54 Chapter 2

Getting Started with MATLAB

Problems

55

Create MATLAB code to perform the following calculations. Remember

that the square root of a value is equivalent to raising the value to the 1;2
power. Check your code by entering it into MATLAB.

pROBLEMS
Which of the following are legitimate variable names in MATLAB? Test your answers
by trying to assign a value to each name by using, for example,
3vars

=3

20.

52

21.

--

22.

\14+63

23.

9~ +

or by using isvarname, as in
isvarname 3vars

Remember, i svarname returns a 1 if the name is legal and a 0 if it is not.

1. 3vars

2. global
3.

help

24.
25.
26.

4. My_var

27.

5.

28.

sin

6. X+Y

7.

29.
input

9.

tax-rate

10.

example1.1

11. example1_1
12.

Although it is possible to reassign a function name as a variable name, it is

not a good idea, so checking to see if a name is also a function name is also
recommended. Use which to check whether the preceding names are
function names, as in
which cos

Are any of the names in Problems 1 to 11 also MATLAB function names?

Predict the outcome of the following MATLAB calculations. Check your results by
entering the calculations into the command window.
13.

1+3/4

14.

5*6*4/2

15.

5/2*6*4

16.

5"2*3

17.

5"(2*3)

18.

1+3+5/5+3+1

19.

(1+3+5)/(5+3+1)

12

753+ 2

1 + 53/62 + 22 - 4 1/5.5
The area of a circle is 1r-r2. Define ras 5, and then find the area of a circlf.
The surface area of a sphere is 47Tr 2 Find the surface area of a sphere with
a radius of 10 ft.
The volume of a sphere is ~7Tr 3 Find the volume of a sphere with a radius
of 2ft.
The volume of a cylinder is 7Tr 2h. Define r as 3 and h as the matrix
h = [1,5,12]

input

8.

5 +3
56

Find the volume of the cylinders.

The area of a triangle is 1;2 base X height. Define the base as the matrix
b = [2,4,6]

and the height has 12, and find the area of the triangles.
The volume of a right prism is base area X vertical dimension. Find the
volumes of prisms with triangles of Problem 29 as their bases, for a vertical
dimension of 10.
31. Generate an evenly spaced vector of values from 1 to 20, in increments of 1.
(Use the 1inspace command.)
32. Generate a vector of values from zero to 27T in increments of 1T /100. (Use
the 1inspace command.)
33. Generate a vector containing 15 values, evenly spaced between 4 and 20.
(Use the linspace command.)
34. Generate a table of conversions from degrees to radians. The first line
should contain the values for 0, the second line should contain the values
for 10, and so on. The last line should contain the values for 360.
35. Generate a table of conversions from centimeters to inches. Start the centimeters column at 0 and increment by 2 em. The last line should contain the
value 50 em.
36. Generate a table of conversions from mi/h to ft/s. The initial value in the
mi/h column should be 0 and the final value should be 100. Print 14values
in your table.
37. The general equation for the distance that a free falling body has traveled
(neglecting air friction) is
30.

d = ~gt2
2

Assume that g = 9.8 m/s . Generate a table of time versus distance traveled,
for time from 0 to 100 sin increments of 10 s. Be sure to use element-by-element
operations, and not matrix operations.

56 Chapter 2 Getting Started with MATlAB

38.

Newton's law of universal gravitation tells us that the force exerted by one
particle on another is

where the universal gravitational constant is found experimentally to be

6.673

CHAPTER

10- 11 Nm2 jkg2

The mass of each object is m 1 and m2 , respectively, and r is the distance

between the two particles. Use Newton's law of universal gravitation to find
the force exerted by the Earth on the Moon, assuming that:
the mass of the Earth is approximately 6 X 10 24 kg,
the mass of the Moon is approximately 7.4 X 10 22 kg, and
the Earth and the Moon are an average of 3.9 X 108 m apart.
39.

We know the Earth and the Moon are not always the same distance apart.
Find the force the Moon exerts on the Earth for 10 distances between
3.9 X 108 m and 4.0 X 108 m.

MATLAB
Functions

MATRIX ANALYSIS

Objectives

Create the following matrix A:

After reading this chapter, you

should be able to

A=

40.
41.

42.
43.
44.

[34
4.2
8.9

2.1
7.7
8.3

0.5
3.4
1.5

6.5
4.5
3.4

42]
3.9
3.9

Create a matrix B by extracting the first column of matrix A.

Create a matrix C by extracting the second row of matrix A.
Use the colon operator to create a matrix D by extracting the first through
third columns of matrix A.
Create a matrix F by extracting the values in columns 2, 3, and 4, and combining them into a single column matrix.
Create a matrix G by extracting the values in columns 2, 3, and 4, and combining them into a single row matrix.

use a variety of
mathematical and
trigonometric functions,
use statistical functions,

generate uniform and

Gaussian random
sequences, and
write your own MATLAB
functions.

