Relational and Logical

Operators
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© 2023 Introduction to Programming in MATLAB (2), Relational and Logical Operators 1

 Table of Contents
Recap of Week 2, Part 1: Arrays and Matrices
Decision Making with Operators
Introduction to decision making with operators
Relational Operators
Logical Operators
What we've covered this week in part 2: Relational and Logical Operato
rs
Extra resources
References
MATLAB Live Script

© 2023 Introduction to Programming in MATLAB (2), Relational and Logical Operators 2

 Recap of Week 2, Part 1:
Arrays and Matrices
This week in part 1, we learnt about:

 What arrays and matrices are

 Creating arrays
 Indexing into arrays
 Concatenation of arrays
 Operating with function on arrays
In the next part of this week's content, we will be learning about
relational and logical operators, covering the following sub-topics:

 Introduction to decision making with operators

 Relational operators
 Logical operators

© 2023 Introduction to Programming in MATLAB (2), Relational and Logical Operators 3

 Decision Making with Operators
Introduction to decision making with operators

To give context to this section, we will be considering a packing shipping

example. Let us call this company Package Shippers, who has worked out the
most profitable price to charge their customers depending on the weight of the
package they request to be couriered/shipped. For simplicities sake, let us
assume that Package Shippers don't ship packages that weigh more than 2.5
kilograms. The formula they use is based on the following table:

© 2023 Introduction to Programming in MATLAB (2), Relational and Logical Operators 4

 Decision Making with Operators
If a customer were to bring in a package that weighs 1.75 Kg, the shipping price
that the customer would be charged is R 70.00. The process of determining this
is easy for most humans because we understand relational and logical
operators, i.e. determine what price the customer should be charged using the
pricing rules described in the table above.

Before we jump into how these operators are defined or used operators, let us
consider our line of thinking when applying the pricing rules described in the
table above. The weight of the package is supplied to us, and we determine
which row of the Package Weight column the supplied weight fits. One could
start at the top or the bottom row, asking for example "Is 1.75 Kg less than or
equal to 1 Kg?". We know this is not true, so we move to the proceeding row,
asking; "Is 1.75 Kg greater than 1 Kg and less than or equal to 1.5 Kg?", and
so on. Once we find the pricing rule question that is true, we then refer to the
Shipping Price in that same row. The illustration below helps visualise this
graphically.

© 2023 Introduction to Programming in MATLAB (2), Relational and Logical Operators 5

 Decision Making with Operators

When values or numbers are being compared, for example "Is 1.75 Kg less
than or equal to 1 Kg?", we are making use of a relational operator, "less than
or equal to"/ . The outcome to a statement that includes a relational operator is
always logical, i.e. a true or false, and we can combine two or more logical
outcomes by means of a logical operator (and/or), for example "Is 1.75 Kg
greater than 1 Kg and less than or equal to 1.5 Kg?".

© 2023 Introduction to Programming in MATLAB (2), Relational and Logical Operators 6

 Relational Operators
Relational operators, also known as conditional operators, are used to
compare two variables/values to determine if the condition is true or false, for
example the outcome of π ≥ 3 would be true while the outcome of π ≤ 3 would
be false. The outcomes of such statements are logical values which can only
take on a value of 1 (when true) and 0 (when false). The following table has the
relational operators you'll need for programming:

© 2023 Introduction to Programming in MATLAB (2), Relational and Logical Operators 7

 Relational Operators
Let us put these into practice by considering the example mentioned above:
pi >= 3

ans = logical
1

pi <= 3

ans = logical
0
Note: The outputs are of type logical.

© 2023 Introduction to Programming in MATLAB (2), Relational and Logical Operators 8

 Relational Operators
Now you try! As with functions, relational operators can also be applied to
arrays, let us demonstrate this through some exercises. Let us consider two
randomly generated integer vectors arr_1 and arr_2:

arr_1 = randi(50,[1 10])

arr_1 = 1×10
18 30 12 38 13 26 35 45 48
28
arr_2 = randi(50,[1 10])
arr_2 = 1×10
7 8 13 43 13 41 13 47 18
10

© 2023 Introduction to Programming in MATLAB (2), Relational and Logical Operators 9

 Relational Operators
Which elements of arr_1 is greater than or equal to the corresponding
element in arr_2? Assign the answer to the variable logical_arr_1 for use
later on.

logical_arr_1 = arr_1 >= arr_2

logical_arr_1 = 1×10 logical array
1 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 1

