MATH 51: MATLAB HOMEWORK 1
1. Working with MATLAB
Matrices play a central role in linear algebra, though even the seasoned master encounters situations in which
explicitly computing with matrices becomes burdensome. For this reason several computer programs have been
designed to perform otherwise tedious computations. One of the most powerful of these is MATLAB (short for
matrix laboratory), and in this section we introduce some of the basic operations that MATLAB performs.
1.1. Starting MATLAB. When you start MATLAB, the MATLAB desktop appears, containing tools for
managing files, variables, and associated applications. The most important of these windows is the Command
Window, located on the right-half of the screen. This is where we’ll be entering our commands into MATLAB,
and it’s also where the results will display.
When describing operations in MATLAB, we will use the convention
>> input
output
to mean input was entered into MATLAB, and upon executing the input (by hitting enter) MATLAB
produces output.
1.2. Matrices in MATLAB. Let’s start by defining a matrix. If you’ve just started up the program, the
cursor should be blinking on the command line, which is indicated by a double arrow, >>. To enter a matrix
in MATLAB, you only have to follow a few basic conventions:
• Separate the elements of a row with blanks or commas.
• Use a semicolon, ; , to indicate the end of each row.
• Surround the entire list of elements with square brackets, [ ].
Example. The matrix A =
1 2
3 4
is defined in MATLAB using:
>> A=[1,2;3,4]
A =
1 2
3 4
1
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