ECE120L – INTRODUCTION TO MATLAB

LABORATORY ACTIVITY #4
2 – Dimensional Plots

I. Learning Outcomes:
At the end of the laboratory activity, the students should be able to:
1. plot 2 – dimensional multiple graphs with MATLAB
2. plot response curves in logarithmic scale
3. plot polar equations with MATLAB

II. Introduction:
The MATLAB environment offers a variety of data plotting functions to create, and modify graphic displays.
A figure is a MATLAB window that contains graphic displays (usually data plots) and UI components. Figures
can be created explicitly with the figure function, and implicitly whenever graphics are plotted and no figure is
active. By default, figure windows are resizable and include pull-down menus and toolbars.
A plot is any graphic display that can be created within a figure window. Plots can display tabular data,
geometric objects, surface and image objects, and annotations such as titles, legends, and color bars. Figures
can contain any number of plots. Each plot is created within a 2-D or a 3-D data space called an axes. Axes can
be created explicitly with the axes or subplot functions.

A. 2 Dimensional Plotting Function

The following function syntax are some available MATLAB 2 – D plot functions.
1. 2 – D Line Plot
Syntax:
plot(Y)
plot(X1,Y1,...,Xn,Yn)
plot(X1,Y1,LineSpec,...,Xn,Yn,LineSpec)
plot(X1,Y1,LineSpec,'PropertyName',PropertyValue)

Description
• plot(Y) plots the columns of Y versus the index of each value when Y is a real number. For complex Y,
plot(Y) is equivalent to plot(real(Y),imag(Y)).
• plot(X1,Y1,...,Xn,Yn) plots each vector Yn versus vector Xn on the same axes. If one of Yn or Xn is a matrix
and the other is a vector, plots the vector versus the matrix row or column with a matching dimension to
the vector. If Xn is a scalar and Yn is a vector, plots discrete Yn points vertically at Xn. If Xn or Yn are complex,
imaginary components are ignored. plot automatically chooses colors and line styles in the order specified
by ColorOrder and LineStyleOrder properties of current axes.
• plot(X1,Y1,LineSpec,...,Xn,Yn,LineSpec) plots lines defined by the Xn,Yn,LineSpec triplets, where LineSpec
specifies the line type, marker symbol, and color. Xn,Yn,LineSpec triplets with Xn,Yn pairs:
plot(X1,Y1,X2,Y2,LineSpec,X3,Y3).

PREPARED BY: RONEL V. VIDAL, PECE 1

• plot(X1,Y1,LineSpec,'PropertyName',PropertyValue) manipulates plot characteristics by setting lineseries
properties (of lineseries graphics objects created by plot). Enter properties as one or more name and value
pairs.

t = [0:1/10000:4*pi]; x = -pi:pi/10:pi;
x = 4*exp(-t).*sin(25*t); y = tan(sin(x)) - sin(tan(x));
plot(t,x,'r'), grid on plot(x,y,'--rs','LineWidth',2,...
xlabel('Time, t'), ylabel('Amplitude') 'MarkerEdgeColor','k',...
title('Plot of f(t) = 4e^-^tsin(25t)') 'MarkerFaceColor','g',...
axis([0 4*pi -4 4]) 'MarkerSize',10)

Plot of f(t) = 4e-tsin(10t)

4
3

3
2
2

1
1
Amplitude

0 0

-1
-1

-2
-2
-3

-3
-4 -4 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4
0 2 4 6 8 10 12
Time, t

2. The Logarithmic Plots

Logarithmic scale plots are widely used in the field of engineering in order to represent data set that
covers a wide range of values.
2.1 semilogx(x,y) : produces a semilog plot of y versus x with logarithmic abscissa scale
2.2 semilogy(x,y) : produces a semilog plot of y versus x with logarithmic ordinate scale
2.3 loglog(x,y) : produces a plot of y versus x with both abscissa and ordinate in logarithmic scale

%semi logarithmic plot %semi logarithmic plot

x = [0:0.01:10]; x = [0:0.1:10];
a =exp(x) – .25; y = semilogy(x,(exp(-x)),'m','linewidth',1.5)
y = semilogx(x,a,'r','linewidth',2) grid on
grid on, axis([10^0 10^2.5 0 2*10^4])
0
4 10
x 10
2