Which elements of arr_2 is greater than 10? Assign the answer to the variable
logical_arr_2 for use later on.

logical_arr_2 = arr_2 < 10

logical_arr_2 = 1×10 logical array
1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

© 2023 Introduction to Programming in MATLAB (2), Relational and Logical Operators 10

 Relational Operators
Now you try! In the two exercise questions above, we saw the application
of relational operators to the vector arrays. Now, let us consider two exercises
that demonstrate the application of relational operators on matrix arrays.
Consider the following two randomly generated integer matrices, arr_3 and
arr_4:

arr_3 = randi(50,[4 4])

arr_4 = randi(50,[4 4])

Which elements of arr_3 is less than their corresponding elements in arr_4?

arr_3 < arr_4

Which elements of arr_4 is greater than or equal to 20?

arr_4 >= 20

Note: Relational operators can be applied to arrays of any order. We only

covered the application of relational operators in the case of scalar, vector,
and matrix arrays. Consult the documentation for the
Array Comparison with Relational Operators for more information.
© 2023 Introduction to Programming in MATLAB (2), Relational and Logical Operators 11
 Relational Operators
Wondering where you encounter relational operators in your everyday
life?
A relational operator is applied when a comparison or relation between two
variables/values is required. In life, we continuously make decisions around
time, place, factors in our environments or our personal experiences. We get to
define our morning alarm time, where our favourite reading spot is, how loud to
play our music, and so on. These decisions are always made with some frame
of reference in mind, like the time of day, the position we are located on Earth,
the level of stimulation our unique bodies experience, etc. These frames of
reference can be seen as one of the entities we compare with or relate to, in
order to make our decisions.

© 2023 Introduction to Programming in MATLAB (2), Relational and Logical Operators 12

 Relational Operators
If you got lost in the explanation above, let us consider a particular example to
focus on. Imagine that we are looking to purchase and sell bread rolls for a
profit. Each bread roll costs us ZAR 5.00

Two potential customers approach us with an offer. The first potential customer
offers us ZAR 4.50 for a bread roll, the second offers us ZAR 8.00 for a bread
roll. As we are selling bread rolls with the intention of making a profit, we would
reject the offer made by the first potential customer and accept the offer from
the second one. This is because the selling price must be greater than our cost
price in order for us to generate profit from the transaction.

© 2023 Introduction to Programming in MATLAB (2), Relational and Logical Operators 13

 Relational Operators

Let us consider the line of thinking that our brains might follow when choosing
to accept or reject the offers. Assume that the question we ask ourselves is, "Is
this offer profitable?". If this is true, we would consequently accept the offer,
and if it is false, we will reject the offer.

© 2023 Introduction to Programming in MATLAB (2), Relational and Logical Operators 14

 Relational Operators
Begin by defining our cost price and the two offers we receive:
Cost_price_in_ZAR = 5.0;
Offer_1_in_ZAR = 4.5; 3
Offer_2_in_ZAR = 8.0;

Let us test is each of the offers are greater than our cost price:
Is_Offer_1_Profitable = Offer_1_in_ZAR > Cost_price_in_ZAR

Is_Offer_1_Profitable = logical
0
Is_Offer_2_Profitable = Offer_2_in_ZAR > Cost_price_in_ZAR

Is_Offer_2_Profitable = logical
1

We received a logical response for Is_Offer_1_Profitable of 0, indicating false,

i.e. we should reject the first offer. For the second offer, we received a logical response
for Is_Offer_2_Profitable of 1, indicating true, i.e. we should accept the second
offer.
© 2023 Introduction to Programming in MATLAB (2), Relational and Logical Operators 15
 Logical Operators
Logical operators are used to compare two statements to determine if the
condition is true or false. As with relational operators, the outcome of a
comparison using a logical operator will be of type logical, which can only take
on a value of 1 (when true) and 0 (when false). The following table has the
basic logical operators you'll need for programming:

These operators can be applied to scalars and arrays of higher

orders/dimensions.
© 2023 Introduction to Programming in MATLAB (2), Relational and Logical Operators 16
 Logical Operators
Let us consider the above-mentioned operators to logical_1 and
logical_2 as defined below:
logical_1 = true;
logical_2 = false; 3
logical_1 & logical_2

ans = logical
0
logical_1 | logical_2

ans = logical
1
~logical_1

ans = logical
0

© 2023 Introduction to Programming in MATLAB (2), Relational and Logical Operators 17

 Logical Operators
In a similar way, we can apply logical operators on logical arrays, of any
order. Recall the logical arrays we computed in the previous subsection,
log_arr_1 and log_arr_2, let us apply the & operator to them.

logical_arr_1
logical_arr_1 = 1×10 logical array

1 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 1

logical_arr_2
logical_arr_2 = 1×10 logical array

1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

logical_arr_1 & logical_arr_2

ans = 1×10 logical array

1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
© 2023 Introduction to Programming in MATLAB (2), Relational and Logical Operators 18
 Logical Operators
Note: If you have cleared your workspace, you will need to run the section
where logical_arr_1 and logical_arr_2 are defined. The logical arrays
produced will be different each time you run the section, this is because they
are based on randomly generated integer arrays.