ENGINEERING ACHIEVEMENT: WEATHER PREDICTION

Weather satellites provide a great deal of information to meteorologists to use in their
predictions of the weather. Large volumes of historical weather data is also analyzed
and used to test models for predicting weather. In general, meteorologists can do a
reasonably good job of predicting overall weather patterns. However, local weather
phenomena, such as tornadoes, water spouts, and microbursts, are still very difficult
to predict. Even predicting heavy rainfall or large hail from thunderstorms is often
difficult. Although Doppler radar is useful in locating regions within storms that could
contain tornadoes or microbursts, the radar detects the events as they occur and thus
allows little time for issuing appropriate warnings to populated areas or aircraft passing through the region. Accurate and timely prediction of weather and associated
weather phenomena still provides many challenges for engineers and scientists. In
this chapter, we present several examples related to analysis of weather phenomena.

3.1 INTRODUCTION TO FUNCTIONS

Arithmetic expressions often require computations other than addition, subtraction,
multiplication, division, and exponentiation. For example, many expressions require
the use of logarithms, exponentials, and trigonometric functions. MATLAB includes

94 Chapter 3 MATLAB Functions

Problems

Functions

min

finds the minimum value in an array, and determines which element stores the
minimum value

prod

multiplies the values in an array

rand

generates evenly distributed random numbers

randn

generates normally distributed (Gaussian) random numbers

rem

calculates the remainder in a division problem

round

rounds to the nearest integer

sign

determines the sign (positive or negative)

sin

computes the sine

sinh

computes the hyperbolic sine

size

determines the number of rows and columns in an array

sort

sorts the elements of a vector into ascending order

sqrt

calculates the square root of a number

std

determines the standard deviation

sum

sums the values in an array

tan

computes the tangent

3.

4.

95

Use g = 9.9 m/s2 and an initial velocity of 100 m/s. Show that the
maximum range is obtained at 8 = 1T I 4 by computing the range in
increments of 0.05 from 0 :::; 8 :::; 1T /2. Because you are using discrete
angles, you will only be able to determine 8 to within 0.05 radians.
Remember, max can be used to return not only the maximum value in an
array, but also the element number where the maximum value is stored.
MATLAB contains functions to calculate the natural log (log), the log
base 10 ( logl 0) and the log base 2 ( log2) . However, if you want to find
a logarithm to another base, for example base b, you will have to do the
math yourself:

What is the log of 10 to the base b, when b is defined from 2 to 10 in

increments of 1?
Populations tend to expand exponentially:

Poert

where Pis the current population,

P0 is the original population,
r

KEY TERMS
argument
built-in functions
composition of functions
computer simulation
function
Gaussian random
numbers

import data
local variable
mean
Monte Carlo simulation
natural logarithm
nested functions
normal random numbers

random number
seed
standard deviation
uniform random
number
user-defined function
median

PROBLEMS

5.

2.

Sometimes it is convenient to have a table of sine, cosine, and tangent values instead of using a calculator. Create a table of all three of these trigonometric functions for angles from 0 to 2'7T in increments of 0.1 radians. Your
table should contain a column for the angle, followed by the three trigonometric function values.
The range of an object shot at an angle 8 with respect to the x axis and an
initial velocity v0 is given by
v2

R(fJ) = -

1T

sin(28) for 0 :::; 8 :::; -and neglecting air resistance.

If you originally have 100 rabbits that breed at a rate of90 percent (0.9) per
year, find how many rabbits you will have at the end of 10 years.
Chemical reaction rates are proportional to a rate constant, k, which
changes with temperature according to the Arrhenius equation
k

koe-QJRT

For a certain reaction

6.

1.

is the rate, expressed as a fraction, and

is the time.

8,000 cal/mole

1.987 cal/mole K

k0

1200 min- 1

find the values of k for temperatures from 100 K to 500 K, in 50-degree

increments. Create a table of your results.
The vector G represents the distribution of final grades in a statics course.
Compute the mean, median, and standard deviation of G. Which better
represents the "most typical grade," the mean or the median? Why?
G

7.

[68,83,70,75,82,57,5,76,85,62,71,96,78,76,72,75,83,93]

Use MATLAB to determine the number of grades in the array. (Do not just
count them.)
Generate 10,000 Gaussian random numbers with a mean of 80 and standard deviation of 23.5. Use the mean function to confirm that your array
actually has a mean of 80. Use the std function to confirm that your standard deviation is actually 23.5.

