < x_new*tol

break;
end

x_old = x_new;
end

if k == max_iter
fprintf(’Failure to converge in %d iterations\n’, max_iter)
end

Note that the for loop makes sure the loop is not infinite and the break statement causes the loop to
exit if the given tolerance is met. When the loop exits we can check whether the break occurred.
This script also illustrates the fprintf statement. See help on sprintf and fprintf. In our
case the string is displayed with the format code %d replaced by the value of max_iter. Here is some
output in the command window.

>> format long % to display full precision

>> sq_root3
Number to find square root of: 1001
Maximum iterations: 5
Enter tolerance: 1e-8
2.512500000000000e+002
1.276170398009950e+002
67.73040996142100
41.25479556911950
32.75932070637978
Matlab Tutorial and Reference Page 29 of 40

Failure to converge in 5 iterations

>> sq_root3
Number to find square root of: 1001
Maximum iterations: 10
Enter tolerance: 1e-8
2.512500000000000e+002
1.276170398009950e+002
67.73040996142100
41.25479556911950
32.75932070637978
31.65775492926360
31.63858984374151
31.63858403911328
31.63858403911275
>> format short

3.2 Function M-files

A function M-file is a file that contains the definition of a function. The simplest syntax for a function
is
function [output_args] = f_name(input_args)
statements
end
Here f_name is the function name, input_args is a list of values supplied to the function when it is
called and output_args is a vector of the values output when the function finishes execution. The
function is stored in an M-file called f_name.m and the file name must be the same as the function
name.
There are other types of functions (e.g., subfunctions, nested functions) but we won’t consider
them here.

3.2.1 Factorial example

The factorial of a number n is denoted by n! and is defined as n! = 1 × 2 × · · · × n if n > 0 and 1 if
n = 0. Use the M ATLAB editor to create the file fact.m.
function [product] = fact(n)
product = 1;
for k = 2:n
product = product * k;
end
Here the final value of product is returned as the output value of the function. Note that the for loop
is never executed in case n<2.
Matlab Tutorial and Reference Page 30 of 40

Testing the factorial function In the command window the fact function can be executed as fol-
lows

>> fact(10)
ans =
3628800
>> fact(12)
ans =
479001600
>> fact(13)
ans =
6.2270e+009

Note that 12 is the last value of n whose factorial can be computed exactly using the MATLAB double
precision arithmetic. The factorial function is a built-in function with name factorial.

3.2.2 Example: A falling object

The position and velocity of a falling object with air resistance proportional to velocity are
mg m mg   
x(t) = x0 + t+ v0 − 1 − e−kt/m
k k  k
mg  mg −kt/m
v(t) = + v0 − e
k k
where g is the acceleration due to gravity, m is the mass, k is the drag coefficient and the positive
direction is downward.
If we assume that the initial conditions are x0 = 0 and v0 = 0 corresponding to an object falling
from rest then the following function M-File called falling object.m, can calculate the position and
velocity

function [x,v] = falling_object(g,m,k,t)

% A function to calculate the position and velocity of
% a falling object with air resistance proportional to velocity.
% It is assumed that the initial position is 0 with positive
% direction downward and that the initial velocity is also 0
%
% Input:
% g: the acceleration due to gravity (for example 9.81 m/sˆ2)
% m: the mass of the object (for example, 10 kg)
% k: the drag coefficient (for example, 2 kg/s
% t: the time in seconds since object was dropped
% Output:
% x: the position at time t
% v: the velocity at time t
Matlab Tutorial and Reference Page 31 of 40

c1 = m*g/k;
c2 = m/k;

% Initial conditions at time 0

x0 = 0;
v0 = 0;

% Formulas for velocity and position

v = c1 + (v0 - c1)*exp(-t/c2);
x = x0 + c1*t + c2*(v0 - c1)*(1 - exp(-t/c2));
end

Some output Here is some output from the command window.

