MM 612 Spring 2020

Tutorial 1: MATLAB Preliminaries

Anirban Patra, Ajay Panwar
Department of Metallurgical Engineering and Materials Science, IIT Bombay

This tutorial provides a brief introduction to MATLAB and its capabilities.

MATLAB stands for MATrix LABoratory. It is a proprietary software developed by

MathWorks. MATLAB is a programming language and computing environment used widely in
scientific computing. It provides easy use of matrix and vector operations and may be used for
linear algebra calculations as well as differential equation solving, numerical integration, and 2D
and 3D plotting. MATLAB programming uses the MATLAB scripting language and also
provides an interface to other programming languages such as C, C++, Fortran and Python.

In this tutorial, we will learn how to use MATLAB for simple mathematical operations and
plotting. In this tutorial, all commands/functions for MATLAB are written using the ​Courier
font.

Lesson 0:​ ​Getting familiarized with the MATLAB environment

L0.1: At the terminal, type ​matlab to open the MATLAB environment. A typical MATLAB
environment has multiple panels: Command Window, Command History, Workspace, and
Current Folder. Panels may be added or removed by selecting from the Layout tab. All
MATLAB commands are to be written at the command prompt (​>>​) in the Command Window.
Command History shows all the previously used commands. Workspace shows all the variables
and data used in the current session. Current Folder shows all the files in the folder.

L0.2:​ MATLAB is well documented. Help for all commands can be obtained by:

>> help <command>

where ​<command> is to be replaced by the specific command/function. And of course there is

Google for everything else!

L0.3: Basic calculator functions can be performed at the command prompt in MATLAB. For
example,

>> sin(pi/4)*exp(pi)

MM612: Tutorial 1 1
gives the output

ans =
16.3629

Here, ​sin() is the function for calculating the sine of a number, ​exp() is the function for
calculating the exponential of a number, and ​pi is π . Functions for most of the common
mathematical operations exist in MATLAB and can be found from the documentation.

L0.4: Before beginning a new session/writing new code in MATLAB, it is always good
practice to clear existing data (unless of course we want to work with existing data). This can be
done using:

>> clear all;

For clearing the Command Window, use:

>> clc;

Note: It is always a good practice to end MATLAB commands with a semicolon (​;​), especially
when writing long pieces of code. This suppresses the output of the current command.

Lesson 1:​ ​Creating vectors and matrices and assigning values

Unlike programming languages such as C, C++ and Fortran, variables need not be defined a
priori in MATLAB, although it is always a good practice to do so, especially for
multi-dimensional matrices.

L1.1:​ Use:

>> a = 5;

to create a 1x1 matrix called ​a with a value of ​5 assigned to it. The value of ​a can be queried
using:

>> a
a =
5

MM612: Tutorial 1 2
L1.2:​ Now, we create a vector ​b​ of dimension 5 with values (10 20 30 40 50) using:

>> b = [10 20 30 40 50];

>> b
b =
10 20 30 40 50

Note that when defining vectors or matrices, we use the square brackets ​[] in MATLAB. The
columns of the vector are separated by blank spaces or tabs (​ ​).

L1.3:​ If we want to query a specific element of this vector, we use:

>> b(2)
ans =
20

Note that we use round brackets ​() when querying the value of an element in a vector. The
index ​2 refers to the 2nd element of the vector. In MATLAB, the matrix index starts from ​1​.
This is unlike C/C++, where the matrix index starts from ​0​.

L1.4: If we want to modify or assign another value to an element of the vector, this can be
simply done using:

>> b(2) = 25;

>> b
b =
10 25 30 40 50

L1.5:​ Now, we create a 2D matrix ​c​ of dimension 5x4.

>> c = [1 2 3 4; 5 6 7 8; 9 10 11 12; 13 14 15 16; 17 18 19 20];

>> c
c =
1 2 3 4
5 6 7 8
9 10 11 12
13 14 15 16
17 18 19 20

MM612: Tutorial 1 3
c is a matrix with 5 rows and 4 columns. Columns are separated by blank spaces or tabs ( ​),
while rows are separated by semi-colons (​;​).

We can query the value of an element in ​c​ using:

>> c(5,1)
ans =
17

L1.6:​ We can use the function ​size​ to query the dimensions of any vector or matrix:

>> size(a)
ans =
1 1
>> size(b)
ans =
1 5
>> size(c)
ans =
5 4

Note that all variables are defined as matrices in MATLAB. For example, the variable ​a has
dimension 1x1.

L1.7:​ There are various ways to define/initialize matrices in MATLAB.

