This document provides an introduction to MATLAB. It discusses what MATLAB is, the MATLAB screen interface, variables and arrays, basic arithmetic and relational operators, functions, plotting, and matrices. Key aspects covered include creating and using variables, performing calculations, controlling precision of outputs, getting help, and using basic mathematical functions in MATLAB. The document is intended to familiarize users with essential MATLAB features for use in courses.

1. Introduction to
Matlab
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2. Outline:
 What is Matlab?
 Matlab Screen
 Variables, array, matrix, indexing
 Operators (Arithmetic, relational, logical )
 Display Facilities
 Using operators
 Using Functions
 Creating Plots
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3. What is Matlab?
 Matlab is basically a high level language which has
many specialized toolboxes for making things easier
for us.
 Matlab stands for Matrix Laboratory.
 MATLAB provides a language and environment for
numerical computation, data analysis, visualisation
and algorithm development.
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4.  MATLAB provides functions that operate on
 Integer, real and complex numbers
 Vectors and matrices
 Structures
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5. What are we interested in?
 Matlab is too broad for our purposes in this
course.
 The features we are going to require is
Matlab
Command
Line
m-files
functions
mat-files
Command execution
like DOS command
window
Series of
Matlab
commands
Input
Output
capability
Data
storage/
loading
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6. Matlab Screen
 Command Window
 type commands
 Current Directory
 View folders and m-files
 Workspace
 View program variables
 Double click on a variable
to see it in the Array Editor
 Command History
 view past commands
 save a whole session
using diary
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7. Variables
 No need for types. i.e.,
 All variables are created with double precision unless
specified and they are matrices.
 After these statements, the variables are 1x1 matrices
with double precision
int a;
double b;
float c;
Example:
>>x=5;
>>x1=2;
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8. The MATLAB Interface
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 Pressing the up arrow in the command window will
bring up the last command entered.
 This saves you time when things go wrong.
 If you want to bring up a command from some time
in the past type the first letter and press the up
arrow.
 The current working directory should be set to a
directory of your own.
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Using MATLAB as a calculator
 Let’s start at the very beginning. For example,
suppose we want to calculate the expression, 1 + 2 ×
3. We type it at the prompt command (>>) as follows
 >> 1+2*3
 ans = 7

10. Using MATLAB as a calculator
 We will have noticed that if We do not specify an
output variable, MATLAB uses a default variable
ans, short for answer, to store the results of the
current calculation. Note that the variable ans is
created (or overwritten, if it is already existed). To
avoid this, we may assign a value to a variable or
output argument name. For example,
 >> x = 1+2*3
 x = 7
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11. Using MATLAB as a calculator
 Will result in x being given the value 1 + 2 × 3 = 7.
This variable name can always be used to refer to the
results of the previous computations. Therefore,
computing 4x will result in
 >> 4*x
 ans = 28.0000
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12. Creating MATLAB variables
 The syntax of variable assignment is
variable name = A value (or an expression)
 For example:
>> A=32
A=32
 To find out the value of a variable simply type the
name in
 >> A
A=32
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13. Creating MATLAB variables
 To make another variable equal to one already entered
 >> B = A
 The new variable is not updated as you change the
original value
 Example:
 >> B=A
B= 32
 >> A=15
A=15
>> B=32
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14. Creating MATLAB variables
 The value of two variables can be added together, and
the result displayed…
 >> A = 10
 >> A + A
 …or the result can be stored in another variable
 >> A = 10
 >> B = A + A
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15. Creating MATLAB variables
 For Example:
 >> A=10
 A=10
 >> A+A
 ans = 20
 >> B=A+A
 B=20
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16. Basic arithmetic operators
 Symbol Operation Example
 + Addition 2 + 3
 ∗ Multiplication 2 3∗
 − Subtraction 2 – 3
 / Division 2/3
 ^ Exponentiation 2^3
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17. Variables
 Variables needs to be declared.
 Variable names can contain up to 63 characters.
 Variable names must start with a letter followed by
letters, digits, and underscores.
 Variable names are case sensitive.
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18. Matlab Special Variables
 ans Default variable name for results
 pi Value of π
 eps Smallest incremental number
 inf Infinity
 NaN Not a number e.g. 0/0
 realmin The smallest usable positive real number
 realmax The largest usable positive real number
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19. Overwriting variable
 Once a variable has been created, it can be
reassigned. In addition, if you do not wish to see the
intermediate results, you can suppress the numerical
output by putting a semicolon (;) at the end of the
line. Then the sequence of commands looks like this:
 >> t = 5;
 >> t = t+1
 t = 6
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20. Error messages
 If we enter an expression incorrectly, MATLAB will
return an error message. For example, in the
following, we left out the multiplication sign, *, in the
following expression
 >> x = 10;
 >> 5x
 ??? 5x |
 Error: Unexpected MATLAB expression.