>> [x,v] = falling_object(9.81,10,2,10.1)

x =
282.6888
v =
42.5432

The falling_object function is also a vectorized function so the value of t can be supplied as a
vector. For example try

>> t = 10:0.1:12;
>> [x,v] = falling_object(9.81, 10, 2, t)
x =
Columns 1 through 6
278.4410 282.6888 286.9495 291.2231 295.5091 299.8074
Columns 7 through 12
304.1178 308.4399 312.7735 317.1184 321.4745 325.8414
Columns 13 through 18
330.2189 334.6070 339.0052 343.4135 347.8316 352.2594
Columns 19 through 21
356.6966 361.1430 365.5986
v =
Columns 1 through 6
42.4118 42.5432 42.6721 42.7984 42.9222 43.0435
Columns 7 through 12
43.1624 43.2790 43.3933 43.5053 43.6151 43.7227
Columns 13 through 18
Matlab Tutorial and Reference Page 32 of 40

43.8282 43.9316 44.0330 44.1323 44.2297 44.3251

Columns 19 through 21
44.4187 44.5104 44.6003

To obtain a table of the t, x, and v values try

>> [t’,x’,v’]
ans =
10.0000 278.4410 42.4118
10.1000 282.6888 42.5432
10.2000 286.9495 42.6721
10.3000 291.2231 42.7984
10.4000 295.5091 42.9222
10.5000 299.8074 43.0435
10.6000 304.1178 43.1624
10.7000 308.4399 43.2790
10.8000 312.7735 43.3933
10.9000 317.1184 43.5053
11.0000 321.4745 43.6151
11.1000 325.8414 43.7227
11.2000 330.2189 43.8282
11.3000 334.6070 43.9316
11.4000 339.0052 44.0330
11.5000 343.4135 44.1323
11.6000 347.8316 44.2297
11.7000 352.2594 44.3251
11.8000 356.6966 44.4187
11.9000 361.1430 44.5104
12.0000 365.5986 44.6003
>>

Note that an initial height of 300 metres is obtained for t ≈ 10.5 seconds

3.2.3 Local variables

The variables defined in the body of a function are local variables. This means that they come into
existence when the function is called but disappear when the function finishes execution.
On the other hand the variables defined in a script are available in the workspace after the script
finishes execution. You can verify this by looking at the workspace window when you run a script
M-file or a function M-file.
Matlab Tutorial and Reference Page 33 of 40

4 S OME A PPLICATIONS
4.1 Root finding example for a falling object
Drop an object with a mass of 10 kg from the top of a 300 m high building. Assume that air resistance
is −kv where v m/s is the velocity, k = 2 kg/s is the air resistance and g = 9.81 is the acceleration
due to gravity.
How long does it take for the object to reach the ground? What will be the velocity at that time?
Assuming that the positive direction is downward it can be shown that the differential equation for
the velocity is (from Newton’s second law)
dv
m = mg − kv
dt
This equation can be solved to give the velocity v and the position x below the top of the building:

x(t) = 49.05(t + 5e−t/5 ) − 245.25

v(t) = 49.05(1 − e−t/5 )

The object hits the ground when x(t) = 300 so we need to find this value of t. Note the x(t) is almost
a linear function since e−t/5 → 0 very fast as t → ∞. If we neglect the exponential term we get the
linear function

xlinear (t) = 49.05t − 245.25

The solution of xlinear (t) = 300 is given by t = (300 + 245.25)/49.05 = 11.1162. We can use this as
an initial guess to find the root of x(t) = 300. The following MATLAB statements define x and v as
anonymous functions

>> xt = @(t) 49.05*(t + 5*exp(-t/5)) - 245.25;

>> vt = @(t) 49.05*(1 - exp(-t/5));

The root finding problem is x(t) − 300 = 0 so we look for a zero of the function
>> xt_root = @(t) xt(t) - 300;
We can use the linear approximation t = 11.1162 and plot the function xt_root on the interval from
t = 10 to t = 12 to verify that there is a root in this interval:

>> fplot(xt_root,[10,12])

The MATLAB root finding function fzero can be used to find the root when x(t) − 300 = 0 in the
interval from 10 to 12 using

