Lecture 2: Variables, Vectors

and Matrices in MATLAB

 Variables in MATLAB
• Just like other programming >> A = 5
A =
languages, you can define 5
variables in which to store
values. >> d = 7
d =
• All variables can by default 7
hold matrices with scalar or
complex numbers in them. >> LightSpeed = 3e8
LightSpeed =
• You can define as many 300000000
variables as your PC memory
can hold.
• Values in variables can be
inspected, used and changed
• Variable names are case-
sensitive, and show up in the
Workspace.

2
 Variables
• You can change the >> a = 7
a =
7
value in the variable by
>> b = 12
over-writing it with a b =
12
new value >> b = 14
b =
• Remember that variables 14

are case-sensitive (easy >> B = 88

B =
88
to make a mistake)
>> c = a + b
• Always left-to right c =
21

>> variable = expression >> c = a / b

c =
0.5000

3
 Exercise
• Develop MATLAB
code to find Cylinder
volume and surface
area.
• Assume radius of 5 m
and height of 13 m.

ܸ = ߨ‫ ݎ‬2 ℎ
‫ = ܣ‬2ߨ‫ ݎ‬2 + 2ߨ‫ݎ‬ℎ = 2ߨ‫ݎ‬ሺ‫ ݎ‬+ ℎሻ
4
 Solution
>> r = 5
r =
5

>> h = 13
h =
13

>> Volume = pi * r^2 * h

Volume =
1.0210e+003

>> Area = 2 * pi * r * (r + h)
Area =
565.4867
5
Useful MATLAB commands

6
 Vectors and Matrices (Arrays)
• So far we used MATLAB variables to
store a single value.
• We can also create MATLAB arrays that
hold multiple values
– List of values (1D array) called Vector
– Table of values (2D array) called Matrix
• Vectors and matrices are used
extensively when solving engineering
and science problems.
7
 Row Vector
• Row vectors are special cases of matrices.
• This is a 7-element row vector (1 × 7 matrix).
• Defined by enclosing numbers within square
brackets [ ] and separating them by , or a space.
>> C = [10, 11, 13, 12, 19, 16, 17]

C =
10 11 13 12 19 16 17

>> C = [10 11 13 12 19 16 17]

C =
10 11 13 12 19 16 17

8
 Column Vector
• Column vectors are special cases of matrices.
• This is a 7-element column vector (7 × 1 matrix).
• Defined by enclosing numbers within [ ] and
separating them by semicolon ;
>> R = [10; 11; 13; 12; 19; 16; 17]

R =
10
11
13
12
19
16
17

9
 Matrix
• This is a 3 × 4-element matrix.
• It has 3 rows and 4 columns (dimension 3 × 4).
• Spaces or commas separate elements in different columns,
whereas semicolons separate elements in different rows.
• A dimension n × n matrix is called square matrix.

>> M = [1, 3, 2, 9; 6, 7, 8, 1; 7, 4, 6, 0]
M =
1 3 2 9
6 7 8 1
7 4 6 0

>> M = [1 3 2 9; 6 7 8 1; 7 4 6 0]
M =
1 3 2 9
6 7 8 1
7 4 6 0
10
 Transpose of a Matrix
• The transpose operation interchanges the rows and
columns of a matrix.
• For an m × n matrix A the new matrix AT (read
“A transpose”) is an n × m matrix.
• In MATLAB, the A’ command is used for transpose.

11
 Exercise
>> A = [1 2 3; 5 6 7] >> B = [5 6 7 8]
A = B =
1 2 3 5 6 7 8
5 6 7
>> B'
>> A' ans =
ans = 5
1 5 6
2 6 7
3 7 8

• What happens to a row vector when transposed?

• What happens to a column vector when transposed?

12
 Useful Functions
length(A) Returns either the number of elements of A if A
is a vector or the largest value of m or n if A is an
m × n matrix
size(A) Returns a row vector [m n] containing the
sizes of the m × n matrix A.
max(A) For vectors, returns the largest element in A.
For matrices, returns a row vector containing the
maximum element from each column.

