Matlab Basics

This instructable will cover some of the most basic functions of matlab. You will learn how to make matlab run a periodic function internally and plot and how to pull the same periodic function from an excel file instead and plot it.

These functions are some of the most basic and widely used in matlab.  This instructable is geared towards those of you who have never used matlab before and just need to perform some simple tasks with it.  The code highlighted in each picture is included as a comment so you can copy and paste the code.  Feel free to take this code and modify it to fit your application.

Step 1 Starting Matlab

The first step is to get matlab up and running so we can begin to work with it.  When you first start matlab it should look like the screenshot below.  The first step is to assign a directory for matlab to work from.  This is where the program will pull all the files from and is where you should save all your matlab work.

I recommend making a new folder somewhere you will remember it, and naming it something you will recognize.  Once you have created a new folder, click the "..." located in the top right of the screen as highlighted in the second picture.  This will pop up a browse box as seen in the third picture.  Find the new folder you created on your computer and select it.  For this example the file is called "370" and is located on the desktop.