ECE120L – INTRODUCTION TO MATLAB

LABORATORY ACTIVITY #5
3 – Dimensional Plots

I. Learning Objectives:
At the end of the laboratory activity, the students should be able to:
1. To implement three – dimensional plots in MATLAB
2. Use 3 – dimensional plot, mesh, and surf plotting commands available in MATLAB

II. Introduction:
Three – Dimensional Plots
MATLAB is capable of generating three – dimensional plots. These three – dimensional plots may be
plotted with the use of the command plot3, mesh, and/or surf, among many other plotting commands available
in MATLAB.

1. Three – Dimensional Line Plots

Lines in three – dimensional space can be plotted with the syntax plot3(x, y, z). Consider the following
equations: 𝑥 = 𝑒 −0.05𝑡 sin 𝑡, 𝑦 = 𝑒 −0.05𝑡 cos 𝑡 and 𝑧 = 𝑡
To generate a three – dimensional curve from these three equations from 𝑡 = 0 to 𝑡 = 10𝜋 with 𝜋⁄50
resolution, type 3 - D Line Plot

%Three dimensional line plot 40

clear
t = [0:pi/50:10*pi]; 30

x = exp(-0.05*t).*sin(t);
z-axis

y = exp(-0.05*t).*cos(t);
20

z = t; 10

plot3(x, y, z,'r','linewidth',2), grid on

title('3 - D Line Plot'),xlabel('x-axis') 0
1
ylabel('y-axis'), zlabel('z-axis') 0.5 1

0 0.5
0
-0.5
-0.5
-1 -1
y-axis x-axis

2. Surface Mesh Plot

To create a surface plot with mesh function, type the syntax mesh(x,y,z). Consider the function
2
−[(𝑥−𝑦2 ) +𝑦2 ]
𝑧 = 𝑥𝑒 , generate the surface plot for −2 ≤ 𝑥 ≤ 2 and −2 ≤ 𝑦 ≤ 2, with a spacing of 0.1.
Surface Mesh Plot

%Surface Surf Plot

[x,y] = meshgrid(-2:0.1:2); 0.5
z = x.*exp(-((x-y.^2).^2 + y.^2));
mesh(x,y,z),xlabel('x'),ylabel('y')
zlabel('z'), title('Surface Mesh Plot')
0
z

The function [X,Y] = meshgrid(min:spacing:max)

specifies the minimum (min) and maximum (max) -0.5

values of both x and y, in that order. Spacing is the 2

1 2

desired spacing of the x and y values. 0

0
1

-1
-1
-2 -2
y x

PREPARED BY: RONEL V. VIDAL, PECE 1

3. Surface Surf Plot
To create a surface plot with surf function, type the syntax surf(x,y,z). Consider the function
2
−[(𝑥−𝑦2 ) +𝑦2 ]
𝑧 = 𝑥𝑒 , generate the surface plot for −2 ≤ 𝑥 ≤ 2 and −2 ≤ 𝑦 ≤ 2, with a spacing of 0.1.
Surface Surf Plot

%Surface Surf Plot

[x,y] = meshgrid(-2:0.1:2); 0.5
z = x.*exp(-((x-y.^2).^2 + y.^2));
surf(x,y,z),xlabel('x'),ylabel('y')
zlabel('z'), title('Surface Mesh Plot')
0

z
-0.5
2
1 2
0 1
0
-1
4. Contour Plot y -2 -2
-1
x

Contour plot or topographic plot is a plot of contour lines that shows the contour of the land by means of
constant elevation lines. Along a contour the elevation is the same. Contour plot can help visualize the shape of
2
−[(𝑥−𝑦2 ) +𝑦2 ]
a function. It can be created with the syntax contour(x, y, z). Consider the function 𝑧 = 𝑥 𝑒 , generate
the surface plot for −2 ≤ 𝑥 ≤ 2 and −2 ≤ 𝑦 ≤ 2, with a spacing of 0.1.
Contour Plot

%Contour Plot 2

clear 1.5

[x,y] = meshgrid(-2:0.1:2);
z = x.*exp(-((x-y.^2).^2 + y.^2)); 1

contour(x,y,z),xlabel('x'),ylabel('y') 0.5

zlabel('z'),title('Contour Plot')
0
y

-0.5

-1

-1.5

5. Mesh and Contour Plots in One Plot -2

-2 -1.5 -1 -0.5 0 0.5 1 1.5 2
x

Mesh and Contour Plots

%Mesh and Contour Plots

clear 0.5
[x,y] = meshgrid(-2:0.1:2);
z = x.*exp(-((x-y.^2).^2 + y.^2));
meshc(x,y,z),xlabel('x'),ylabel('y')
zlabel('z'),title('Mesh and Contour Plots') 0
z

-0.5
2

1 2

0 1
0
-1
-1
-2 -2
y x

PREPARED BY: RONEL V. VIDAL, PECE 2

6. Emphasizing Surface Shape
MATLAB provides a number of techniques that can enhance the information content of graphs. For
2
−[(𝑥−𝑦2 ) +𝑦2 ]
example, this graph of the 𝑧 = 𝑥𝑒 function uses the same data as the previous graph, but
employs lighting and view adjustment to emphasize the shape of the graphed function.