[v,k] = max(A) Similar to max(A) but stores the maximum

values in the row vector v and their indices in
the row vector k.
min(A) Like max but returns minimum values.
and
[v,k] = min(A)
13
 More Useful Functions

sort(A) Sorts each column of the array A in ascending

order and returns an array the same size as A.
sort(A,DIM,MODE) Sort with two optional parameters:
DIM selects a dimension along which to sort.
MODE is sort direction ('ascend' or 'descend').
sum(A) Sums the elements in each column of the array A
and returns a row vector containing the sums.
sum(A,DIM) Sums along the dimension DIM.

14
 Exercises
>> M = [1 6 4; 3 7 2]
>> X = [4 9 2 5]
X = >> size(M)
4 9 2 5
>> length(M)
>> length(X)
ans = >> max(M)
4
>> [a,b] = max(M)
>> size(X)
ans =
>> sort(M)
1 4

>> min(X)
>> sort(M, 1, 'descend')
ans =
2 >> sum(M)

>> sum(M, 2)

15
 Solution
>> M = [1 6 4; 3 7 2]
M = >> sort(M)
1 6 4 ans =
3 7 2 1 6 2
3 7 4
>> size(M)
ans = >> sort(M, 1, 'descend')
2 3 ans =
3 7 4
>> length(M) 1 6 2
ans =
3 >> sum(M)
ans =
>> max(M) 4 13 6
ans =
3 7 4 >> sum(M, 2)
ans =
>> [a,b] = max(M) 11
a = 12
3 7 4
b =
2 2 1
16
 The Variable Editor [from
Workspace or openvar('A')]

17
 Creating Big Matrices
• What if you want to create a Matrix that
contains 1000 element (or more)?
• Writing each element by hand is difficult,
time-consuming and error-prone.
• MATLAB allows simple ways to quickly
create matrices, such as:
• Using the colon : operator (very popular).
• Using linspace() and logspace()
functions (less popular, but useful).
18
 Using the colon operator
• MATLAB command X = J:D:K creates vector
X = [J, J+D, ..., J+m*D] where m = fix((K-J)/D).
• In other words, it creates a vector X of values
starting at J, ending with K, and with spacing D.
• Notice that the last element is K if K - J is an
integer multiple of D. If not, the last value is less
than J.
• MATLAB command J:K is the same as J:1:K.
• Note:
– J:K is empty if J > K.
– J:D:K is empty if D == 0, if D > 0 and J > K, or if
D < 0 and J < K.

19
 Example 1
>> x = 0:2:8
x =
0 2 4 6 8

>> x = 0:2:7
x =
0 2 4 6

>> x = 4:7
x =
4 5 6 7

>> x = 7:2
x =
Empty matrix: 1-by-0

20
 Example 2
>> x = 7:-1:2
x =
7 6 5 4 3 2

>> x = 5:0.1:5.9
x =
Columns 1 through 5
5.0000 5.1000 5.2000 5.3000 5.4000

Columns 6 through 10
5.5000 5.6000 5.7000 5.8000 5.9000

>> y = 5:0.1:5.9; % what happened here?!

>>
>> % now create a ‘column’ vector from 1 to 10 using :

21
 Alternatives to colon
• linspace command creates a linearly spaced row
vector, but instead you specify the number of
values rather than the increment.
• The syntax is linspace(x1,x2,n), where x1 and
x2 are the lower and upper limits and n is the
number of points.
• If n is omitted, the number of points defaults to 100.
• logspace command creates an array of
logarithmically spaced elements.
• Its syntax is logspace(a,b,n), where n is the
number of points between 10a and 10b.
• If n is omitted, the number of points defaults to 50.
22
 Exercise