96

Chapter 3

MATLAB Functions

ROCKET ANALYSIS
A small rocket is being designed to make wind shear measurements in the vicinity
of thunderstorms. Before testing begins, the designers are developing a simulation
of the rocket's trajectory. They have derived the following equation, which they
believe will predict the performance of the test rocket, where tis the elapsed time,
in seconds:
height
8.

9.
10.

2.13t 2

0.0013t 4

CHAPTER

0.000034t 4751

Compute and print a table of time versus height, at 2-second intervals, up

through 100 seconds. (The equation will actually predict negative heights.
Obviously, the equation is no longer applicable once the rocket hits the
ground. For now, do not worry about this physical impossibility; just do the
math.)
Use MATlAB to find the maximum height achieved by the rocket.
Use MATlAB to find the time the maximum height is achieved.

Plotting

SENSOR DATA
Suppose that a file named sensor. da t contains information collected from a set
of sensors. Each row contains a set of sensor readings, with the first row containing
values collected at 0 seconds, the second row containing values collected at 1.0 seconds, and so on.
11.

12.
13.

Write a program to read the data file and print the number of sensors and
the number of seconds of data contained in the file. (Hint: use the size
function.)
Find both the maximum value and minimum value recorded on each sensor. Use MATlAB to determine at what times they occurred.
Find the mean and standard deviation for each sensor, and for all the data
values collected.

TEMPERATURE DATA
Suppose you are designing a container to ship sensitive medical materials between
hospitals. The container needs to keep the contents within a specified temperature
range. You have created a model predicting how the container responds to exterior
temperature, and now need to run a simulation.
14.

15.
16.

Create a normal distribution oftemperatures (Gaussian distribution) with a

mean of 70F, and a standard deviation of 2 degrees, corresponding to
2 hours duration. You will need a temperature for each minute from 0 to
120 minutes.
Plot the data on an x-y plot. (Chapter 4 covers labels, so do not worry about
them. Recall that the MATlAB function for plotting is plot (x, y) .)
Find the maximum temperature and the minimum temperature.

Objectives
After reading this chapter; you
should be able to

create and label twodimensional plots,

adjust the appearance of
your plots,

create three-dimensional
plots, and
use the interactive
MATlAB plotting tools.

ENGINEERING ACHIEVEMENT: OCEAN DYNAMICS

Waves are generated by wind, earthquakes, storms, and the tides from the gravitational pull of the Sun and the Moon. The energy being transmitted through the water
causes the water particles to oscillate in place, but the water itself does not travel from
one location to another. This vibration or oscillation can be back and forth in the
direction of the energy flow, or it can be in circular orbits along interfaces between
water layers with different densities. Waves have crests (high points) and troughs (low
points). The vertical distance between a crest and trough is the wave height, and the
horizontal distance from crest to crest is the wavelength. Deepwater waves occur
where the water depth is greater than one-half the wavelength, and they are often
generated by winds at the ocean surface. The water depth does not affect the speed of
deepwater waves. Shallow-water waves are those in which the ocean depth is less than
1/20 of the wavelength, and include tide waves. The speed of shallow-water waves is
determined by the water depth-the greater the depth, the higher the wave speed.
The speed of transitional waves (those in depths between one-half and one-twentieth
of the wavelength) are determined by wavelength and water depth. In this chapter, we
analyze the interference of waves as different waves come together.

148 Chapter 5

Problems

Control Structures

3.

KEY TERMS

condition
control structure
logical condition
logical operator

loop
nested loops
relational operator
repetition structure

selection structure
sequential structure

4.
5.

149

Genera~e a table of conversions from yen to dollars. Start the yen column at
5 and mcrement by 5. Print 25 lines in the table.
Generate a table of conversions from the euro to dollars. Start the euro column at 1 and increment by 2. Print 30 lines in the table.
Generate a table with four columns. The first should contain dollars, the
second the equivalent number of euros, the third the equivalent number of
pounds, and the fourth the equivalent number of yen. The first column of
the table should start with 1 and go through 25 in increments of 5.

TEMPERATURE CONVERSIONS

PROBLEMS
DISTANCES TO THE HORIZOI'J

This set of problems requires you to generate temperature conversion tables. Use
the following equations, which describe the relationships between temperatures in
degrees Fahrenheit ( Tp), degrees Celsius ( 1(;), degrees Kelvin ( TK), and degrees
Rankine ( TR), respectively:

1/c = TR -

The distance to the horizon increases as you climb a mountain (or a hill). The

expression

Tj, = 51(;+ 32F

TR

where
d = distance to the horizon,
r = radius of the Earth, and
h =height of the hill,
can be used to calculate that distance. The distance depends on how high the hill
is and the radius of the Earth. Of course, on other planets the radius is different.
For example, the Earth's diameter is 7,926 miles and Mars' diameter is 4,217 miles.

