MATLAB for Beginners: A Gentle Approach
()
About this ebook
This book is written for people who wish to learn MATLAB for the first time. The book is really designed for beginners and students. In addition, the book is suitable for students and researchers in various disciplines ranging from engineers and scientists to biologists and environmental scientists. One of the objectives of writing this book is
Peter I. Kattan
Peter I. Kattan has a PhD in Civil Engineering from Louisiana State University. He has written three books on damage mechanics, one book on finite elements, and one book on composite materials. His research work is currently focused on damage mechanics with fabric tensors and the physical characterization of micro-crack distributions and their evolution. He has published extensively on the theory of plates and shells, constitutive modelling of inelastic materials and damage mechanics. He is currently a Visiting Professor at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
Read more from Peter I. Kattan
MATLAB for Beginners: A Gentle Approach - Revised Edition Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Understanding Time - An Exploration: A Beginner's Guide to the Concepts and Theories of Time Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCorridors of Time: Poetic Reflections on the Tapestry of Time Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsExploring Time Travel: Unmasking Time's Hidden Potentials Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Related to MATLAB for Beginners
Related ebooks
MATLAB for Beginners: A Gentle Approach - Revised Edition Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Brief Introduction to MATLAB: Taken From the Book "MATLAB for Beginners: A Gentle Approach" Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Solving Equations with MATLAB (Taken from the Book "MATLAB for Beginners: A Gentle Approach") Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5A Friendly Introduction to MATLAB Programming Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsGraphs with MATLAB (Taken from "MATLAB for Beginners: A Gentle Approach") Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Matrices with MATLAB (Taken from "MATLAB for Beginners: A Gentle Approach") Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Programming with MATLAB: Taken From the Book "MATLAB for Beginners: A Gentle Approach" Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Top Numerical Methods With Matlab For Beginners! Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsStatics with MATLAB® Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsIntroduction to Algorithms Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsVector Calculus Using Mathematica Second Edition Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsIntroduction to Calculus Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Kronecker Products and Matrix Calculus with Applications Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsEssential Algorithms: A Practical Approach to Computer Algorithms Using Python and C# Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Advanced Numerical Methods with Matlab 1: Function Approximation and System Resolution Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMatrix Operations for Engineers and Scientists: An Essential Guide in Linear Algebra Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBasic Math Notes Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Graph Theory Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFundamental Math Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMore on C# in Front Office Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDirect Linear Transformation: Practical Applications and Techniques in Computer Vision Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Practically Cheating Calculus Handbook Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Elementary Theory and Application of Numerical Analysis: Revised Edition Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLearn Programming Using C# Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsProfound Python Data Science Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsEngineering and Scientific Computations Using MATLAB Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPainless Pre-Algebra Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Surviving Introduction to Finance Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDesign And Analysis Of Algorithm Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCalculus Fundamentals Explained Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5
Technology & Engineering For You
The Systems Thinker: Essential Thinking Skills For Solving Problems, Managing Chaos, Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The 48 Laws of Power in Practice: The 3 Most Powerful Laws & The 4 Indispensable Power Principles Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Art of War Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Vanderbilt: The Rise and Fall of an American Dynasty Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Art of War Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Big Book of Hacks: 264 Amazing DIY Tech Projects Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Invisible Rainbow: A History of Electricity and Life Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Longitude: The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of His Time Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Mother of God: An Extraordinary Journey into the Uncharted Tributaries of the Western Amazon Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Fast Track to Your Technician Class Ham Radio License: For Exams July 1, 2022 - June 30, 2026 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A Night to Remember: The Sinking of the Titanic Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A History of the American People Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Big Book of Maker Skills: Tools & Techniques for Building Great Tech Projects Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/580/20 Principle: The Secret to Working Less and Making More Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Death in Mud Lick: A Coal Country Fight against the Drug Companies That Delivered the Opioid Epidemic Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Selfie: How We Became So Self-Obsessed and What It's Doing to Us Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Ultralearning: Master Hard Skills, Outsmart the Competition, and Accelerate Your Career Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5How to Disappear and Live Off the Grid: A CIA Insider's Guide Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Wuhan Cover-Up: And the Terrifying Bioweapons Arms Race Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The ChatGPT Millionaire Handbook: Make Money Online With the Power of AI Technology Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The CIA Lockpicking Manual Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Artificial Intelligence: A Guide for Thinking Humans Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Summary of Nicolas Cole's The Art and Business of Online Writing Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Broken Money: Why Our Financial System is Failing Us and How We Can Make it Better Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Logic Pro X For Dummies Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsGhost Rider: Travels on the Healing Road Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for MATLAB for Beginners
0 ratings0 reviews
Book preview
MATLAB for Beginners - Peter I. Kattan
Preface
This book is written for people who wish to learn MATLAB¹ for the first time. The book is really designed for beginners and students. In addition, the book is suitable for students and researchers in various disciplines ranging from engineers and scientists to biologists and environmental scientists. The book is intended to be used as a first course in MATLAB in these areas. Students at both the undergraduate level and graduate level may benefit from this book. The material presented has been simplified to such a degree such that the book may also be used for students and teachers in high schools – at least for performing simple arithmetic and algebraic manipulations. One of the objectives of writing this book is to introduce MATLAB and its powerful and simple computational abilities to students in high schools.
