fsurf

Plot 3-D surface

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Syntax

fsurf(f)

fsurf(f,xyinterval)

fsurf(funx,funy,funz)

fsurf(funx,funy,funz,uvinterval)

fsurf(___,LineSpec)

fsurf(___,Name,Value)

fsurf(ax,___)

fs = fsurf(___)

Description

example

fsurf(f) creates a surface plot of the function z = f(x,y) over the default interval [-5 5] for x and y.

fsurf(f,xyinterval) plots over the specified interval. To use the same interval for both x and y, specify xyinterval as a two-element vector of the form [min max]. To use different intervals, specify a four-element vector of the form [xmin xmax ymin ymax].

example

fsurf(funx,funy,funz) plots the parametric surface defined by x = funx(u,v), y = funy(u,v), z = funz(u,v) over the default interval [-5 5] for u and v.

fsurf(funx,funy,funz,uvinterval) plots over the specified interval. To use the same interval for both u and v, specify uvinterval as a two-element vector of the form [min max]. To use different intervals, specify a four-element vector of the form [umin umax vmin vmax].

fsurf(___,LineSpec) sets the line style, marker symbol, and surface color. For example, '-r' specifies red lines. Use this option after any of the previous input argument combinations.

example

fsurf(___,Name,Value) specifies surface properties using one or more name-value pair arguments. Use this option after any of the input argument combinations in the previous syntaxes.

fsurf(ax,___) plots into the axes specified by ax instead of the current axes (gca).

example

fs = fsurf(___) returns a FunctionSurface object or ParameterizedFunctionSurface object, depending on the inputs. Use fs to query and modify properties of a specific surface. For a list of properties, see FunctionSurface Properties or ParameterizedFunctionSurface Properties.

Examples

collapse all

3-D Surface Plot of Expression

Open Live Script

Plot the expression $\sin (x) + \cos (y)$ over the default interval $- 5 < x < 5$ and $- 5 < y < 5$ .

fsurf(@(x,y) sin(x)+cos(y))

Specify Interval of Surface Plot and Plot Piecewise Expression

Open Live Script

Plot the piecewise expression

$\begin{array}{c} e r f (x) + \cos (y) & - 5 < x < 0 \\ \sin (x) + \cos (y) & 0 < x < 5 \end{array}$

over $- 5 < y < 5 .$

Specify the plotting interval as the second input argument of fsurf. When you plot multiple surfaces over different intervals in the same axes, the axis limits adjust to include all the data.

f1 = @(x,y) erf(x)+cos(y);
fsurf(f1,[-5 0 -5 5])
hold on
f2 = @(x,y) sin(x)+cos(y);
fsurf(f2,[0 5 -5 5])
hold off

Parameterized Surface Plot

Open Live Script

Plot the parameterized surface

$\begin{array}{c} x = r \cos (u) \sin (v) \\ y = r \sin (u) \sin (v) \\ z = r \cos (v) \\ w h e r e r = 2 + \sin (7 u + 5 v) \end{array}$

for $0 < u < 2 π$ and $0 < v < π$ . Add light to the surface using camlight.

r = @(u,v) 2 + sin(7.*u + 5.*v);
funx = @(u,v) r(u,v).*cos(u).*sin(v);
funy = @(u,v) r(u,v).*sin(u).*sin(v);
funz = @(u,v) r(u,v).*cos(v);
fsurf(funx,funy,funz,[0 2*pi 0 pi]) 
camlight

Add Title and Axis Labels and Format Ticks

Open Live Script

For $x$ and $y$ from $- 2 π$ to $2 π$ , plot the 3-D surface $y \sin (x) - x \cos (y)$ . Add a title and axis labels and display the axes outline.

fsurf(@(x,y) y.*sin(x)-x.*cos(y),[-2*pi 2*pi])
title('ysin(x) - xcos(y) for x and y in [-2\pi,2\pi]')
xlabel('x');
ylabel('y');
zlabel('z');
box on