1.

Create a MATLAB program to find the distance in miles to the horizon

both on Earth and on Mars for hills from 0 to 10,000 ft, in increments of
500 ft. Remember to use consistent units in your calculations. Use the
meshgrid function to solve this problem. Report your results in a table.
Each column should represent a different planet, and each row should represent a different hill height. Be sure to provide a title for your table and
column headings. Use disp for the title and headings; use fprintf for
the table values.
2. Create a function called distance to find the distance to the horizon.
Your function should accept two input vectors, radius and height, and
should return a table similar to the one in Problem 1. Use the results of
Problem 1 to validate your calculations.

CURRENCY CONVERSIONS
Use your favorite Internet search engine to identify recent currency conversions for
British pounds sterling, Japanese yen, and the European euro to U.S. dollars. Use
the conversion equations to create the following tables. Use the disp and fprintf
commands in your solution, which should include a title, column labels, and formatted output.

459 .67R

9
5TK

You will need to rearrange these expressions to solve some of the problems.

6.

7.
8.

Generate a table with the conversions from Fahrenheit to Kelvin for values from
OoF to 200F. Allow the user to enter the increments in degrees F between lines.
Generate a table with the conversions from Celsius to Rankine. Allow the
user to enter the starting temperature and increment between lines. Print
25 lines in the table.
Generate a table with the conversions from Celsius to Fahrenheit. Allow the
user to enter the starting temperature, the increment between lines, and
the number of lines for the table.

ROCKET TRAJECTORY
Suppose a small rocket is being designed to make wind shear measurements in the
vicinity of thunderstorms. The height of the rocket can be represented by the following equation:
height= 2.13t 2
9.

10.

11.

0.0013t 4

+ 0.000034t 4 751

Create a function called height that accepts time as an input and returns
the height of the rocket. Use the function in your solutions for the next two
problems.
Compute, print, and plot the time and height of the rocket from the time it
launches until it hits the ground, in increments of 2 seconds. If the rocket
has not hit the ground within 100 seconds, print values only up through 100
seconds. (Use the function from Problem 9.)
Modify the steps in Problem 10 so that, instead of a table, the program
prints the time at which the rocket begins to fall back to the ground and the
time at which it hits the ground (when the elevation becomes negative).

150 Chapter 5

Problems

Control Structures

SUTURE PACKAGING
Sutures are strands or fibers used to sew living tissue together after an injury or an
operation. Packages of sutures must be sealed carefully before they are shipped to
hospitals so that contaminants cannot enter the packages. The substance that seals
the package is referred to as the sealing die. Generally, sealing dies are heated with
an electric heater. For the sealing process to be a success, the sealing die is maintained at an established temperature and must contact the package with a predetermined pressure for an established period of time. The period of time during which
the sealing die contacts the package is called the dwell time. Assume that the ranges
of parameters for an acceptable seal are the following:

12.

Pressure:

60-70 psi

Dwell Time:

2.0-2.5s

Assume that a file named suture. dat contains information on batches of

sutures that have been rejected during a one-week period. Each line in the
data file contains the batch number, the temperature, the pressure, and the
dwell time for a rejected batch. A quality-control engineer would like to
analyze this information to determine
the percent of the batches rejected due to temperature,
the percent rejected due to pressure, and
the percent rejected due to dwell time.
If a specific batch is rejected for more than one reason, it should be
counted in all applicable totals. Give the MATLAB statements to compute
and print these three percentages. Use the following data to create
suture.dat:
Batch Number

24551
24582
26553
26623
26642

Temperature

145.5F
153.7oF
160.3F
159.5F
160.3F

:unction of the an:ount ~f timber standing and the reforestation rate. For example,
If 100 acres are left standmg after harvesting and the reforestation rate is 0.05, then
105 acres arc forested at t~e end of the first year. At the end of the second year, the
number of acres forested IS 110.25 acres. Ifyear0 is the acreage forested, then
year1 = year 0 + rate*year 0 = year 0*(l+rate)
year2 = year 1 + rate*year 1 = year 1*(l+rate)
= yearo*(l+rate)*(l+rate) = year 0*(l+rate) 2
year3 = year 2 + rate*year 2 = year 2*(l+rate)
= year 0*(l+rate) 3
yearn= year 0*(l+rate) 0

15.

Temperature: 150-170C

Pressure

62.3
63.2
58.9
58.9
61.2

16.
17.

14.