Now you try! Create a row vector, arr_5, with 5 elements between the values
of 1 and 10 using the randi function. Determine which elements are smaller
than 4 or greater than 6.

arr_5 = randi(10, [1 5])

arr_5 = 1×5

3 8 8 4 6

arr_5 < 4 | arr_5 > 6

ans = 1×5 logical array
1 1 1 0 0

© 2023 Introduction to Programming in MATLAB (2), Relational and Logical Operators 19

 Logical Operators
Wondering where you encounter logical operators in your everyday life?

The decisions we make every day are often complex and based on several
factors/conditions. In the relational operators section, we considered the most
simple form of decision making, i.e. there are two values/quantities that were
being compared. Here, we will be considering an instance where two outcomes
of relational operator conditions are combined to make a decision. The key here
is that two statements are being compared instead of two variables/values.

Let us consider a decision where we choose to light a candle or not for our
study area. Let us consider a case where we have access to an electric light
and a candle (with a working lighter) as the two sources of light in our study
area.

© 2023 Introduction to Programming in MATLAB (2), Relational and Logical Operators 20

 Logical Operators
Taking the decision to light the candle would depend on if we have an electricity
supply or not, and if we require light in your study at the time (how dark the
environment is). Let us define these conditions as yes or no questions:

1. Does the study area have sufficient light?

2. Do we have an electricity supply available?
We assume that there is only one reason why you would light a candle to be
used as light source, this is when both questions (conditions) are answered with
a "no", i.e. the study area does not have sufficient light, and we do not have an
electricity supply available.
The other combinations of outcomes can be summarised as follows:
• If there is not sufficient light in the study area and we have an electricity
supply, then we can use out electric light
• If there is sufficient light available in the study area, then there is no need
to light a candle or to use an electric light.

© 2023 Introduction to Programming in MATLAB (2), Relational and Logical Operators 21

 Logical Operators
Let us represent the combinations of condition outcomes and the decision
taken in an illustrative manner. Note that we depict an answer of "yes" to either
of the questions by a green icon, and an answer of "no" by a red icon.

© 2023 Introduction to Programming in MATLAB (2), Relational and Logical Operators 22

 Logical Operators
Let us now define this using some code. We assume that an answer of "yes"
and "no" are true and false, respectively.
Question_1_Answer = true;
Question_2_Answer = true;

Should we light a candle for our study area?

~Question_1_Answer && ~Question_2_Answer

ans = logical
0

© 2023 Introduction to Programming in MATLAB (2), Relational and Logical Operators 23

 What we've covered this week in part 2:
Relational and Logical Operators
This week in part 2, we learnt about:

 What arrays and matrices are

 Creating arrays
 Indexing into arrays
 Concatenation of arrays
 Operating with function on arrays

In the next part of this week's content, we will be learning about relational and
logical operators, covering the following sub-topics:

 Introduction to decision making with operators

 Relational operators
 Logical operators

© 2023 Introduction to Programming in MATLAB (2), Relational and Logical Operators 24

 Extra resources
 Documentation: MATLAB Fundamentals
 Documentation: Find Array Elements That Meet a Condition
 Documentation: Logical Operators: Short-Circuit && ||
 MATLAB Fundamentals Self-paced Course
 Self-Paced Online Courses

© 2023 Introduction to Programming in MATLAB (2), Relational and Logical Operators 25

 References
 Documentation: MATLAB Fundamentals

Copyright 2022 The MathWorks, Inc. & Opti-Num Solutions (Pty) Ltd.

© 2023 Introduction to Programming in MATLAB (2), Relational and Logical Operators 26

 MATLAB Live Script
Click on the link below for this lecture’s MATLAB live Script

• Week_2_Part_2_Relational_and_Logical_Operators.mlx

© 2023 Introduction to Programming in MATLAB (1), Fundamentals 27