>> x = linspace(5,8,3)

x =

5.0000 6.5000 8.0000

>> x = logspace(-1,1,4)

x =

0.1000 0.4642 2.1544 10.0000

23
Special: ones, zeros, rand
>> a = ones(2,4)
a =
1 1 1 1
1 1 1 1

>> b = zeros(4, 3) % null matrix

b =
0 0 0
0 0 0
0 0 0
0 0 0

>> c = rand(2, 4)
c =
0.8147 0.1270 0.6324 0.2785
0.9058 0.9134 0.0975 0.5469

% random values drawn from the standard

% uniform distribution on the open
% interval(0,1)
24
>> eye(4) % identity matrix
ans =
1 0 0 0 Null and
0 1 0 0
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
1
Identity
>> A = [1 2 3; 4 5 6; 7 8 9]
A =
Matrix
1 2 3
4 5 6
7 8 9

>> I = eye(3)
I =
1 0 0
0 1 0
0 0 1

>> A*I
ans =
1 2 3
4 5 6
7 8 9
25
Matrix Determinant & Inverse
>> A = [1 2 3; 2 3 1; 3 2 1]
A =
1 2 3
2 3 1
3 2 1

>> det(A) % determinant

ans =
-12

>> inv(A) % inverse

ans =
-0.0833 -0.3333 0.5833
-0.0833 0.6667 -0.4167
0.4167 -0.3333 0.0833

>> A^-1
ans =
-0.0833 -0.3333 0.5833
-0.0833 0.6667 -0.4167
0.4167 -0.3333 0.0833

26
Accessing Matrix Elements
>> C = [10, 11, 13, 12, 19, 16, 17]

C =
10 11 13 12 19 16 17

>> C(4)
ans =
12

>> C(1,4)
ans =
12

>> C(20)
??? Index exceeds matrix dimensions.

27
 Notes
• Use () not [] to access matrix elements.
• The row and column indices are NOT zero-
based, like in C/C++.
• The first is row number, followed by the
column number.
• For matrices and vectors, you can use one of
three indexing methods: matrix row and
column indexing; linear indexing; and logical
indexing.
• You can also use ranges (shown later).
28
Accessing Matrix Elements
>> M = [1, 3, 2, 9; 6, 7, 8, 1; 7, 4, 6, 0]
M =
1 3 2 9
6 7 8 1
7 4 6 0

>> M(2, 3)
ans =
8

>> M(3, 1)
ans =
7

>> M(0, 1)
??? Subscript indices must either be real
positive integers or logicals.

>> M(9)
ans =
6
29
Matrix Linear Indexing

30
 Indexing: Sub-matrix
• v(2:5) represents the second through fifth elements
– i.e., v(2), v(3), v(4), v(5).
• v(2:end) represents the second till last element of v.
• v(:) represents all the row or column elements of vector v.

• A(:,3) denotes all elements in the third column of matrix A.

• A(:,2:5) denotes all elements in the second through fifth
columns of A.
• A(2:3,1:3) denotes all elements in the second and third
rows that are also in the first through third columns.
• A(end,:) all elements of the last row in A.
• A(:,end) all elements of the last column in A.
• v = A(:) creates a vector v consisting of all the columns of A
stacked from first to last.

31
 Exercise
>> v = 10:10:70
v =
10 20 30 40 50 60 70

>> v(2:5)
ans =
20 30 40 50

>> v(2:end)
ans =
20 30 40 50 60 70

>> v(:)
ans =
10
20
30
40
50
60
70

32
 >> A(end,:)
ans =
23 83 13 0 10

Exercise >> A(:,end)

ans =
2
25
>> A = [4 10 1 6 2; 8 1.2 9 4 25; 7.2 5 7 1 11
11; 0 0.5 4 5 56; 23 83 13 0 10] 56
10
A =
4.0000 10.0000 1.0000 6.0000 2.0000 >> v = A(:)
8.0000 1.2000 9.0000 4.0000 25.0000 v =
7.2000 5.0000 7.0000 1.0000 11.0000 4.0000
0 0.5000 4.0000 5.0000 56.0000 8.0000
23.0000 83.0000 13.0000 0 0.0000 7.2000
0
>> A(:,3) 23.0000
ans = 10.0000
1 1.2000
9 5.0000
7 0.5000
4 83.0000
13 1.0000
9.0000
>> A(:,2:5) 7.0000
ans = 4.0000
10.0000 1.0000 6.0000 2.0000 13.0000
1.2000 9.0000 4.0000 25.0000 6.0000
5.0000 7.0000 1.0000 11.0000 4.0000
0.5000 4.0000 5.0000 56.0000 1.0000
83.0000 13.0000 0 10.0000
5.0000
0
>> A(2:3,1:3)
2.0000
ans =
25.0000
11.0000
8.0000 1.2000 9.0000
7.2000 5.0000 7.0000
56.0000
10.0000
33
Linear indexing: Advanced
>> A = 5:5:50
A =
5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50