Assume that there arc 14,000 acres total, with 2500 uncut acres and that the
reforestation rate is 0.02. Print a table showing the number of acres reforested at the ~nd of each year for a total of 20 years. You should also present
your results m a bar graph, labeled appropriately.
ModifY the program developed in Problem 15 that the user can enter the
number of years to be used for the table.
ModifY the program developed in Problem 15 so that the user can enter a
num~er ~f acres, and the program will determine how many years are
reqmred for the number of acres to be forested. (You will need a loop for
this one.)

SENSOR DATA
18.

Suppose that a file named sensor. dat contains information collected

from a set of sensors. Each row contains a set of sensor readings, with the
first row containing values collected at 0 seconds, the second row containing values collected at 1.0 seconds, and so on. Write a program to print the
subscripts of sensor data values with an absolute value greater than 20.0,
using the find command.

Dwell Time

2.23
2.52
2.51
2.01
1.98

POWER PLANT OUTPUT

The power output in megawatts from a power plant over a period of 8 weeks has
been stored in a data file named plant. dat. Each line in the file represents data
for one week and contains the output for day 1, day 2, through day 7.
19.

13.

151

Modify the solution developed in Problem 12 so that it also prints the number of batches in each rejection category and the total number of batches
rejected. (Remember that a rejected batch should appear only once in the
total, but could appear in more than one rejection category.)
Confirm that the data in suture. dat relates only to batches that should
have been rejected. If any batch should not be in the data file, print an
appropriate message with the batch information.

TIMBER REGROWTH
A problem in timber management is to determine how much of an area to leave
uncut so that the harvested area is reforested in a certain period of time. It is
assumed that reforestation takes place at a known rate per year, depending on climate and soil conditions. A reforestation equation expresses this growth as a

20.

21.

Write a program that uses the power-plant output data and prints a report
that lists the number of days with greater-than-average power output. The
report should give the week number and the day number for each of these
days, in addition to printing the average power output for the plant during
the 8-week period.
Write a program that uses the power-plant output data and prints the day
and week during which the maximum and minimum power output
occurred. If the maximum or minimum power output occurred on more
than one day, the program should print all the days involved.
Write a program that uses the power-plant output data to print the average
power output for each week. Also print the average power output for day 1,
day 2, and so on.

174 Chapter 6

Matrix Computations

Problems

~__s_u_M_M_A_R_v~~~~~--------------------------------In this chapter, we presented matrix functions to create matrices of zeros, matrices
of ones, identity matrices, diagonal matrices, and magic squares. We also defined
the transpose, the inverse, and the determinant of a matrix, and presented functions to compute them. We also presented functions for flipping a matrix from left
to right, and for flipping it from top to bottom. We defined the dot product
(between two vectors) and a matrix product (between two matrices), and presented
functions to compute these. Two methods for solving a system of N equations with
Nunknowns using matrix operations were presented. One method used the inverse
of a matrix, and the other used matrix left division.
MATLAB Summary
This MATLAB summary lists and briefly describes all of the special characters, commands, and functions that were defined in this chapter:

PROBLEMS
1.

(a) A= [1 3 5],
(b) A= [0 -1 -4 -8],

matrix left division

B=[-3 -2 4]
B = [4 -2 -3 24]

2. Compute the total mass of the following components, using a dot product:
Component

Density, 9/cm3

Volume, cm3

Propellant

1.2

700

Steel

7.8

200

Aluminum

2.7

300

3. Bomb calorimeters are used to determine the energy released during

chemical reactions. The total heat capacity of a bomb calorimeter is defined
as the sum of the product of the mass of each component and the specific
heat capacity of each component. That is,

indicates a matrix transpose

matrix multiplication

Compute the dot product of the following pairs of vectors, and then show that
AB=BA

Special Characters

175

CP

:l:m;C;
i=l

where
is the mass of each component, g;
C; is the heat capacity of each component,J/gK; and
CP is the total heat capacity,J/K.
Find the total heat capacity of a bomb calorimeter with the following
components:
m;

Commands and Functions

det

computes the determinate of a matrix

dot

computes the dot product of two vectors

diag

extracts the diagonal from a matrix, or generates a

matrix with the input on the diagonal

eye

generates an identity matrix

fliplr

flips a matrix from left to right

flipud

flips a matrix from up to down

Component

Mass, 9

Steel

250

Water

100

4.2

10

0.90

Aluminum

inv

computes the inverse of a matrix

magic

generates a magic square

ones

generates a matrix composed of ones

zeros

generates a matrix composed of zeros

4.

0.45

Compute the matrix productA*B of the following pairs of matrices:

(a) A= [12 4; 3 -5],
(b) A= [135;246],

5.