Set the x-axis tick values and associated labels using the XTickLabel and XTick properties of axes object. Access the axes object using gca. Similarly, set the y-axis tick values and associated labels.

ax = gca;
ax.XTick = -2*pi:pi/2:2*pi;
ax.XTickLabel = {'-2\pi','-3\pi/2','-\pi','-\pi/2','0','\pi/2','\pi','3\pi/2','2\pi'};

ax.YTick = -2*pi:pi/2:2*pi;
ax.YTickLabel = {'-2\pi','-3\pi/2','-\pi','-\pi/2','0','\pi/2','\pi','3\pi/2','2\pi'};

Specify Surface Properties

Open Live Script

Plot the parametric surface $x = u \sin (v)$ , $y = - u \cos (v)$ , $z = v$ with different line styles for different values of $v$ . For $- 5 < v < - 2$ , use a dashed green line for the surface edges. For $- 2 < v < 2$ , turn off the edges by setting the EdgeColor property to 'none'.

funx = @(u,v) u.*sin(v);
funy = @(u,v) -u.*cos(v);
funz = @(u,v) v;

fsurf(funx,funy,funz,[-5 5 -5 -2],'--','EdgeColor','g')
hold on
fsurf(funx,funy,funz,[-5 5 -2 2],'EdgeColor','none')
hold off

Modify Surface After Creation

Open Live Script

Plot the parametric surface

$\begin{array}{c} x = e^{- | u | / 10} \sin (5 | v |) \\ y = e^{- | u | / 10} \cos (5 | v |) \\ z = u . \end{array}$

Assign the parameterized function surface object to a variable.

x = @(u,v) exp(-abs(u)/10).*sin(5*abs(v));
y = @(u,v) exp(-abs(u)/10).*cos(5*abs(v));
z = @(u,v) u;
fs = fsurf(x,y,z)

fs = 
  ParameterizedFunctionSurface with properties:

    XFunction: @(u,v)exp(-abs(u)/10).*sin(5*abs(v))
    YFunction: @(u,v)exp(-abs(u)/10).*cos(5*abs(v))
    ZFunction: @(u,v)u
    EdgeColor: [0 0 0]
    LineStyle: '-'
    FaceColor: 'interp'

  Show all properties

Change the plotting interval for u to [-30 30] by setting the URange property of object. Add transparency to the surface by setting the FaceAlpha property to a value between 0 (transparent) and 1 (opaque).

fs.URange = [-30 30];

fs.FaceAlpha = .5;

Show Contours Below Surface Plot

Open Live Script

Show contours below a surface plot by setting the 'ShowContours' option to 'on'.

f = @(x,y) 3*(1-x).^2.*exp(-(x.^2)-(y+1).^2)...
    - 10*(x/5 - x.^3 - y.^5).*exp(-x.^2-y.^2)...
    - 1/3*exp(-(x+1).^2 - y.^2);
fsurf(f,[-3 3],'ShowContours','on')

Control Resolution of Surface Plot

Open Live Script

Control the resolution of a surface plot using the 'MeshDensity' option. Increasing 'MeshDensity' can make smoother, more accurate plots while decreasing it can increase plotting speed.

Create two plots in a tiled chart layout. In the first plot, display the parametric surface $x = \sin (s)$ , $y = \cos (s)$ , $z = (t / 10) \sin (1 / s)$ . The surface has a large gap. Fix this issue by increasing the 'MeshDensity' to 40 in the second plot. fsurf fills the gap, showing that by increasing 'MeshDensity' you increased the resolution.

tiledlayout(2,1)
nexttile
fsurf(@(s,t) sin(s), @(s,t) cos(s), @(s,t) t/10.*sin(1./s))
view(-172,25)
title('Default MeshDensity = 35')

nexttile
fsurf(@(s,t) sin(s), @(s,t) cos(s), @(s,t) t/10.*sin(1./s),'MeshDensity',40)
view(-172,25)
title('Increased MeshDensity = 40')

Input Arguments

collapse all

`f` — 3-D function to plot
function handle

3-D function to plot, specified as a function handle to a named or anonymous function.