>> A([1 3 6 10])

ans =
5 15 30 50

>> A([1 2 3 6 10])

ans =
5 10 15 30 50

>> A([1 3 6; 7 9 10])

ans =
5 15 30
35 45 50

34
Linear indexing is useful: find
>> A = [1 2 3; 4 5 6; 7 8 9]
A =
1 2 3
4 5 6
7 8 9

>> B = find(A > 5) % returns linear index

B =
3
6
8
9

>> A(B) % same as A( find(A > 5) )

ans =
7
8
6
9
35
Advanced: Logical indexing
>> A = [1 2 3; 4 5 6; 7 8 9]
A =
1 2 3
4 5 6
7 8 9

>> B = logical([0 1 0; 1 0 1; 0 0 1])

B =
0 1 0
1 0 1
0 0 1

>> A(B)
ans =
4
2
6
9

36
Logical indexing is also useful!
>> A = [1 2 3; 4 5 6; 7 8 9]
A =
1 2 3
4 5 6
7 8 9

>> B = (A > 5) % true or false

B =
0 0 0
0 0 1
1 1 1

>> A(B) % same as A( A > 5 )

ans =
7
8
6
9
37
Subscripting Examples

38
 More dimensions possible
>> rand(4,4,3)

ans(:,:,1) =

0.7431 0.7060 0.0971 0.9502

0.3922 0.0318 0.8235 0.0344
0.6555 0.2769 0.6948 0.4387
0.1712 0.0462 0.3171 0.3816

ans(:,:,2) =

0.7655 0.4456 0.2760 0.1190

0.7952 0.6463 0.6797 0.4984
0.1869 0.7094 0.6551 0.9597
• The first index references array 0.4898 0.7547 0.1626 0.3404
dimension 1, the row.
• The second index references ans(:,:,3) =
dimension 2, the column. 0.5853 0.5060 0.5472 0.8407
0.2238 0.6991 0.1386 0.2543
• The third index references 0.7513 0.8909 0.1493 0.8143
dimension 3, the page. 0.2551 0.9593 0.2575 0.2435

39
 Extending Matrices
• You can add extra elements to a matrix by creating them
directly using ()
• Or by concatenating (appending) them using [ , ] or
[ ; ]
• If you don’t assign array elements, MATLAB gives them
a default value of 0
>> h = [12 11 14 19 18 17]
h =
12 11 14 19 18 17

>> h = [h 13]
h =
12 11 14 19 18 17 13

>> h(10) = 1
h =
12 11 14 19 18 17 13 0 0 1

40
 Example
>> a = [2 4 20]
a =
2 4 20

>> b = [9, -3, 6]

b =
9 -3 6

>> [a b]
ans =
2 4 20 9 -3 6

>> [a, b]
ans =
2 4 20 9 -3 6

>> [a; b]
ans =
2 4 20
9 -3 6
41
 Functions on Arrays
• Standard MATLAB functions (sin, cos, exp, log, etc) can
apply to vectors and matrices as well as scalars.
• They operate on array arguments to produce an array
result the same size as the array argument x.
• These functions are said to be vectorized functions.
• In this example y is [sin(1), sin(2), sin(3)]
• So, when writing functions (later lectures) remember
input might be a vector or matrix.
>> x = [1, 2, 3]
x =
1 2 3

>> y = sin(x)
y =
0.8415 0.9093 0.1411
42
 Exercise
>> x = linspace(0, 2*pi, 9) % OR x = linspace(0, 2*pi, 31)
x =
0 0.7854 1.5708 2.3562 3.1416 3.9270 4.7124 5.4978 6.2832