1.8 -1
10
1.6

1.4 -2
10
1.2

1 -3
10
0.8

0.6 -4
10
0.4

0.2
-5
10
0 0 2 4 6 8 10
0 1 2
10 10 10
PREPARED BY: RONEL V. VIDAL, PECE 2
 50
10

%loglog scale plot

40
x = logspace(-1,2); 10

loglog(x,exp(x),'-s') 30

grid on 10

20
10

10
10

0
10
-1 0 1 2
10 10 10 10
3. Stem Plot
The syntax stem(X,Y) plots X versus the columns of Y. X and Y must be vectors or matrices of the same size.
Additionally, X can be a row or a column vector and Y a matrix with length(X) rows. stem(...,'fill') specifies
whether to color the circle at the end of the stem. 2

1.5

%stem plot 1
x = [0:1/2:10];
0.5
y = 2*cos(x);
stem(x,y,'fill'), grid on 0

-0.5

-1

-1.5

-2
0 2 4 6 8 10

4. Stairstep graph
Stairstep graphs are useful for drawing time-history graphs of digitally sampled data. The syntax stairs(X,Y)
plots the elements in Y at the locations specified in X. 1
0.8

0.6
x = linspace(-2*pi,2*pi,40);
0.4
stairs(x,sin(x))
0.2

-0.2

-0.4

-0.6

-0.8

-1
-8 -6 -4 -2 0 2 4 6 8

5. Bar Plot
The syntax bar(Y) draws one bar for each element in Y. If Y is a matrix, bar groups the bars produced by
the elements in each row. The x-axis scale ranges from 1 up to length(Y) when Y is a vector, and 1 to size(Y,1),
which is the number of rows, when Y is a matrix.
The syntax bar(x,Y) draws a bar for each element in Y at locations specified in x, where x is a vector
defining the x-axis intervals for the vertical bars. The x-values can be nonmonotonic, but cannot contain
duplicate values. If Y is a matrix, bar groups the elements of each row in Y at corresponding locations in x.

PREPARED BY: RONEL V. VIDAL, PECE 3

 y = [4 6 3; 5 9 12; 7 12 8]; y = [34 56 67 23 22 45];
bar(y,'group'), axis([0 4 0 13]) bar(x,y)
70
12
60

10
50

8
40

6
30

4
20

2 10

0 0
1 2 3 10 11 12 13 14 15

6. Polar Plots
The command polar(theta,r) creates a two – dimensional plot using polar coordinates. The polar coordinates
are 𝜃 (the angular coordinate) and 𝑟 (the radial coordinate). A grid is automatically overlaid on a polar plot
consists of concentric circles and radial lines every 30.
The spiral of Archimedes is described by the polar coordinates(𝜃, 𝑟), where 𝑟 = 𝑎𝜃. Obtain a polar plot of
this spiral for 0 ≤ 𝜃 ≤ 4𝜋, with the parameter a = 2.
Spiral of Archimedes
90 30
120 60
% Polar Plot of Spiral of Archimedes 20

clear 150 30
10
theta = 0:pi/100:4*pi;
a = 2; 180 0

r = a*theta;
polar(theta,r,'m')
210 330
title('Spiral of Archimedes')
240 300
270

B. Line Specification and Graphic Properties

plot(X,Y,LineSpec,'PropertyName',PropertyValue)

1. Line Specification (LineSpec)

Line specification describes how to specify the properties of lines used for plotting. MATLAB graphics give
the user control over these visual characteristics:
• Line style
• Color
• Marker type

PREPARED BY: RONEL V. VIDAL, PECE 4

 Line styles, marker types, and colors using string specifiers

Table #. Line Style Specifiers Table #. Marker Specifiers

Specifier Line Style Specifier Marker Type
- Solid Line (default) + Plus sign
-- Dashed Line o Circle
: Dotted Line * Asterisk
-. Dash – dot Line . Point (see note below)
x Cross
Table #. Color Specifiers ‘square’ or s Square
Specifier Color ‘diamond’ or d Diamond
b Blue (default) ^ Upward pointing triangle
r Red v Downward pointing triangle
g Green > Right – pointing triangle
c Cyan < Left – pointing triangle
m Magenta ‘pentagram’ or p Five – pointed star (pentagram)
y Yellow ‘hexagram’ or h Six – pointed star (hexagram)
k Black Note The point (.) marker type does not change size
w White when the specified value is less than 5.