>> t_ground = fzero(x_root,[10,12])

t_ground =
10.5045
Matlab Tutorial and Reference Page 34 of 40

Finally the corresponding velocity is

>> v_ground = vt(t_ground)

v_ground =
43.0489

5 C OMMAND AND F UNCTION R EFERENCE

Most of the commands and functions listed here and others can be obtained using the help commands

helpwin elfun Help on elementary functions

helpwin ops Help on operations
helpwin elmat Help on elementary matrix functions
helpwin strfun help on string functions
helpwin graph2d help on 2d graphics functions

5.1 Commands
clc Clear the command window
clear x Clear (remove) variable x from workspace
clear all Clear all variables from workspace
doc Display documentation
help Displays help text in the Command window
helpwin Displays help text in separate window
who gives a list of current variables
whos longer version of who

5.2 Elementary Math Functions

5.2.1 Trigonometric functions
sin Sine.
sind Sine of argument in degrees.
sinh Hyperbolic sine.
asin Inverse sine.
asind Inverse sine, result in degrees.
asinh Inverse hyperbolic sine.
cos Cosine.
cosd Cosine of argument in degrees.
cosh Hyperbolic cosine.
acos Inverse cosine.
acosd Inverse cosine, result in degrees.
Matlab Tutorial and Reference Page 35 of 40

acosh Inverse hyperbolic cosine.

tan Tangent.
tand Tangent of argument in degrees.
tanh Hyperbolic tangent.
atan Inverse tangent.
atand Inverse tangent, result in degrees.
atan2 Four quadrant inverse tangent.
atanh Inverse hyperbolic tangent.
sec Secant.
secd Secant of argument in degrees.
sech Hyperbolic secant.
asec Inverse secant.
asecd Inverse secant, result in degrees.
asech Inverse hyperbolic secant.
csc Cosecant.
cscd Cosecant of argument in degrees.
csch Hyperbolic cosecant.
acsc Inverse cosecant.
acscd Inverse cosecant, result in degrees.
acsch Inverse hyperbolic cosecant.
cot Cotangent.
cotd Cotangent of argument in degrees.
coth Hyperbolic cotangent.
acot Inverse cotangent.
acotd Inverse cotangent, result in degrees.
acoth Inverse hyperbolic cotangent.

5.2.2 Exponential Functions

exp Exponential.
expm1 Compute exp(x)-1 accurately.
log Natural logarithm.
log1p Compute log(1+x) accurately.
log10 Common (base 10) logarithm.
log2 Base 2 logarithm and dissect floating point number.
pow2 Base 2 power and scale floating point number.
realpow Power that will error out on complex result.
reallog Natural logarithm of real number.
realsqrt Square root of number greater than or equal to zero.
sqrt Square root.
nthroot Real n-th root of real numbers.
nextpow2 Next higher power of 2.
Matlab Tutorial and Reference Page 36 of 40

5.2.3 Complex Functions

abs Absolute value.
angle Phase angle.
complex Construct complex data from real and imaginary parts.
conj Complex conjugate.
imag Complex imaginary part.
real Complex real part.
unwrap Unwrap phase angle.
isreal True for real array.
cplxpair Sort numbers into complex conjugate pairs.

5.2.4 Rounding and Remainder Funtions

fix(x) Round towards zero.
floor(x) Round towards minus infinity.
ceil(x) Round towards plus infinity.
round(x) Round towards nearest integer.
mod(x) Modulus (signed remainder after division).
rem(x) Remainder after division.
sign(x) Signum: returns 1 if x > 0, 0 if x = 0 and -1 if x < 0

5.3 Arithmetic Operators

+ Plus (addition)
- Minus
* Matrix multiply
ˆ Matrix power
.* Array multiply (element-by-element)
.ˆ Array power (element-by-element)
./ Array divide (elment-by-element)

5.4 Relational Operators

== Equal
˜= Not equal
< Less than
> Greater than
<= Less than or equal
>= Greater than or equal
Matlab Tutorial and Reference Page 37 of 40

5.5 Logical Operators

&& Short circuit logical AND
|| Short circuit logical OR
& Element-wise logical AND
| Element-wise logical OR
˜ Logical NOT
xor Logical EXLUSIVE OR
any(x) True of any element of vector x is non zero
all(x) True if all elements of vector x are non zero

