Introduction to MATLAB

Dr. Delores M. Etter, Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research, Development and Acquisition, leads R&D and acquisition throughout the U.S. Navy. She is the first United States Naval Academy faculty member to hold the Office of Naval Research Distinguished Chair in Science and Technology. Dr. Etter is a member of the National Academy of Engineering, and a fellow of IEEE, AAAS, and ASEE.

1 • AN INTRODUCTION TO ENGINEERING PROBLEM SOLVING 1
Engineering Achievements 1
1.1 Engineering Environment 1
1.2 Engineering Computing and MATLAB 2
1.3 An Engineering Problem-Solving Methodology 7


2 • GETTING STARTED WITH MATLAB 16
Engineering Achievement: Wind Tunnels 16
2.1 Introduction to MATLAB and MATLAB Windows 16
2.2 Simple Operations 24
2.3 Output Options 39
2.4 Saving Your Work 44


3 • MATLAB FUNCTIONS 56
Engineering Achievement:Weather Prediction 56
3.1 Introduction to Functions 56
3.2 Elementary Mathematical Functions 59
3.3 Trigonometric Functions 64
3.4 Data Analysis Functions 68
3.5 Random Number Generating Functions 79
3.6 User-Defined Functions 86


4 • PLOTTING 96
Engineering Achievement: Ocean Dynamics 96
4.1 x-y Plots 96
4.2 Three-Dimensional Plots 118
4.3 Editing Plots from the Menu Bar 123
4.4 Creating Plots from the Workspace Window 125


5 • CONTROL STRUCTURES 130
Engineering Achievement: Signal Processing 130
5.1 Relational and Logical Operators 130
5.2 Selection Structures 133
5.3 Loops 144


6 • MATRIX COMPUTATIONS 152
Engineering Achievement: Manned Space Flight 152
6.1 Special Matrices 152
6.2 Matrix Operations and Functions 158
6.3 Solutions to Systems of Linear Equations 169


7 • SYMBOLIC MATHEMATICS 179
Engineering Achievement: Geolocation 179
7.1 Symbolic Algebra 179
7.2 Equation Solving 185
7.3 Differentiation and Integration 191


8 • NUMERICAL TECHNIQUES 197
Engineering Achievement: Dynamic Fluid Flow 197
8.1 Interpolation 197
8.2 Curve Fitting: Linear and Polynomial Regression 206
8.3 Using the Interactive Fitting Tool 214
8.4 Numerical Integration 218
8.5 Numerical Differentiation 221
INDEX