The material presented increases gradually in difficulty from the first few chapters on simple arithmetic operations to the last two chapters on solving equations and an introduction to calculus. In particular, the material presented in this book culminates in Chapters 6 and 7 on vectors and matrices, respectively. There is no discussion of strings, character variables or logical operators in this book. The emphasis is on computational and symbolic aspects. In addition, the MATLAB Symbolic Math Toolbox² is emphasized in this book. A section is added at the end of each chapter (except chapters 1 and 9) dealing with various aspects of algebraic and symbolic computations with the Symbolic Math Toolbox. In fact, the final chapter on calculus assumes entirely the use of this toolbox.
Chapter 1 provides an overview of MATLAB and may be skipped upon a first reading of the book. The actual material in sequence starts in Chapter 2 which deals with arithmetic operations. Variables are introduced in Chapter 3 followed by mathematical functions in Chapter 4. The important topic of complex numbers is covered in Chapter 5. This is followed by Chapters 6 and 7 on vectors and matrices, respectively, which provide the main core of the book. In fact, MATLAB stands for MATrixLABoratory – thus a long chapter is devoted to matrices and matrix computations. An introduction to programming using MATLAB is provided in Chapter 8. Plotting two-dimensional and three-dimensional graphs is covered in some detail in Chapter 9. Finally, the last two chapters (10 and 11) present solving equations and an introduction to calculus using MATLAB.
The material presented in this book has been tested with version 7 of MATLAB and should work with any prior or later versions. There are also over 230 exercises at the ends of chapters for students to practice. Detailed solutions to all the exercises are provided in the second half of the book. The material presented is very easy and simple to understand – written in a gentle manner. An extensive references list is also provided at the end of the book with references to books and numerous web links for more information. This book will definitely get you started in MATLAB. The references provided will guide you to other resources where you can get more information.
I would like to thank my family members for their help and continued support without which this book would not have been possible. In this edition, I am providing one email address for my readers to contact [email protected].
January 2024 Peter I. Kattan
¹ MATLAB is a registered trademark of the MathWorks, Inc.
² The MATLAB Symbolic Math Toolbox is a registered trademark of the MathWorks, Inc.
]>
1. Introduction
In this introductory chapter a short MATLAB tutorial is provided. This tutorial describes the basic MATLAB commands needed. More details about these commands will follow in subsequent chapters. Note that there are numerous free MATLAB tutorials on the internet – check references [1-28]. Also, you may want to consult many of the excellent books on the subject – check references [29-47]. This chapter may be skipped on a first reading of the book.
In this tutorial it is assumed that you have started MATLAB on your computer system successfully and that you are now ready to type the commands at the MATLAB prompt (which is denoted by double arrows >>
). For installing MATLAB on your computer system, check the web links provided at the end of the book.
Entering scalars and simple operations is easy as is shown in the examples below:
>> 2*3+5
ans =
11
The order of the operations will be discussed in subsequent chapters.
>> cos(60*pi/180)
ans =
0.5000
The argument for the cos command and the value of pi will be discussed in subsequent chapters.
We assign the value of 4 to the variable x as follows:
>> x = 4
x =
4
>> 3/sqrt(2+x)
ans =
1.2247
To suppress the output in MATLAB use a semicolon to end the command line as in the following examples. If the semicolon is not used then the output will be shown by MATLAB:
>> y = 30;
>> z = 8;
>> x = 2; y-z;
>> w = 4*y + 3*z
w =
144
MATLAB is case-sensitive, i.e. variables with lowercase letters are different than variables with uppercase letters. Consider the following examples using the variables x and X:
>> x = 1
x =
1
>> X = 2
X =
2
>> x
x =
1
>> X
X =
2
Use the help command to obtain help on any particular MATLAB command. The following example demonstrates the use of help to obtain help on the det command which calculated the determinant of a matrix:
>> help det
DET Determinant.
