3. Graphical Data Analysis

Visualizing data is critical to understanding the data. What does a function, , do when is near zero or very large? Are there any discontinuities? Where does cross the –axis? If the data is statistical in nature, are there any outliers? Do we know enough about our data to make data–driven decisions? We need to make effective two and three-dimensional data plots so that we and others can understand the data.

We made several simple plots in MATLAB Programming for the purpose of learning about the features of MATLAB. Here we direct our attention specifically to plotting. Keep in mind that MATLAB has a large variety of plotting options, so we can only cover the essentials of plotting.

Contents:

• 3.1. Using the Plot Tool
• 3.2. Basic Line Plots
  • 3.2.1. Basic Plotting Notes
  • 3.2.2. Annotating Plots
  • 3.2.3. Starting a New Plot
  • 3.2.4. Multiple Plots in the Same Figure
  • 3.2.5. Multiple Plots on the Same Axis
  • 3.2.6. Adding a Plot Legend
  • 3.2.7. 2-D Plot Types
  • 3.2.8. Axis Control
  • 3.2.9. Tick Marks and Labels
  • 3.2.10. Fplots
• 3.3. 3-D Plots
  • 3.3.1. 3-D Plot Functions
  • 3.3.2. Axis Orientation