For example, we can define a vector ​b2 with the value of the first element as ​10 and the last
element as ​50​, and having elements with equal spaced intervals of ​10​:

>> b2 = 10:10:50;
>> b2
b2 =
10 20 30 40 50

Note that the elements of vector ​b2​ have the same values as vector ​b​ initialized in ​L1.2​.
To initialize a 1x5 matrix with all elements having the value ​0​, we use:

>> b3 = zeros(1,5);

MM612: Tutorial 1 4
To initialize a 5x4 matrix with all elements having the value ​0​, we use:

>> c2 = zeros(5,4);

To initialize a 5x4 matrix with all elements having the value ​1​, we use:

>> c3 = ones(5,4);

Note that if only one dimension is provided, a square matrix is initialized, i.e.,

>> d = zeros(3);
>> d
d =
0 0 0
0 0 0
0 0 0

Another way to initialize an equally spaced vector is:

>> b3 = linspace(10,50,5);

Here, ​b3 has ​10 as the first element and ​50 as last element, and a total of equally spaced ​5
elements.

Now try ​>> b4 = logspace(10,50,5);​ and see what happens!

Lesson 2:​ ​Performing mathematical operations

MATLAB provides a variety of functions for matrix operations. This is the main benefit of using
MATLAB over other programming languages such as C, C++ or Fortran.

For the lessons in this Section, let us first define a 3x3 square matrix d2 as:

>> d2 = [1 2 3; 4 1 6; 7 8 1];

L2.1:​ The transpose of a matrix can be obtained by:

>> d3 = transpose(d2);​ or simply ​>> d3 = d2’;

MM612: Tutorial 1 5
L2.2:​ The inverse of ​d2​ can be obtained by:

>> d4 = inv(d2);

L2.3:​ Two matrices can be multiplied by:

>> d5 = d2 * d3;

L2.4: Instead of matrix multiplication, if we simply want to multiply an element of one matrix
with the corresponding element of another matrix, we use:

>> d6 = d2 .* d3;

Note that the ​. operator can lead to unwanted results if not used carefully. IT IS NOT TO BE
CONFUSED WITH MATRIX MULTIPLICATION.

L2.5:​ All elements of the matrix can be multiplied by a scalar using:

>> d7 = 5 * d6;

L2.6:​ Two matrices can be added or subtracted using:

>> d8 = d7 + d6;​ and ​>> d9 = d7 - d6;

L2.7: Similar to scalar multiplication, trigonometric, exponential and logarithmic operations

can be performed on matrices, i.e.,
>> d9 = sin(d8*pi/4);

This is only a small list of useful functions and operations. Refer to the documentation for more
advanced functions in MATLAB!

L2.8: Now we will learn how to use conditional statements in MATLAB. Let us use the ​b
vector defined in ​L1.2​. We will try to find the number of elements in the vector that have a
value greater than or equal to ​30​.

>> counter = 0;
>> b = [10 20 30 40 50];
>> for i = 1:length(b)

MM612: Tutorial 1 6
 if (b(i) >= 30)
counter = counter + 1;
end
end

Here, the variable ​counter counts the number of elements having a value greater than or equal
to ​30​. We use the ​for loop to iterate over all the elements of the vector. Note the function
length​, which can be used to find the number of elements in a vector. We loop over the
elements using ​i and the conditional ​if statement checks if the value of ​b(i) is greater than or
equal to ​30​. Both the ​for loop and the ​if block need to have an ​end statement to indicate the
end of the respective blocks.

Lesson 3:​ ​Plotting data

MATLAB can be used for different types of plotting, both 2D and 3D. Here we will go through a
few of them.

L3.1:​ We will first start with creating a 2D line plot of a trigonometric function.

>> x = [-pi:pi/20:pi];
>> y1 = sin(x);
>> plot(x,y1,’Color’,’r’);
>> xlabel(‘x’);
>> ylabel(‘sin(x)’);
>> xlim([-pi pi]);
>> ylim auto;

Here, ​plot(x,y1,’Color’,’r’) is used for plotting a 2D line plot of ​x vs. ​sin(x) with
a red (​‘r’​) line. ​xlabel and ​ylabel are used for specifying the axis labels, while ​xlim and
ylim​ are used for specifying the axis limits.

Now, try this:

>> hold on;

>> y2 = cos(x);
>> plot(x,y2,’Color’,’g’);

hold on; retains the current plot and axis properties. ​plot(x,y2,’Color’,’g’); plots
x​ vs. ​y2​ in green (​‘g’​) color.

MM612: Tutorial 1 7
Finally, ​>> legend(‘sin(x)’,’cos(x)’);​ adds the legend for the two lines to the plot.

>> print(‘plot1’,’-depsc’); saves the plot to plot1.eps file. ​‘-depsc’ specifies the
format (.eps). This may be replaced with ​‘-dpng’ to save to a .png file. We just created our
first plot in MATLAB!