>> y = sin(x)
y =
0 0.7071 1.0000 0.7071 0.0000 -0.7071 -1.0000 -0.7071 -0.0000

>> plot(x,y)

43
 Matrix vs. Array Arithmetic
• Multiplying and dividing vectors and
matrices is different than multiplying and
dividing scalars (or arrays of scalars).
• This is why MATLAB has two types of
arithmetic operators:
– Array operators: where the arrays operated on
have the same size. The operation is done
element-by-element (for all elements).
– Matrix operators: dedicated for matrices and
vectors. Operations are done using the matrix as
a whole.
44
 Matrix vs. Array Operators

Symbol Operation Symbol Operation

+ Matrix addition + Array addition
- Matrix subtraction - Array subtraction
* Matrix multiplication .* Array multiplication
/ Matrix division ./ Array division
\ Left matrix division .\ Left array division
^ Matrix power .^ Array power
* idivide() allows integer division with rounding options

45
Matrix/Array Addition/Subtraction
• Matrices and arrays are
treated the same when
adding and subtracting.
• The two matrices should
have identical size.
• Their sum or difference
has the same size, and is
obtained by adding or
subtracting the
corresponding elements.
• Addition and subtraction
are associative and
commutative.

46
 More …
• A scalar value at either side of the operator is
expanded to an array of the same size as the
other side of the operator.

47
 Array Multiplication
• Element-by-element
multiplication.
• Only for arrays that
are the same size.
• Use the .* operator
not the * operator.
• Not the same as
matrix multiplication.
• Useful in
programming, but
students make the
mistake of using *

48
 Using Array Multiplication (Plot)

• Plot the >> t = 0:0.003:0.5;

>> y = exp(-8*t).*sin(9.7*t+pi/2);
following >> plot(t,y)
function: 1.2

• Notice the use 1

of .* operator 0.8

0.6

0.4

0.2

-0.2
0 0.05 0.1 0.15 0.2 0.25 0.3 0.35 0.4 0.45 0.5

49
 Matrix Multiplication
• If A is an n × m
matrix and B is a
m × p matrix, their
matrix product AB
is an n × p matrix, in
which the m entries
across the rows of A
are multiplied with
the m entries down
the columns of B.
• In general, AB ≠ BA
for matrices. Be
extra careful.
50
 Matrix Multiplication

>> A = [6,-2;10,3;4,7];
>> B = [9,8;-5,12];
>> A*B
ans =
64 24
75 116
1 116

51
 Array Division
• Element-by-element
division.
• Only for arrays that
are the same size.
• Use the ./ operator
not the / operator.
• Not the same as
matrix division.
• Useful in
programming, but
students make the
mistake of using /

52
 Matrix Division
‫ۯ‬
• An n × n square = ‫ ۯ‬۰ −1
۰
matrix B is called
invertible (also ۰ ۰−1 = ۷
nonsingular) if
there exists an
n × n matrix B-1
such that their
multiplication is
the identity matrix.

53
Matrix Division
>> A = [1 2 3; 3 2 1; 2 1 3];
>> B = [4 5 6; 6 5 4; 4 6 5];
>> A/B
ans =
0.7000 -0.3000 0
-0.3000 0.7000 0.0000
1.2000 0.2000 -1.0000

>> format rat

>> A/B
ans =
7/10 -3/10 0
-3/10 7/10 *
6/5 1/5 -1

54
 Matrix Left Division
• Use the left division
operator (\) (back slash)
to solve sets of linear
algebraic equations.
• If A is n × n matrix and B
is a column vector with n
elements, then x = A\B is
the solution to the
equation Ax = B.
• A warning message is
displayed if A is badly
scaled or nearly singular.