5.6 Special variables and constants

ans Most recent answer
eps Floating point relative accuracy
realmax Largest positive floating point number
realmin Smallest positive floating point number
pi 3.1415926535897...
i, j Imaginary unit
inf Infinity
NaN Not-a-Number
isnan True for Not-a-Number
isinf True for infinite elements
isfinite True for finite elements
why Succinct answer

5.7 Elementary matrices and matrix manipulation

5.7.1 Elementary matrices
zeros Zeros array
ones Ones array
eye Identity matrix
repmat Replicate and tile array
rand Uniformly distributed random numbers
randn Normally distributed random numbers
linspace Linearly spaced vector
logspace Logarithmically spaced vector
freqspace Frequency spacing for frequency response
meshgrid X and Y arrays for 3-D plots
accumarray Construct an array with accumulation
: Regularly spaced vector and index into matrix
Matlab Tutorial and Reference Page 38 of 40

5.7.2 Basic array information

size Size of array.
length Length of vector
ndims Number of dimensions
numel Number of elements
disp Display matrix or text
isempty True for empty array
isequal True if arrays are numerically equal

5.7.3 Matrix manipulation

cat Concatenate arrays
reshape Change size
diag Diagonal matrices and diagonals of matrix
blkdiag Block diagonal concatenation
tril Extract lower triangular part
triu Extract upper triangular part
fliplr Flip matrix in left/right direction
flipud Flip matrix in up/down direction
flipdim Flip matrix along specified dimension
rot90 Rotate matrix 90 degrees
: Regularly spaced vector and index into matrix
find Find indices of nonzero elements
end Last index
sub2ind Linear index from multiple subscripts
ind2sub Multiple subscripts from linear index

5.7.4 Multi-dimensional array functions

ndgrid Generate arrays for N-D functions and interpolation
permute Permute array dimensions
ipermute Inverse permute array dimensions
shiftdim Shift dimensions
circshift Shift array circularly
squeeze Remove singleton dimensions

5.7.5 Array utility functions

isscalar True for scalar
isvector True for vector
Matlab Tutorial and Reference Page 39 of 40

5.7.6 Specialized matrices

compan Companion matrix
gallery Higham test matrices
hadamard Hadamard matrix
hankel Hankel matrix
hilb Hilbert matrix
invhilb Inverse Hilbert matrix
magic Magic square
pascal Pascal matrix
rosser Classic symmetric eigenvalue test problem
toeplitz Toeplitz matrix
vander Vandermonde matrix
wilkinson Wilkinson’s eigenvalue test matrix

5.8 Operators and special characters

5.8.1 Arithmetic operators
plus Plus +
uplus Unary plus +
minus Minus -
uminus Unary minus -
mtimes Matrix multiply *
times Array multiply .*
mpower Matrix power ˆ
power Array power .ˆ
mldivide Backslash or left matrix divide \
mrdivide Slash or right matrix divide /
ldivide Left array divide .\
rdivide Right array divide ./
kron Kronecker tensor product kron

5.8.2 Relational operators

eq Equal ==
ne Not equal ˜=
lt Less than <
gt Greater than >
le Less than or equal <=
ge Greater than or equal >=
Matlab Tutorial and Reference Page 40 of 40

5.8.3 Logical operators

Short-circuit logical AND &&
Short-circuit logical OR ||
and Element-wise logical AND &
or Element-wise logical OR |
not Logical NOT ˜
xor Logical EXCLUSIVE OR
any True if any element of vector is nonzero
all True if all elements of vector are nonzero

5.8.4 Special characters

colon Colon :
paren Parentheses and subscripting ( )
paren Brackets [ ]
paren Braces and subscripting { }
punct Function handle creation @
punct Decimal point .
punct Structure field access .
punct Parent directory ..
punct Continuation ...
punct Separator ,
punct Semicolon ;
punct Comment %
punct Invoke operating system command !
punct Assignment =
punct Quote ’
transpose Transpose .’
ctranspose Complex conjugate transpose ’
horzcat Horizontal concatenation [,]
vertcat Vertical concatenation [;]
subsasgn Subscripted assignment ( ),{ },.
subsref Subscripted reference ( ),{ },.
subsindex Subscript index