L3.2:​ Now we will create a 3D line plot of a helix.

The equation of a helix is given as: x(t) = cos(t); y(t) = sin(t); z(t) = t . We can implement this
in MATLAB as:

>> clear all;

>> t = [0:pi/10:5*pi];
>> x = cos(t);
>> y = sin(t);
>> z = t;
>> plot3(x,y,z);
>> xlabel(‘cos(t)’);
>> ylabel(‘sin(t)’);
>> zlabel(‘t’);
>> print(‘plot2’,’-depsc’);

Here, ​plot3​ is the function used for creating 3D line plots.

L3.3: Now we will learn how to create a surface plot in MATLAB. For this example, we will
plot the equation: z = x2 + y 2 .

>> clear all;

>> x1 = [0:0.1:1];
>> y1 = [0:0.1:2];
>> [x,y] = meshgrid(x1,y1);
>> z = x.^2 + y.^2;
>> surf(x,y,z);
>> xlabel(‘x’);
>> ylabel(‘y’);
>> zlabel(‘x^2 + y^2’);

MM612: Tutorial 1 8
Here, we use a new function ​meshgrid to create a 2D grid with the two axes, ​x and ​y​,
represented by the two vectors ​x1 and ​y1​, respectively. Note the use of the ​. operator. We then
plot ​z using the ​surf function to create a surface plot. If we want a mesh plot instead of a
surface plot, we can use ​mesh(x,y,z)​.

Lesson 4:​ ​Creating MATLAB functions/scripts

All MATLAB commands written at the terminal can also be written in the form of a script and
executed. This allows reusability of the code for future applications. As an example, we put
together the code written in ​L3.3 in a function and then execute it. We create a file called
example_plot.m​:

function example_plot(deltax,xmax,deltay,ymax)
% First MATLAB function
% Define grid
x1 = [0:deltax:xmax];
y1 = [0:deltay:ymax];
[x,y] = meshgrid(x1,y1);
% Define function
z = x.^2 + y.^2;
% Plot z
surf(x,y,z);
% Label axes
xlabel(‘x’);
ylabel(‘y’);
zlabel(‘x^2 + y^2’);

The name of the function is ​example_plot and we pass the grid parameters ​deltax​, ​xmax​,
deltay and ​ymax to the function. Also note that any line or statement that starts with a ​% is
considered as a comment in MATLAB. It is not executed during run time.

We execute this code from the MATLAB Command Window by typing:

>> example_plot(0.1,1,0.1,2)

We just created our first function in MATLAB. Now we can play around with the grid
parameters and see how this alters the surface plot!

MM612: Tutorial 1 9
Assignments

Create a folder called ​MM612_Rollno on your desktop. All your scripts and plots should be
saved in this folder. At the end of the lab, only the files inside this folder will be used for
grading. Put the following header text (commented) at the beginning of all your scripts/functions:
% Name:
% Roll no.:

Assignment 1:
Create a MATLAB function called ​MM612A1​ with the file name ​MM612A1.m​.

Given the function: z = sin(x)cos(y)/x . Plot z in the range: x ∈ [− 5π : 5π] , y ∈ [− 5π : 5π] .

Use ​xmin​, ​xmax​, ​deltax​, ​ymin​, ​ymax and ​deltay as input parameters. Use ​deltax =
deltay = π /10 . Use the ​surf function in MATLAB for plotting this. Label your axes
properly. Save your plot in the file: ​MM612A1.png​.

Assignment 2:
Create a MATLAB function called ​MM612A2​ with the filename ​MM612A2.m​.

The harmonic motion of a block attached to a spring is given by the differential equation:
2
m ddt2x + b dx
dt
+ kx = 0
where, m is mass of the block, b is the damping coefficient, and k is the force constant of the
spring. The solution to this differential equation is of the form:
x(t) = Ae−bt/2m cos(ω′t + ϕ)
where, A is the amplitude and ω′ = √(k/m – b2 /4m2 ) is the angular frequency of the damped
simple harmonic motion. For m = 1 kg, k = 1 kg/s2 , A = 1 m , consider two cases: (1)
b = 0.1 kg/s , and (2) b = 0 (undamped motion).

(a) On the same graph, plot the position of the block for the two cases. Use ​red color for
case (1) and ​green​ color for case (2). Save your plot in the file ​MM612A21.png​.
(b) Now plot the potential energy, kinetic energy, and total energy for case (1) on the same
graph (​MM612A22.png​), and for case (2) on a different graph (​MM612A23.png​).
Plot all data for a total time of 30 s. Label your axes and plots properly. Assume ϕ = 0 .
Does the total energy of the system decay for the damped case?

MM612: Tutorial 1 10