55
 Homework: Mesh Analysis
KVL @ mesh 2:
1(i2 − i1) + 2i2 + 3(i2 − i3) = 0
KVL @ supermesh 1/3:
−7 +1(i1 − i2) + 3(i3 − i2) + 1i3 = 0
@ current source:
7 = i1 − i3
Three equations:
−i1 + 6i2 − 3i3 = 0
i1 − 4i2 + 4i3 = 7
i1 − i3 = 7
Solution:
i1 = 9A, i2 = 2.5A, i3 = 2A

56
 Just between us…
• Matrix division and matrix left division
are related in MATLAB by the equation:

B/A = (A'\B')' % reversing

• To see the details, type: doc mldivide

or type: doc mrdivide

57
 Array Left Division
• The array left division
A.\B (back slash)
>> A = [-4 5; 3 2];
divides each entry of B >> B = [24 20; -9 4];
by the corresponding
entry of A. >> A.\B % notice the back slash
ans =
• Just like B./A -6 4
-3 2
• A and B must be arrays
of the same size. >> B./A
ans =
• A scalar value for either -6 4
A or B is expanded to -3 2

an array of the same

size as the other.

58
Array Power

59
 Matrix Power
• A^k computes matrix
power (exponent).
>> A = [1 2; 3 4];
• In other words, it >> A^3
multiplies matrix A by ans =
37 54
itself k times. 81 118
• The exponent k requires
>> A*A*A
a positive, real-valued ans =
integer value. 37 54
81 118
• Remember: this is
repeated matrix
multiplication
60
Matrix Manipulation Functions
• diag: Diagonal matrices and diagonal of a
matrix.
• det: Matrix determinant
• inv: Matrix inverse
• cond: Matrix condition number (for inverse)
• fliplr: Flip matrices left-right
• flipud: Flip matrices up and down
• repmat: Replicate and tile a matrix

61
Matrix Manipulation Functions
• rot90: rotate matrix 90º
• tril: Lower triangular part of a matrix
• triu: Upper triangular part of a matrix
• cross: Vector cross product
• dot: Vector dot product
• eig: Evaluate eigenvalues and
eigenvectors
• rank: Rank of matrix

62
 Exercise
>> A = [1 2 3; 4 5 6; 7 8 9] >> fliplr(A)
A = ans =
1 2 3 3 2 1
4 5 6 6 5 4
7 8 9 9 8 7

>> diag(A) >> flipud(A)

ans = ans =
1 7 8 9
5 4 5 6
9 1 2 3

>> det(A) >> rot90(A)

ans = ans =
6.6613e-016 3 6 9
2 5 8
1 4 7

63
 Exercise
>> A = [1 2 3; 4 5 6; 7 8 9] >> [V, D] = eig(A)
A =
1 2 3 V =
4 5 6 -0.2320 -0.7858 0.4082
7 8 9 -0.5253 -0.0868 -0.8165
-0.8187 0.6123 0.4082
>> tril(A)
ans =
1 0 0 D =
4 5 0 16.1168 0 0
7 8 9 0 -1.1168 0
0 0 -0.0000
>> triu(A)
ans =
1 2 3
0 5 6
0 0 9

64
 Exercise
• Define matrix A of dimension 2 by 4 whose (i,j) entries
are A(i,j) = i+j
• Extract two 2 by 2 matrices A1 and A2 out of matrix A.
– A1 contains the first two columns of A
– A2 contains the last two columns of A
• Compute matrix B to be the sum of A1 and A2
• Compute the eigenvalues and eigenvectors of B
• Solve the linear system B x = b, where b has all entries = 2
• Compute the determinant of B, inverse of B, and the
condition number of B
• NOTE: Use only MATLAB native functions for all above.
65
 Solution
>> A =[0 1 2 3; 1 2 3 4] >> b = [2; 2]
A = b =
0 1 2 3 2
1 2 3 4 2

>> A1 = A(:,1:2) >> B\b

A1 = ans =
0 1 -1.0000
1 2 1.0000

>> A2 = A(:,3:4) >> det(B)

A2 = ans =
2 3 -4
3 4
>> inv(B)
>> B = A1 + A2 ans =
B = -1.5000 1.0000
2 4 1.0000 -0.5000
4 6
>> cond(B)
ans =
17.9443
66
67