Matlab Notes for Calculus 1

Lia Vas

Content

1. Introduction to Matlab
2. Basic arithmetic
3. Solving equations using solve
4. Representing functions
5. Graphing
6. Solving equations using fzero
7. Limits
8. Differentiation
9. Optimization
10. Integration
11. Practice Problems

1. Introduction to Matlab

The main Matlab window is divided into four (or five, depending on the version) parts:

Menu Bar (at the very top)

Current Folder Command Window Workspace

Clicking on “New Script”, which is the very first command in the Menu Bar, the Matlab window
opens another part, called the

Editor

In some version of Matlab, the Editor automatically opens on the start.

Let us discuss these five components of the Matlab window.

All Matlab commands are executed in the Command Window. If your code is not longer that
one line, you can type it in the Command Window and execute it by pressing “enter”.

The Editor is used for more complex code. You can have multiple Editor tabs open if you
need to work on more than one set of code at a time. The default file is titled “Untitled” so
when you type some code in it, you need to save the file and give it a meaningful name. One
benefit of typing the code in the Editor is that you can save it while the code typed in the
Command Window cannot be saved, just executed. Hence, you can execute the saved code
multiple times while executing a command in the Command Window again requires typing the
whole command again.
The Directory (Current Folder part) shows your current location. If you want to execute some
code typed in the Editor, change the location of your current folder to match the folder where
you saved the code from the Editor. The current location of the Directory is listed in the long
white bar above the Editor.

You can change your current folder by clicking on the folder icon with a green arrow (see the
icons on the right side of the white bar listing your current directory). Note that the directory
that is opened when Matlab starts is usually not the directory where your files are saved so
you will need to change the current folder.

The Workspace lists all variables that have been defined and specifies their type and value.

The Menu Bar contains some familiar commands, such as New, Open, and Save. When the
Editor is open, the Menu Bar contains also Comment and Run. Comment allows us to write
text in the code that is not executed which helps your code be more meaningful to you, the
programmer, or to a user. Alternatively, you can type “%” before any text and it will be
included as a comment.

2. Basic Arithmetic

You can use +, -, *, \ and ^ to add, subtract, multiply, divide or raise to a power, respectively.
For example if you enter:

>> 2^3 - 2*2

Matlab calculates the answer:
ans = 4

If you want to perform further calculations with the value of the answer, you can type ans
rather than retyping the specific answer value. For example,
>> sqrt(ans)
ans = 2

To perform symbolic calculations in Matlab, use syms to declare the variables you plan to
use. For example, suppose that you need factor x²-3x+2. First you need
>> syms x (you are declaring that x is a variable)

Then you can use the command factor.

>> factor(x^2-3*x+2)
ans = (x-1)*(x-2)

Note that we entered 3*x to represent 3x in the command above. Entering * for
multiplication is always necessary in Matlab.

Besides factor command, you have simplify and expand.

3. Solving equations using “solve”

For solving equations, you can use the command solve.
● Represent the variable you are solving using syms command.
● Move every term to the left side of the equation so that the equations of the form
g(x)=h(x) become g(x)-h(x)=0
● If the term on the left side is f(x) and the equation is
f(x)=0
the command you want to execute is
solve(f(x))

Note that the left side of the equation is in parenthesis. Thus, the command solve has the
following form

solve(the left side of the equation if the right side is 0)

For example, to solve the equation x³-2x-4=0, we can use

>> solve(x^3-2*x-4)
and get the following answer
ans = 2 -1+i -1-i .
Here i stands for the imaginary number √−1 . This answer tells us that there is just one real
solution, 2.

The command solve often produces a symbolic answer. For example, let us solve
the equation 3x²-8x+2=0. When executing
>> solve(3*x^2-8*x+2) Matlab produces
ans = 4/3-10^(1/2)/3 10^(1/2)/3+4/3

If we want to get, often more meaningful, numerical answer in the decimal form with, say,
three significant digits, we can use the command vpa, refer to the previous answer as ans,
and specify how many digits of the answer we need to see. For example.
>> vpa(ans, 3) produces
ans = 0.279 2.39

The command vpa has the general form

vpa(expression you want to approximate, number of significant digits)

4. Representing a function

To represent a function given by a formula containing a variable x, start by syms x if you have
not defined x to be your variable already. If we want to call the function f, the following
command defines f(x) to be a function defined by the given formula.

f = @(x) formula defining the function

For example, the following command defines the function x²+3x-2.