2. Graphic Properties
• Line width
• Marker size
• Marker face and edge coloring (for filled markers)

1. LineWidth or linewidth — Specifies the width (in points) of the line.

2. MarkerEdgeColor or markeredgecolor — Specifies the color of the marker or the edge color for filled
markers (circle, square, diamond, pentagram, hexagram, and the four triangles).
3. MarkerFaceColor or markerfacecolor — Specifies the color of the face of filled markers.
4. MarkerSize or markersize— Specifies the size of the marker in points (must be greater than 0).

C. Multiple Graphs
MATLAB has several commands in order to plot multiple graphs. Listed below are some commands used
in plotting 2 – dimensional multiple graphs.
1. figure(n) :plot the graphs into an individual nth figure window
2. subplot(m,n,p) :splits the figure window into an array of sub windows with m rows and n
columns, and directs the subsequent plotting commands to the pth sub window
3. hold :freezes the current plot for subsequent graphics commands

PREPARED BY: RONEL V. VIDAL, PECE 5

 1. The Figure command
Consider the following functions:
𝑥1 = sin 2𝑡
𝑥2 = 2 cos 𝑡 sin 𝑡
Plot the given functions from 0 to 2𝜋 with a resolution of 𝜋⁄20 using the figure(n) command.

% Plotting Multiple Graphs with Figure command

t = 0:pi/20:2*pi;
x1 = sin(2*t);
x2 = 2*cos(t).*sin(t);
figure(1), plot(t,x1,'mo-','linewidth',2,'markeredgecolor','k','markerfacecolor','c','markersize',8),
grid on, title('Plot of sin(2t)'), xlabel('time,t'), ylabel('Amplitude'), axis([0 2*pi -1.25 1.25])
figure(2), plot(t,x2,'rd--','linewidth',2,'markeredgecolor','b','markerfacecolor','y','markersize',8)
grid on, title('Plot of cos(2t)sin(2t)'), xlabel('time, t'), ylabel('Amplitude'), axis([0 2*pi -1.25 1.25])

Plot of sin(2t) Plot of cos(2t)sin(2t)

1 1

0.5 0.5
Amplitude

Amplitude

0 0

-0.5 -0.5

-1 -1

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 0 1 2 3 4 5 6
time,t time, t

Figure 1 Figure 2

2. The hold Command

hold: freezes the current plot for subsequent graphics commands
Syntax:
hold on
hold off
Description:
• The hold function determines whether new graphics objects are added to the graph or replace objects
in the graph.
• hold on retains the current plot and certain axes properties so that subsequent graphing commands
add to the existing graph.
• hold off resets axes properties to their defaults before drawing new plots. hold off is the default.

PREPARED BY: RONEL V. VIDAL, PECE 6

 1

t = 0:pi/20:2*pi; 0.8

x = sin(t); 0.6
y = sin(t-pi/2);
0.4
z = sin(t-pi);
plot(t,x,'-.r*'), grid on 0.2
hold on
0
plot(t,y,'--mo')
plot(t,z,':bs') -0.2

hold off -0.4

-0.6

-0.8

-1
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

3. The subplot Command

The subplot(m,n,p) command creates several smaller “subplots” in the same figure. The variable m is
for rows, n for columns and p the position of each subplot. Consider the functions:
𝑥1 = 𝑒0.5𝑡 sin 2𝑡
𝑥2 = 1 + cos 4𝑡
𝑥3 = 2 sin 2𝑡 cos 2𝑡
𝑥4 = 2 cos 𝑡 + 2 sin 𝑡
Plot the given functions from –10 to +10, with a resolution of 0.001 using the subplot command.

