MATLAB essential

Type classification: this resource is a course.

Subject classification: this is a technology resource.

Educational level: this is a tertiary (university) resource.

Subject classification: this is an engineering resource.

Attribution: User gtouchan94 created this resource and is actively using it. Please coordinate future development with this user if possible.

Hello and welcome to the free online Wikiversity MATLAB course. Topics in this course will range from very easy and basic to intermediate and semi-advanced. Through this course you will learn how to solve mathematical equations, draw 2D and 3D shapes, and do statistical analysis all using MATLAB. First, you will learn the basics, such as the name and function of each window, how to declare variables, how to define a function in MATLAB, etc. Most of the information will be taken from several free MATLAB books available on the internet and from mathworks.com website. In addition to that, I will incorporate my knowledge that I have obtained through using MATLAB . What will be covered is essential to almost any engineering student. If you are an engineering student, then you will at some point use most, if not all, of the material covered in this course.

Most of the skills that you can learn in college about MATLAB are already free on the internet. The only problem is that it is sometimes hard to find all the information you want in one place. In this course I do my best to solve that problem by providing links to Wikipedia pages and other websites that help you find what more information about the topics covered.

Before we start

There is only one way to get MATLAB which is through MathWorks website. When you first download it, you will have 30 days of free trial. Once the trial ends, you will no longer have access to the software. If you are a college student usually your school will provide you with a licence number that you can use to get the software for free. If that is not the case, you can always pay to get one. I would definitely not recommend downloading it from any torrent website.

IMPORTANT:
Some people want to learn MATLAB, but they do not want to pay to install the software and the one month trial is not enough for them. If that is the case with you, do not worry. You can go this website ( click here ) where you can use MATLAB emulator for free without having to download anything on your PC. Keep in mind that these websites are not as good as MATLAB, and they can be used only for basic functions. But feel free to use it during the first few lectures.

Notes from instructor

• I am writing this course for different reasons. The most important reason is that I really enjoy making a difference. I am an auto-patrolled editor at Wikipedia, meaning my contributions to any page become permanent without being checked. However, all the articles that I have worked on have now an enormous amount of information, so maybe it is time to focus on another project. What motivates me even the most is the feedback, negative and positive, that I get from readers. For that reason, I URGE you to write your opinion about this course in the discussion page or my personal page

• I have acquired a decent amount of information about MATLAB from reading books, watching videos, and studying for college, and I will use this course as a method to share my knowledge with you.
• You can use any picture or information listed in this course, but do not forget to city the website to avoid plagiarism.
• Last but not least, as an engineer, writing is not my strongest suit, I am sure some of you can related to that; however, I will do my best to avoid misspelling and grammatical errors.
  

Difference from other learning sources

If you type on google "Learn MATLAB online for free", you will probably find a lot of websites for that purpose, so what makes this course different from them?

1_Many new concepts are linked to Wikipedia articles and other helpful websites, so if you feel like learning more about a certain topic, a link is provided that will take you to a page that can help you do so.

2_ Many people who want to learn MATLAB go to MathWorks website. While this website is very useful and contains a lot of information, you can not learn MATLAB through it because you would not know where to start, or what are the basics that you must know and what are the functions that you will barely use while coding. From my personal experience, I feel that it is best to learn MATLAB in a classroom with an instructor to guide you, whether the classroom is virtual or not. Also, some of the other available online courses have start and end dates; however, you can start and end this course whenever you like.

3_This course provides feedback. Some quizzes will be posted every few lectures asking you to write a small piece of code, and you can write your answers in your own discussion page, and I will give you feedback within 24 hours. Make sure to tell me when you finish the quiz by saying so in here. The writer of this course, myself, has strong knowledge in the material covered. If you have any question about what is mentioned in this course, you can send me an email. Click here to send me an email.

4_Also, unlike most of the free learning websites, this course does not contain any advertisement because this website is not for profit, and this course is written by a volunteer whose purpose is spreading knowledge not making money.

Learning objectives

By the time you finish this course you should be:

1. familiar with the basics of MATLAB;
2. able to solve almost any equation using MATLAB;
3. able to draw 2D and 3D shapes using different commands;
4. able to draw plots and perform statistical analysis.
5. more objectives are being added

Interesting applications and fun facts

When I used to learn something new during high school and college, I used to always wonder whether I will ever use in the future, or what are its application. In each lecture there will be either a section that contains information of how the material covered in the lecture can be used in real life, or fun facts about what was covered.

Syllabus

• Lecture 1: General information + arrays and matrices
• Lecture 2: How to solve mathematical equations
• Quiz 1: Arrays + Mathematical equations
• Lecture 3: How to draw 2D and 3D shapes
• Lecture 4: if statements and loops
• Quiz 2:
• Lectures 5 --> 9 : To be determined.

See also

• MATLAB, a list of related resources