>> f = @(x) x^2+3*x-2
 f(x) = x^2+3*x-2

After defining a function, we can evaluate it at a point. For example,

>> f(2) produces the answer ans = 8.

If a function is simple, it might be faster to evaluate a function at a point simply by typing the
value of x directly for x. For example, to evaluate sin(x) at x=2, simply type
>> sin(2) and obtain the answer ans = .909297.

The following table gives an overview of how

most commonly used functions or expressions
are represented in Matlab.

As when using the calculator, one must be careful

when representing a function. For example,

1
 should be represented as 1/(x*(x+6)) not as 1/x*(x+6) nor as 1/x(x+6),
x ( x+6 )
3

2
should be represented as 3/(x^2+5*x+6) not as 3/x^2+5*x+6,
x + 5x+6
should be represented as exp(5*x^2) not as e^(5*x^2), exp*(5*x^2),
2
 e 5x
exp(5x^2) nor as exp^(5*x^2).
 ln(x) should be represented as log(x), not ln(x).
 log3(x2) should be represented as log(x^2)/log(3) not as log(x)/log(3)*x^2.

5. Graphing
x^2+x+1
50
Let us start by declaring that x is a variable: 45

>> syms x 40

35

The simplest command in Matlab for graphing is ezplot. The 30

command has the following form 25

20
ezplot(function) 15

10

For example, to graph the function x²+x+1, you simply type 5

>> ezplot(x^2+x+1) 0
-8 -6 -4 -2 0 2 4 6 8

x^2+x+1
A new window will open and graph will be displayed. To copy the 60
figure to a text file, you can choose the format in which you want to
save the figure file (go to the File menu of the figure, choose Save 50

as, and then select the location, file name and file type, for example 40
png). You can import the figure into the word file using Insert and
Image. 30

20

We can specify the different scale on x and y axis. To do this, the

10
command axis is used. It has the following form
0
-10 -8 -6 -4 -2 0 2 4 6 8 10
axis([xmin, xmax, ymin, ymax])

This command parallels the commands in menu WINDOW on the TI83 calculators.

For example, to see the above graph between x-values -10 and 10 and y-values 0 and 60,
you can enter
>> axis([-10 10 0 60])

Note that the domain of function did not change by command axis. To see the graph on the
entire domain (in this case [-10, 10]), add that domain after the function in the command
ezplot:
x^2+x+1
60
ezplot(function, [xmin, xmax])
50

In this case, 40
>> ezplot(x^2+x+1, [-10, 10])
will give you the desired graph. 30

20

For the alternative command for graphics, plot, you can find
more details by typing help. 10

To graph multiple curves on the same plot, you can also use -15 -10 -5 0 5 10 15

the ezplot command.

To graph multiple curves on the same window, you can use the ezplot command in
combination with hold on and hold off on the following way:

ezplot(1st function)
hold on
ezplot(2nd function)
ezplot(3rd function)
...
ezplot(n-th function)
hold off

For example to graph the functions sin(x) and e-x^2 , you can use: >> ezplot(sin(x))
>> hold on >> ezplot(exp(-x^2)) >> hold off

6. Solving equations using “fzero”

In some cases, the command solve may fail to produce all the solutions of an equation. In
those cases, you can try to find solutions using fzero (short for "find zero") command. Just as
for solve, you need to write equation in the form
f(x)=0.
So, you need to put all the terms of the equations on one side leaving just zero on the other.
To find a solution near the x-value x=a, you can use
 fzero('left side of the equation', a)

The command fzero, similarly as solve is always followed by expression in parenthesis. Note
that the equation should be in single quotes.

If it is not clear what a convenient x-value a should be, you may want to graph the function on
the left side of the equation first, check where it intersects the x-axis. Alternatively, you can
graph left and right side of the equation that is not in f(x)=0 form and see where the two
functions intersect. Then decide which x-value you should use.