% Plotting Multiple Graphs with subplot command

t = [-10:0.001:10];
x1 = exp(0.5*t).*sin(2*t);
x2 = 1 + cos(4*t);
x3 = 2*sin(2*t).*cos(2*t);
x4 = 2*cos(t)+2*sin(t);
subplot(2,2,1), plot(t,x1,'r','linewidth',1.5), grid on, title('Plot of e^0^.^5^tsin(2t)')
xlabel('time,t'), ylabel('Amplitude'), axis([-10,10,-100,100])
subplot(2,2,2), plot(t,x2,'g','linewidth',1.5), grid on, title('Plot of 1 + cos(4t)')
xlabel('time,t'), ylabel('Amplitude'), axis([-10,10,-0.5,2.5])
subplot(2,2,3), plot(t,x3,'m','linewidth',1.5), grid on, title('Plot of 2sin(2t)cos(2t)')
xlabel('time,t'), ylabel('Amplitude'), axis([-10,10,-1.5,1.5])
subplot(2,2,4), plot(t,x4,'linewidth',1.5), grid on, title('Plot of 2cos(t)+2sin(t)')
xlabel('time,t'), ylabel('Amplitude'), axis([-10,10,-3,3])

PREPARED BY: RONEL V. VIDAL, PECE 7

 Plot of e0.5tsin(2t) Plot of 1 + cos(4t)
100 2.5
2
50

Amplitude

Amplitude
1.5
0 1
0.5
-50
0
-100 -0.5
-10 0 10 -10 0 10
time,t time,t
Plot of 2sin(2t)cos(2t) Plot of 2cos(t)+2sin(t)
1.5 3
1 2
Amplitude

Amplitude
0.5 1
0 0
-0.5 -1
-1 -2
-1.5 -3
-10 0 10 -10 0 10
time,t time,t

III. Laboratory Exercises:

*Note: For each of the exercises, always include the x – label, y – label and the title of each plot.

A. Plotting Functions
The table below shows daily temperatures for New York City, recorded for 6 days, degrees –
Fahrenheit.
Temperatures in New York City
Day Temperature, ℉
1 43
2 53
3 50
4 57
5 59
6 67
7 60

Construct graphs of the data above using the following plotting functions below. Include line
specifier and graphic properties to enhance your graph.
1. 2 – d line plot
2. Stem plot
3. Stairstep
4. Bar plot

PREPARED BY: RONEL V. VIDAL, PECE 8

B. Figure Command
Given the 3 functions below, plot them individually using the figure command. Set the
horizontal axis as indicated for each function and with a resolution of 1/100. Alter the color, line
width and include marker if applicable for each plot.
1
1) 𝑓(𝑥) = 2 + cos 𝑥 + 2 cos 2𝑥 −4𝜋 ≤ 𝑥 ≤ 4𝜋
−𝑥
2) 𝑓(𝑥) = 𝑒 sin 10𝑥 0 ≤ 𝑥 ≤ 3𝜋
3) 𝑓(𝑥) = 2 sin 2𝑥 cos 2𝑥 −4𝜋 ≤ 𝑥 ≤ 4𝜋

C. Logarithmic Plots Using the subplot command

Given the function below, plot it in linear, semilog x, semilog y, and log x & y scale using
the subplot command. Alter the color, the line style and line width of the plot with a resolution
of 1/100.

1. 𝑓(𝑥) = 𝑒 𝑥
2. 𝑓(𝑥) = 10−2𝑥

D. Hold on command
Below are four trigonometric equations. Plot them in one graph using the hold on command.
Alter the color and line width of each function. Include marker if applicable. Use −4π ≤ x ≤ 4π
with a resolution of 1/100.
𝑓(𝑥) = 4 sin 𝑥
𝑔(𝑥) = 3 sin 2𝑥
ℎ(𝑥) = 2 sin 3𝑥
𝑘(𝑥) = sin 4𝑥

E. Polar Plots
1. Below are three polar equations. Obtain a polar plot of each equation in one graph using the
hold on command. Use 0 ≤ θ ≤ 2π with a resolution of π/1000. Alter the color of the plot for
each equation.
𝑟1 = 3 sin 4𝜃
𝑟2 = 2 sin 4𝜃
𝑟3 = sin 4𝜃

2. For the following polar equations below, plot them individually using the figure command.
Alter the color and line width of each plot.
1) 𝑟 = sin 𝜃 + sin3(5𝜃⁄2) 0 ≤ 𝜃 ≤ 4𝜋
2
2) 𝑟 = cos 5𝜃 + sin 3𝜃 + 0.3 0 ≤ 𝜃 ≤ 2𝜋

PREPARED BY: RONEL V. VIDAL, PECE 9