Heat Capacity, J/9K

B = [2 12; 0 0]
B
[-24;38;12-2]

A series of experiments were performed with the bomb calorimeter from

Problem 3. In each experiment, a different amount of water was used, as
shown in the following table:
Experiment #

KEY TERMS

Mass of Water, 9

110.0

conformable
determinant
diagonal matrix
dot product
identity matrix

ill-conditioned matrix
inverse
magic square
main diagonal
matrix left division

matrix multiplication
singular matrix
system of equations
transpose

100.0

101.0

98.6

99.4

Calculate the total heat capacity for the calorimeter for each of the
experiments.

176

Chapter 6

Matrix Computations

6.

7.
8.

Problems

Given the array A = [-1 3; 4 2], raise each element of A to the second
power. Raise A to the second power by matrix exponentiation. Explain why
the answers are different.
Given the array A = [-1 3; 4 2], compute the determinant of A.
If A is conformable to B for addition, then a theorem states that
(A + B)T = AT + Br. Use MATLAB to test this theorem on the following
matrices:

A=
9.

10.

-5]

12
0
2

-2
-1

B=

We solved this set of equations using the matrix inverse approach. Redo the
problem, but this time use the left division approach.
14.

Amino Acids. The amino acids in proteins contain molecules of oxygen

(0), carbon (C), nitrogen (N), sulfur (S), and hydrogen (H), as shown in
Table 6.1. The molecular weights for oxygen, carbon, nitrogen, sulfur, and
hydrogen are as follows:

u '~]

Oxygen
Carbon
Nitrogen

0
2
3

15.9994
12.01l
14.00674
32.066
1.00794

Sulfur

Hydrogen

Given that matrices A, B, and C are conformable for multiplication, the

associative property holds; that is, A(BC) = (AB)C. Test the associative
property using matrices A and B from Problem 8, along with matrix C:

(a) Write a program in which the user enters the number of oxygen atoms,
carbon atoms, nitrogen atoms, sulfur atoms, and hydrogen atoms in an
amino acid. Compute and print the corresponding molecular weight.
Use a dot product to compute the molecular weight.
(b) Write a program that computes the molecular weight of each amino
acid in Table 6.1, assuming that the numeric information in this table is
contained in a data file named elements.dat. Generate a new data file
named weights.dat that contains the molecular weights of the amino
acids. Use matrix multiplication to compute the molecular weights.

Recall that not all matrices have an inverse. A matrix is singular (i.e., it does
not have an inverse) if IAI = 0. Test the following matrices using the determinant function to see if each has an inverse:

Table 6.1 Amino Acid Molecules

11.

If an inverse exists, compute it.

Solve the following systems of equations using both the matrix left division
and the inverse matrix methods:
(a) -2x1
X]

l0x 1
(b) -3x1
5x 1
(c)

12.

+ x2 = -3
+ x2 = 3
7x2 + Ox3 = 7
+ 2x2 + 6x3 = 4
+ x2 + 5x3 = 6

X] + 4x2 2x 1 + 7x2 +
X]+ 4x2 3x1 -10x2 -

x3 +
x3x3 +
2x3 +

2
x4 =
2x4 = 16
2x4 = -15
5x4 = -15

Time each method you used in Problem 11 for part c by using the clock
function and the etime function, the latter of which measures elapsed
time. Which method is faster, left division or inverse matrix multiplication?
tO

= clock;

(code to be timed)
etime(clock,tO)

13.

In Example 6.4, we showed that the circuit shown in Figure 6.3 could be
described by the following set of linear equations:

(R2 + R4)i1 + (-R2)i2 + (-R4)i3 = \11

+ R3)i2 + (-R3)i3

= 0

(-R4)i1 + (-R3)i2 + (R3 + R4 + Rs)i3

(-R2)il

(R1

R2

177

Amino Acid

Alanine

Arginine

Asparagine

Aspartic

15

Cysteine

Glutamic

Glutamine

10

Glycine

Histidine

Isoleucine

Leucine

Lysine

Methionine

Phenylanlanine

11

Proline

10

2
3

10

13

13

15
11

Serine

Threonine

Tryptophan

11

11

Tyrosine

11

Valine

11

224

;:_
"---,

Chapter 8

Numerical Techniques

Problems

Derivative of a Fifth-Degree Polynomial

1400
1200
1000
800
600
400
200
0
-200
-4

-3

225

Commands and Functions

diff

computes the differences between adjacent values

integral

computes the integral under a curve (Simpson)

interpl

computes linear and cubic interpolation

polyfit

computes a least-squares polynomial

polyval

evaluates a polynomial

-2
X

Figure 8.24

KEY TERMS

Derivative of a fifth-degree polynomial.

backward difference
basic fitting window
best fit
central difference
critical points
cubic spline
data statistics window
degree of a polynomial

crosses zero. These indices are then used with the vector xd to print the approximation to the locations of the critical points:
%

Find locations of critical points off' (x).

product= df(l:length(df) - 1) .*df(2:length(df));

critical= xd(find(product<O))
critical
-0.2000
-2.3000
1. 5000
3.4000

In the example discussed in this section, we assumed that we had the equation
of the function to be differentiated, and thus we could generate points of the function. In many engineering problems, the data to be differentiated are collected
from experiments. Thus, we cannot choose the points to be close together to get a
more accurate measure of the derivative. In these cases, it might be a good solution
to use alternative techniques that allow us to determine an equation for a polynomial that fits a set of data and then compute points from the equation to use in
computing values of the derivative.