%Emphasizing Surface Shape

[x,y] = meshgrid(-2:0.1:2);
z = x.*exp(-((x-y.^2).^2 + y.^2));
surf(x,y,z,'FaceColor','interp',...
'EdgeColor','none',...
'FaceLighting','phong')
daspect([5 5 1])
axis tight
view(-50,30)
camlight left
zlabel('z'), title('Surface Plot')
xlabel('x'),ylabel('y')

7. Three – Dimensional Mesh Surface Plot of a Sphere Mesh Plot of a Sphere

SPHERE Generate sphere.

[X,Y,Z] = SPHERE(N) generates three (N+1)-by-(N+1)
matrices so that SURF(X,Y,Z) produces a unit sphere. 1

0.5

[X,Y,Z] = SPHERE uses N = 20.

z-axis

%Three dimensional surface mesh plot of a sphere

clear -0.5

n = 20;
[x,y,z] = sphere(n); -1
1
mesh(x,y,z), title('Mesh Plot of a Sphere') 0.5 1
xlabel('x-axis'), ylabel('y-axis') 0 0.5

zlabel('z-axis'), axis('equal') -0.5

-0.5
0

y-axis -1 -1
x-axis

Surf Plot of a Sphere

8. Three – Dimensional Surf Surface Plot of a Sphere

%Three dimensional surface surf plot of a sphere 1

clear
n = 30; 0.5
[x,y,z] = sphere(n);
z-axis

surf(x,y,z), title('Surf Plot of a Sphere') 0

xlabel('x-axis'), ylabel('y-axis')
zlabel('z-axis'), axis('equal') -0.5

-1

0.5 1
0
0
-0.5
y-axis -1
x-axis

PREPARED BY: RONEL V. VIDAL, PECE 3

 9. Three – Dimensional Mesh Surface Plot of a Cylinder

Cylinder generates cylinder.

[x,y,x] = cylinder(r,n) forms the unit cylinder based on the generator curve in the vector r. Vector r contains
the radius at equally spaced points along the unit height of the cylinder. The cylinder has n points around the
circumference. SURF(x,y,z) displays the cylinder.
[x,y,z] = cylinder(r), and [x,y,z] = cylinder default to n = 20 and R = [1 1].

% Surface Plot of a cylinder

clear
r =3;
n = 30;
[x,y,z] = cylinder(r,n);
surf(x,y,z,'FaceColor','interp',...
'EdgeColor','none',...
'FaceLighting','phong')
daspect([5 5 1])
axis tight
view(-50,30)
camlight left
zlabel('z'), title('Surface Plot of Cylinder')
xlabel('x'),ylabel('y')

III. Laboratory Exercises

1. 3 Dimensional Line Plot
Given the following equations 𝑥 = (1 − 𝑒 −0.05𝑡 ) cos(2𝑡), 𝑥 = (1 − 𝑒 −0.05𝑡 ) sin(2𝑡), and 𝑧 = 𝑡, generate a
three – dimensional curve from these three equations from t = 0 to t = 10 with /50 resolution. Include
appropriate labels and title.

2. Surface Mesh Plot, Surface Surf Plot, Mesh and Contour in one plot, and emphasizing surface shape plot
Create a 3 dimensional plot of the function sinc(√𝑥 2 + 𝑦 2 ) using the following 3 – dimensional plots.
Generate the surface plot for −8 < 𝑥 < 8, −8 < 𝑦 < 8, with a spacing of 0.5. Include label for each axis and a
title.
a) Surface mesh plot
b) Surface surf plot
c) Mesh and contour plot
d) Emphasizing surface shape plot

3. Three – Dimensional Surf Surface Plot and Emphasizing Surface Shape Plot of a Sphere
Generate the 3 dimensional surf surface plot and with emphasis on the surface shape plot of a sphere
with n = 60.

PREPARED BY: RONEL V. VIDAL, PECE 4

4. Use the following three – dimensional plot commands of a cylinder to create
a) Surf surface plot
b) Emphasizing surface shape plot
*Note: set the axis to square

t = [0:pi/10:3*pi];
n = 0.5 + exp(-0.5*t).*sin(2*t);
[x,y,z] = cylinder(n);

t = [0:pi/10:2*pi];
n = 2 + cos(t);
[x,y,z] = cylinder(n);

t = [0:pi/10:2*pi];
n = 2 + sin(t);
[x,y,z] = cylinder(n);

t = [0:pi/20:2*pi];
n = 20 + exp(0.5*t).*sin(2*t);
[x,y,z] = cylinder(n);

PREPARED BY: RONEL V. VIDAL, PECE 5