Example. To solve the equation ex^2-2=x+4, we can first graph the functions on the left and
right side of the equation using
syms x ezplot(exp(x^2)-2) hold on ezplot(x+4) hold off

From the graph, we can see that the two functions intersect at a value near -1 and at a value
near 1. To use fzero, we need to represent the equation in the form ex^2-2-(x+4)=0 (or
simplified form ex^2-x-6=0). Then, we can find the positive solution by using fzero to find a
zero near 1 and then to find the negative solution near -1, for example. Thus, both solutions
can be obtained by:
>> fzero('exp(x^2)-2-(x+4)', 1) ans = 1.415
>> fzero('exp(x^2)-2-(x+4)', -1) ans = -1.248

Note also that the command solve(exp(x^2)-2-(x+4)) returns just the positive solution. Thus,
knowing how to use fzero command may be really useful in some cases.

7. Limits

You can use limit to compute limits, left and right limits as well as infinite limits. For example,
2
x −4
to evaluate the limit when x → 2 of the function , we have:
x−2
>> syms x
>> limit((x^2-4)/(x-2), x, 2) ans = 4

You can also evaluate left and right limits. For example:
>> limit(abs(x)/x, x, 0, 'left') ans = -1
>> limit(abs(x)/x, x, 0, 'right') ans = 1

Limits at infinity:
>> limit(exp(-x^2-5)+3, x, Inf) ans = 3

8. Differentiation

Start by declaring x for a variable. The command for differentiation is diff. It has the following
form
diff(function)
For example,
>> syms x
 >> diff(x^3-2*x+5) ans = 3*x^2-2

To get n-th derivative use

diff(function, n)

For example, to get the second derivative of x3-2x+5, use: >> diff(x^3-2*x+5, 2)
ans = 6*x
Similarly, the 23rd derivative of sin(x) is obtained as follows. >> diff(sin(x), 23)
ans =-cos(x)

To evaluate derivative at a point, we need to represent the derivative as a new function. For
example, to find the slope of a tangent line to x²+3x-2 at point 2, we need to find the derivative
and to evaluate it at x=2.
>> diff(x^2+3*x-2) (first we find the derivative) ans = 2*x+3
>> f = @(x) 2*x+3 (then we representative the derivative as a function)
>> f(2) (and, finally, we evaluate the derivative at 2) Obtain ans = 7

You can make a derivative (or integral or an output of some other function operator) into a
function automatically using matlabFunction command using the following format.

f = matlabFunction( command involving an operation on a given function )

For example, this last problem can be solved by

f = matlabFunction(diff(x^2+3*x-2))
followed by f(2).

9. Optimization

Recall the steps needed in order to find minimum or maximum values of a given function
(using second derivative test)

 Find first derivative

 Solve it for zeros. The x-values you obtain are called critical
 Find second derivative
 Plug critical points in second derivative. If your answer is negative, the function has a
maximum value at a critical point used. If your answer is positive, the function has a
minimum value at a critical point used.
 Plug critical points in your function. The y-values you obtain are your maximum or minimum
values.

In MATLAB, start with syms x.

1. Finding derivative: diff(function)

2. Finding critical points: solve(copy-paste the answer from step 1)
3. Finding second derivative: diff(function, 2)
4. Evaluating second derivative at critical points: g=@(x) paste the second derivative Then
use g(critical value) to find the value of the second derivative at the critical value.
5. Evaluating function at critical points: f=@(x) function formula followed by f(critical value)
For example, to find extreme values of x3-2x+5, start by finding first derivative:
>> diff(x^3-2*x+5) ans = 3*x^2-2
Then find critical point(s):
>> solve(3*x^2-2) ans = 6^(1/2)/3, -6^(1/2)/3 vpa(ans, 3) ans = .816, -.816

Find second derivative >> diff(x^3-2*x+5, 2) ans = 6*x

Evaluate this at critical points. >> g=@(x) 6*x g(.816) ans = 4.896
Positive answer means that the function has minimum at x=.816
>> g(-.816) ans = -4.896
Negative answer means that the function has maximum at x=.816

Finding y-values of maximum and minimum:

>> f=@(x) x^3-2*x+5
>>f(.816) ans = 3.911 This is the local minimum value.
>>f(.816) ans = 6.088 This is the local maximum value.