DET(X) is the determinant of the square matrix X.
Use COND instead of DET to test for matrix singularity.
See also cond.
Overloaded functions or methods (ones with the same name in other directories) help sym/det.m
Reference page in Help browser doc det
The following examples show how to enter matrices and perform some simple matrix operations:
>> x = [1 2 3 ; 4 5 6 ; 7 8 9]
x =
1 2 3
4 5 6
7 8 9
>> y = [1 ; 0 ;-4]
y =
1
0
-4
>> w = x*y
w =
-11
-20
-29
Let us now see how to use MATLAB to solve a system of simultaneous algebraic equations. Let us solve the following system of simultaneous algebraic equations:
Eq_9781257136919_0013_001.gif(1.1)
We will use Gaussian elimination to solve the above system of equations. This is performed in MATLAB by using the backslash operator "\" as follows:
>> A= [3 5-1 ; 0 4 2 ;-2 1 5]
A =
3 5-1
0 4 2
-2 1 5
>> b = [2 ; 1 ;-4]
b =
2
1
-4
>> x = A\b
x =
-1.7692
1.1154
-1.7308
It is clear that the solution is x1 =-1.7692, x2 = 1.1154, and x3 =-1.7308. Alternatively, one can use the inverse matrix of A to obtain the same solution directly as follows:
>> x = inv(A)*b
x =
-1.7692
1.1154
-1.7308
It should be noted that using the inverse method usually takes longer than using Gaussian elimination especially for large systems of equations.
Consider now the following 4 x 4 matrix D:
>> D = [1 2 3 4 ; 2 4 6 8 ; 3 6 9 12 ;-5-3
-1 0]
D =
1 2 3 4
2 4 6 8
3 6 9 12
-5-3-1 0
We can extract the sub-matrix in rows 2 to 4 and columns 1 to 3 as follows:
>> E = D(2:4, 1:3)
E =
2 4 6
3 6 9
-5-3-1
We can extract the third column of D as follows:
>> F = D(1:4, 3)
F =
3
6
9
-1
We can extract the second row of D as follows:
>> G = D(2, 1:4)
G =
2 4 6 8
We can also extract the element in row 3 and column 2 as follows:
>> H = D(3,2)
H =
6
We will now show how to produce a two-dimensional plot using MATLAB. In order to plot a graph of the function y = f (x), we use the MATLAB command plot(x,y) after we have adequately defined both vectors x and y. The following is a simple example to plot the function y = x² + 3 for a certain range:
>> x = [1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11]
x =
Columns 1 through 10
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
8 9 10
Column 11
11
>> y = x.^2 + 3
y =
Columns 1 through 10
4 7 12 19 28 39 52
67 84 103
Column 11
124
>> plot(x,y)
Figure 1.1 shows the plot obtained by MATLAB. It is usually shown in a separate window. In this figure no titles are given to the x-and y-axes. These titles may be easily added to the figure using the xlabel and ylabel commands. More details about these commands will be presented in the chapter on graphs.
In the calculation of the values of the vector y, notice the dot .
before the exponentiation symbol ^
. This dot is used to denote that the operation following it be performed element by element. More details about this issue will be discussed in subsequent chapters.
Figure 1.1: Using the MATLAB plot
command
Finally, we will show how to make magic squares with MATLAB. A magic square is a square grid of numbers where the total of any row, column, or diagonal is the same. Magic squares are produced by MATLAB using the command magic. Here is a simple example to produce a 5 x 5 magic square:
>> magic(5)
ans =
17 24 1 8 15
23 5 7 14 16
4 6 13 20 22
10 12 19 21 3
11 18 25 2 9
It is clear that the total of each row, column or diagonal in the above matrix is 65.
Exercises
Solve all the exercises using MATLAB. All the needed MATLAB commands for these exercises were presented in this chapter.
1. Perform the operation 3*4+6. The order of the operations will be discussed in subsequent chapters.
2. Perform the operation cos(5). The value of 5 is in radians.
3. Perform the