SUMMARY

11~~-1--------------------In this chapter, we explained the difference between interpolation and leastsquares curve fitting. Two types of interpolation were presented: linear interpolation and cubic-spline interpolation. Mter presenting the MATLAB commands for
performing these types of interpolations, we then turned to least-squared curve
fitting using polynomials. This discussion explained how to determine the best fit
to a set of data using a polynomial with a specified degree and then how to use the
best-fit polynomial to generate new values of the function. Use of the interactive
basic fitting window was also described to perform these same functions.
Techniques for numerical integration and numerical differentiation were also presented in this chapter.
MATLAB Summary
This MATLAB summary lists and briefly describes all of the commands and functions that were defined in this chapter:

derivative
forward difference
integral
interactive fitting tools
least-squares solution
linear interpolation
linear regression
numerical diifeienttia;tlcn{

PROBLEMS
INTERPOLATION
Generate j(x) = x 2 for x
1. Compute and plot the linear
points over the range [ -3:0.5:6].
2. Compute the value of/( 4) using
polation. ~What are the respective
the actual value ofj(4)?

CYLINDER HEAD TEMPERATURES

Assume that the set of temperature
cylinder head in a new engine that is being

1.0
2.0

3.0
4.0
5.0

numerical integrati?n
polynomial regression
quadrature
residual sum
Simpson's rule
trapezoidal rule

226 Chapter 8 Numerical Techniques

3.

4.

Problems

Compare plots of these data, assuming linear interpolation and assuming

cubic-spline interpolation for values between the data points, using time
values from 0 to 5 in increments of 0.1 s.
Using the data from Problem 3, find the time value for which there is the
largest difference between its linear-interpolated temperature and its cubicinterpolated temperature.

8.
9.

227

Determine the sum of the squares of the distances of these points from the
line of best fit determined in Problem 7.
Compare the error sum from Problem 8 with the same error sum computed
from the best quadratic fit. What do these sums tell you about the two models for the data?

TANGENT FUNCTION
EXPANDED CYLINDER HEAD DATA
Assume that we measure temperatures at three points around the cylinder head in
the engine instead of at just one point. Table 8. 7 contains this expanded set of data.
Table 8.7 Expanded Cylinder Head Temperatures, oF
Time (s)

5.

6.

Temp 1

Temp2

0.0

0.0

0.0

Temp3

0.0

1.0

20.0

25.0

52.0

2.0

60.0

62.0

90.0

3.0

68.0

67.0

91.0

SOUNDING ROCKET TRAJECTORY

4.0

77.0

82.0

93.0

5.0

110.0

103.0

96.0

The data set in Table 8.9 represents the time and altitude values for a sounding
rocket that is performing high-altitude atmospheric research on the ionosphere.

Assume that these data have been stored in a matrix with six rows and four
columns. Determine interpolated values of temperature at the three points
in the engine at 2.6 seconds, using linear interpolation.
Using the information from Problem 5, determine the time that the temperature reached 75 degrees at each of the three points in the cylinder
head.

SPACECRAFT ACCELEROMETER
The guidance and control system for a spacecraft often uses a sensor called an
accelerometer, which is an electromechanical device that produces an output voltage proportional to the applied acceleration. Assume that an experiment has
yielded the set of data shown in Table 8.8.
Table 8.8 Spacecraft Accelerometer Data
Acceleration

7.

Compute tan(x) for x = [ -1:0.05:1].

10. Compute the best-fit polynomial of order four that approximates tan(x).
Plot tan ( x) and the generated polynomial on the same graph. What is the
sum of squared errors of the polynomial approximation for the data points
in x?
11. Compute tan(x) for x = [-2:0.05:2]. Using the polynomial generated in
Problem 10, compute values of y from -2 to 2, corresponding to the x vector just defined. Plot tan(x) and the values generated from the polynomial
on the same graph. Why aren't they the same shape?

Voltage

-4

0.593

-2

0.436

0.061

0.425

0.980

1.213

1.646

10

2.158

Determine the linear equation that best fits this set of data. Plot the data
points and the linear equation.