10. Integration

We can use Matlab for computing both definite and indefinite integrals using the command
int. For the indefinite integrals, start with syms x followed by the command

int(function)
For example, the command
>> int(x^2)
evaluates the integral and gives us the answer ans = 1/3*x^3

For definite integrals, the command is

int(function, lower bound, upper bound)

For example,
>> int(x^2, 0, 1)
evaluates the integral The answer is ans = 1/3

Matlab can evaluate the definitive integrals of the functions that do not have elementary
x
sin x e 2
primitive functions. Recall that the integrals ∫
x
dx, ∫ x dx, ∫ e x dx
can not be represented via elementary functions. Suppose that we need to find the integral of
sin x
from 1 to 3. The command >> int(sin(x)/x, 1, 3)
x
does not gives us a numerical value. We have just ans = sinint(3)-sinint(1)
Using the command vpa, we obtain the answer in numerical form. For example,
>> vpa(ans, 4) gives us ans = 0.9026

11. Practice problems

 3
x −8
1. Factor x³+3x²y+3xy²+y³. 2. Simplify .
x−2
3. Evaluate the following expressions. (a) sin(π/6) (b)
√5+3 (c) log2(5)
√3−1
4. Solve the following equations and express the answers as decimal numbers.
(a) x3-2x+5=0 (b) log2(x2-9)=4.
3
x +x+1
5. Let f(x)= (a) Represent f(x) as a function in Matlab and evaluate it at 3 and -2.
x
(b) Find x-value(s) that corresponds to y-value y=2. (c) Graph f(x) on domain [-4 4].

6. Graph ln(x+1) and 1-x² on the same plot for x in [-2 6] and y in [-4 4].
7. Find the limits of the following functions at indicated values.
12 3
x −1 6x −4x+5
(a) f(x)= 3 , x→1 (b) f(x)= 3+e-2x, x → ∞ (c) f(x)= 3 , x→ ∞
x −1 2x −1
3
x +x+1
8. Let f(x)= Find the first derivative of f(x) and evaluate it at x=1.
x
9. Let f(x)=e 3x^2+1. (a) Find the first derivative of f(x). (b) Find the slope of the tangent line to
f(x) at x=1. (c) Find the critical points of f(x).
x 65
10. Find the 12th derivative of the function ( + 1) .
2
11. Find the extreme values of (a) x3-4x+8 (b)

12. Evaluate the following integrals. (a) (b) .

Solutions.
1. syms x y followed by factor(x^3+3*x^2*y+3*x*y^2+y^3) gives you ans=(x+y)^3
2. syms x followed by simplify((x^3-8)/(x-2)) gives you ans=x^2+2x+4
3. (a) sin(pi/6) ans=.5 (b) (sqrt(5)+3)/(sqrt(3)-1) ans=7.152 (c) log(5)/log(2) ans=2.3219.
4. (a) solve(x^3-2*x+5) ans= -2.09. (b) solve(log(x^2-9)/log(2)-4). ans= 5, -5.
5. (a) >> f=@(x) (x^3+x+1)/x, >> f(3) ans= 10.333, >>f(-2) ans=4.5.
3
x +x+1
(b) The problem is asking you to solve equation =2. Using solve command, solve(f(x)-2). you
x
get ans=-1.3247 (c) ezplot(f(x), [-4,4]).
6. hold on ezplot(log(x+1)) ezplot(1-x^2) hold off axis([-2 6 -4 4])
7. (a) syms x limit((x^12-1)/(x^3-1), x, 1) ans=4
(b) limit(3+exp(-2*x), x, Inf) ans=3 (c) limit((6*x^3-4*x+5)/(2*x^3-1), x, Inf) ans=3
8. (a) syms x diff((x^3+x+1)/x) ans = 2*x-1/x^2 or (2*x^3-1)/x^2.
(b) g=@(x) 2*x-1/x^2 then g(1) gives you ans=1.
9. (a) diff(exp(3*x^2+1)) ans=6*x*exp(3*x^2+1)
(b) Represent the derivative as function g=@(x) 6*x*exp(3*x^2+1) then evaluate g(1). Get 6*exp(4). To
see the answer as a decimal number (say to five nonzero digits) use vpa(ans, 5). Get 327.58. (c)
solve(6*x*exp(3*x^2+1)) ans=0
10. diff((x/2+1)^65, 12)
11. (a) max (-1.15, 11.079), min (1.15, 4.92). (b) max (.333, .1226), no min.
12. (a) syms x int(x*exp(-3*x)) ans=-1/3*x*exp(-3*x)-1/9*exp(-3*x)
(b) int(x*exp(-3*x), 0,1) ans=-4/9*exp(-3)+1/9 vpa(ans, 4) ans=.08898