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21. Making corrections
 A previously typed command can be recalled with the
up-arrow key ↑. When the command is displayed at
the command prompt, it can be modified if needed
and executed.
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22. Controlling the hierarchy of operations
 Let’s consider the arithmetic operation, but now we
will include parentheses. For example, 1 + 2 × 3 will
become (1 + 2) × 3
 >> (1+2)*3
 ans =9
 And, from previous example
 >> 1+2*3
 ans = 7
 By adding parentheses, these two expressions give
different results: 9 and 7.
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23.  The order in which MATLAB performs arithmetic
operations is exactly that taught in high school
algebra courses.
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24. Hierarchy of arithmetic operations
Precedence Mathematical operations
First The contents of all parentheses are evaluated
first, starting from the innermost parentheses
and working outward.
Second All exponentials are evaluated, working from
left to right.
Third All multiplications and divisions are
evaluated, working from left to right
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25. Controlling the appearance of floating
point number
 MATLAB by default displays only 4 decimals in the
result of the calculations, for example −163.6667, as
shown in above examples. However, MATLAB does
numerical calculations in double precision, which is 15
digits.
 >> format short
 >> x=-163.6667
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26.  If we want to see all 15 digits, we use the command
format long
 >> format long
 >> x= -1.636666666666667e+002
 To return to the standard format, enter format short,
or simply format. There are several other formats. For
more details, see the MATLAB documentation, or
type help format.
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27. Managing the workspace
 It is a good idea to issue a clear command at the start
of each new independent calculation.
 >> clear
 The command clear or clear all removes all variables
from the workspace. This frees up system memory. In
order to display a list of the variables currently in the
memory, type
 >> who
 While, who will give more details which include size,
space allocation, and class of the variables.
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28. Keeping track of your work session
 It is possible to keep track of everything done during
a MATLAB session with the diary command.
 >> diary
 or give a name to a created file,
 >> diary File Name
 where File name could be any arbitrary name you
choose.
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29. Entering multiple statements per line
 It is possible to enter multiple statements per line.
 Use commas (,) or semicolons (;) to enter more than
one statement at once.
 Commas (,) allow multiple statements per line
without suppressing output.
 Example
 >> a=7; b=cos (a), c=cosh (a)
 b = 0.6570
 c =
 548.3170
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30. Miscellaneous commands
Here are few additional useful commands:
To clear the Command Window, type clc
To abort a MATLAB computation, type ctrl-c
To continue a line, type . . .
Getting help Information about any command is
available by typing
>> help Command
Another way to get help is to use the look for command.
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31.  Use on-line help to request info on a specific function
>> help sqrt
 In the current version (MATLAB version 7), the doc
function opens the on-line version of the help manual.
This is very helpful for more complex commands.
>> doc plot
 Use lookfor to find functions by keywords. The
general form is
>> lookfor FunctionName
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32. Mathematical functions
cos(x) Cosine abs(x) Absolute value
sin(x) Sine sign(x) Signum function
tan(x) Tangent max(x) Maximum value
acos(x) Arc cosine min(x) Minimum value
asin(x) Arc sine ceil(x) Round towards
+∞
atan(x) Arc tangent floor(x) Round towards −∞
exp(x) Exponential round(x) Round to nearest integer
sqrt(x) Square root rem(x) Remainder after
division
log (x) Natural logarithm angle(x) Phase angle
log10(x) Common logarithm conj(x) Complex conjugate
pi π = 3.14159 . . . Inf The infinity, ∞
i,j The imaginary unit i, √ −1
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33. Example 1:
 the value of the expression y = e −a sin(x) + 10√y, for
a = 5, x = 2, and y = 8 is computed by
>> a = 5; x = 2; y = 8;
>> y = exp (-a)*sin(x) +10*sqrt (y)
y =
28.2904
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34. Example 2:
 >> log (142)
ans =
4.9558
 >> log10 (142)
ans =
2.1523
 Note the difference between the natural logarithm
log(x) and the decimal logarithm (base 10) log10(x).