Table 8.9 Sounding Rocket Trajectory Data

Time, s

Altitude, m

60

10

2,926

20

10,170

30

21,486

40

33,835

50

45,251

60

55,634

70

65,038

80

73,461

90

80,905

100

87,368

110

92,852

120

97,355

130

100,878

140

103,422

150

104,986

160

106,193

170

110,246

180

119,626

190

136,106

200

162,095

210

199,506

(continued)

228 Chapter 8 Numerical Techniques

Time, s

Altitude, m

220

238,775

230

277,065

240

314,375

250

350,704

Index
Symbols

12.

13.

14.

Determine an equation that represents the data, using the interactive curve
fitting tools.
Plot the altitude data. The velocity function is the derivative of the altitude
function. Using numerical differentiation, compute the velocity values from
these data, using a backward difference. Plot the velocity data. (Note that
the rocket is a two-stage rocket.)
The acceleration function is the derivative of the velocity function. Using
the velocity data determined from Problem 13, compute the acceleration
data, using backward difference. Plot the acceleration data.

SIMPLE ROOT FINDING

Even though MATLAB makes it easy to find the roots of a function, sometimes all
that is needed is a quick estimate. This can be done by plotting a function and
zooming in very close to see where the function equals zero. Since MATLAB draws
straight lines between data points in a plot, it is good to draw circles or stars at each
data point, in addition to the straight lines connecting the points.
15. Plot the following function, and zoom in to find the roots:
n

5;

Increase the value ofn to increase the accuracy of the estimate in Problem 15.

DERIVATIVES AND INTEGRALS

Consider the data points in the following two vectors:
X
y

17.
18.

19.

20.

x
linspace(0,2*pi,n);
y
x.*sin(x) + cos(l/2*x) .A2 - 1./(x-7);
p1ot(x,y, -o')

16.

%(comment operator), 9
. * (element-by-element multiplication), 33
(element-by-element exponentiation), 33
. I (element-by-element division), 33
(matrix transpose), 34
: (colon operator), 38
%e,44
%f,44
%g, 44
<(less than), 132
<= (less than or equal to), 132
>(greater than), 132
>= (greater than or equal to), 132
==(equal to), 132
-=(not equal to), 132
I (or), 133
& (and), 133
- (not), 133
\ (matrix left division), 173

[0.1,0.3,5,6,23,24];
[2.8,2.6,18.1,26.8,486.1,530];
Determine the best-fit polynomial of order 2 for the data. Calculate the sum
of squares for your results. Plot the best-fit polynomial for the six data points.
Generate a new X containing 250 uniform data points in increments of 0.1
from [0.1, 25.0]. Using the best-fit polynomial coefficients from the previous problem, generate a new Y containing 250 data points. Plot the results.
Compute an estimate of the derivative using the new X and the new Y generated in the previous problem. Compute the coefficients of the derivative.
Plot the derivative using differences along with the points computed from
using the equation ofthe derivative (determined from the coefficients).
Let the function f be defined by the following equation:
j(x)

= 4e-x

Plot this function over the interval [0, 1]. Use numerical integration techniques
to estimate the integral ofj(x) over [0, 0.5], and over [0, 1].

abs function, 60
Abstraction, 8
Algorithm, 9
Annotating a plot, 106
ans, 19,26
Argument, 58
Arithmetic
logic unit (ALU), 3
operation, 26
Array editor, 23
ascii option, 46
ASCII files, 46
as in function, 65
Assembler, 6
Assembly
language, 5
process, 6
Assignment operator, 27
autumn color map, 122
Axes scaling, 106
axis function, 106
B
Backward difference approximation, 221
bar function, 108
bar3 function, 108

barh function, 108

bar3h function, 108
Bar graphs, 108
Basic Fitting
tools, 214
window, 214
best fit, 206
Binary strings, 5
bone color map, 122
Bugs, 6
Built-in function, 26, 58, 88

c
ceil function, 60
Central difference approximation, 222
Central processing unit (CPU), 3
c1c command, 19
clear function, 21
elf function, 36
clock, 26
collect function, 182
Collecting coeflicients, 182
Colon operator, 38, 39
colorcube color map, 122
colormap function, 122
Command
history window, 20
window, 19
Command-line help function, 58
Comment, 9, 48
Compile error, 6
Compiler, 6
Composition of functions, 58
Computational limitations, 29
Computer, 2
hardware, 3
program, 3
language, 5
simulation, 80
software, 3, 4
Condition, 132
Conformable, 163
contour function, 123
Contour plot, 123
Control structure, 132
cool color map, 122
copper color map, 122
cos function, 64
229