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35. To calculate sin(π/4) and e10
 we enter the following commands in MATLAB,
>> sin (pi/4)
ans =
0.7071
 >> exp (10)
 ans =
2 .2026e+004
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36. Matrix
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37. Array, Matrix
 Entering a vector: An array of dimension 1 ×n is
called a row vector, whereas an array of
dimension m × 1 is called a column vector. The
elements of vectors in MATLAB are enclosed by
square brackets and are separated by spaces or by
commas. For example, to enter a row vector, x,
type
A = [1 2 5 1]
A =
1 2 5 1
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38.  Column vectors are created in a similar way, however,
semicolon (;) must separate the components of a
column vector,
B = [1; 5; 3]
B =
1
5
3
 Entering a matrix: A matrix can be created in Matlab
as follows (note the commas AND semicolons):
>> matrix = [1 2 3 ; 4 5 6 ; 7 8 9]
matrix =
1 2 3
4 5 6
7 8 9
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39. Transpose of a Matrix
On the other hand, a row vector is converted to a
column vector using the transpose operator. The
transpose operation is denoted by an apostrophe or a
single quote (’).
>> C = A’
z =
1
2
5
1
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40.  Thus, A(1) is the first element of vector A, A(2) its
second element, and so forth.
 >>A(1)
ans= 1
>>A(2)
ans=2
 To access blocks of elements, we use MATLAB’s
colon notation (:). For example, to access the first
three elements of A, we write,
 >> A(1:3)
 ans =
 1 2 5
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41.  Or, all elements from the third through the last
elements,
 >> A(3,end)
ans = 5 1
 where end signifies the last element in the vector. If A
is a vector, writing
 >> A( , :)
produces a column vector, whereas writing
 >> A(1:end)
produces a row vector.
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42. Matrix Index
 The matrix indices begin from 1 (not 0 (as in C))
 The matrix indices must be positive integer
Given:
A(-2), A(0)
Error: ??? Subscript indices must either be real positive integers or logicals.
A(4,2)
Error: ??? Index exceeds matrix dimensions.
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43. Long Array, Matrix
 Creating a vector with constant spacing by
specifying the first term, the spacing, and the last
name.
Variable_name=[m:q:n] or Variable_name = m:q:n
>> t =1:10
t =
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
>>k =2:-0.5:-1
k =
2 1.5 1 0.5 0 -0.5 -1
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44.  B = [1:4; 5:8]
B =
1 2 3 4
5 6 7 8
 Creating a vector with constant spacing by specifying
the first term, and last terms, and the number of terms.
 Variable_name=linspace (xi,xe,n)
>> va=linspace(0,8,6)
Va=
0 16 3.2 4.8 6.4 8
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45. Generating Vectors from functions
 zeros(M,N) MxN matrix of zeros
 Eye(M) MxM identity matrix
 ones(M,N) MxN matrix of ones
x = zeros(1,3)
x =
0 0 0
X= eye(3)
1 0 0
0 1 0
0 0 1
x = ones(1,3)
x =
1 1 1
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46. Concatenation of Matrices
 x = [1 2], y = [4 5], z=[ 0 0]
A = [ x y]
1 2 4 5
B = [x ; y]
1 2
4 5
C = [x y ;z]
Error:
??? Error using ==> vertcat CAT arguments dimensions are not consistent.
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47. Operators (arithmetic)
+ addition
- subtraction
* multiplication
/ division
^ power
’ complex conjugate transpose
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48. Matrices Operations
Given A and B:
Addition Subtraction Product Transpose
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49. Operators (Element by Element)
.* element-by-element multiplication
./ element-by-element division
.^ element-by-element power
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50. The use of “.” – “Element” Operation
K= x^2
Erorr:
??? Error using ==> mpower Matrix must be square.
B=x*y
Erorr:
??? Error using ==> mtimes Inner matrix dimensions must agree.
A = [1 2 3; 5 1 4; 3 2 1]
A =
1 2 3
5 1 4
3 2 -1
y = A(3 ,:)
y=
3 4 -1
b = x .* y
b=
3 8 -3
c = x . / y
c=
0.33 0.5 -3
d = x .^2
d=
1 4 9
x = A(1,:)
x=
1 2 3
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51. Some matrix functions in Matlab
X = ones(r,c) % Creates matrix full with ones
X = zeros(r,c) % Creates matrix full with zeros
A = diag(x) % Creates squared matrix with
vector x in diagonal
[r,c] = size(A) % Return dimensions of matrix A
+ - * / % Standard operations
.+ .- .* ./ % Wise addition, substraction,…
v = sum(A) % Vector with sum of columns
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52. Clearing Variables
 You can use the command “clear all” to delete all the
variables present in the workspace
 You can also clear specific variables using:
>> clear Variable_Name
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53. Thank You…
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