Specify a function of the form z = f(x,y). The function must accept two matrix input arguments and return a matrix output argument of the same size. Use array operators instead of matrix operators for the best performance. For example, use .* (times) instead of * (mtimes).

Example: f = @(x,y) sin(x) + cos(y);

`xyinterval` — Plotting interval for `x` and `y`
`[-5 5 -5 5]` (default) | vector of form `[min max]` | vector of form `[xmin xmax ymin ymax]`

Plotting interval for x and y, specified in one of these forms:

Vector of form [min max] — Use the interval [min max] for both x and y
Vector of form [xmin xmax ymin ymax] — Use the interval [xmin xmax] for x and [ymin ymax] for y.

`funx` — Parametric function for x coordinates
function handle

Parametric function for x coordinates, specified as a function handle to a named or anonymous function.

Specify a function of the form x = funx(u,v). The function must accept two matrix input arguments and return a matrix output argument of the same size. Use array operators instead of matrix operators for the best performance. For example, use .* (times) instead of * (mtimes).

Example: funx = @(u,v) u.*sin(v);

`funy` — Parametric function for y coordinates
function handle

Parametric function for y coordinates, specified as a function handle to a named or anonymous function.

Specify a function of the form y = funy(u,v). The function must accept two matrix input arguments and return a matrix output argument of the same size. Use array operators instead of matrix operators for the best performance. For example, use .* (times) instead of * (mtimes).

Example: funy = @(t) @(u,v) -u.*cos(v);

`funz` — Parametric function for z coordinates
function handle

Parametric function for z coordinates, specified as a function handle to a named or anonymous function.

Specify a function of the form z = funz(u,v). The function must accept two matrix input arguments and return a matrix output argument of the same size. Use array operators instead of matrix operators for the best performance. For example, use .* (times) instead of * (mtimes).

Example: funz = @(u,v) v;

`uvinterval` — Plotting interval for `u` and `v`
`[-5 5 -5 5]` (default) | vector of form `[min max]` | vector of form `[umin umax vmin vmax]`

Plotting interval for u and v, specified in one of these forms:

Vector of form [min max] — Use the interval [min max] for both u and v
Vector of form [umin umax vmin vmax] — Use the interval [umin umax] for u and [vmin vmax] for v.

`ax` — Axes object
axes object

Axes object. If you do not specify an axes object, then fsurf uses the current axes.

`LineSpec` — Line specification
character vector | string

Line specification, specified as a character vector or string with a line style, marker, and color. The elements can appear in any order, and you can omit one or more options. To show only markers with no connecting lines, specify a marker and omit the line style.

Example: 'r--o' specifies a red color, a dashed line, and circle markers

Line Style Specifier	Description
`-`	Solid line (default)
`--`	Dashed line
`:`	Dotted line
`-.`	Dash-dot line

Marker Specifier	Description
`o`	Circle
`+`	Plus sign
`*`	Asterisk
`.`	Point
`x`	Cross
`s`	Square
`d`	Diamond
`^`	Upward-pointing triangle
`v`	Downward-pointing triangle
`>`	Right-pointing triangle
`<`	Left-pointing triangle
`p`	Pentagram
`h`	Hexagram

Color Specifier	Description
`y`	yellow
`m`	magenta
`c`	cyan
`r`	red
`g`	green
`b`	blue
`w`	white
`k`	black

Name-Value Pair Arguments

Specify optional comma-separated pairs of Name,Value arguments. Name is the argument name and Value is the corresponding value. Name must appear inside quotes. You can specify several name and value pair arguments in any order as Name1,Value1,...,NameN,ValueN.

Example: 'Marker','o','MarkerFaceColor','red'

The properties list here are only a subset. For a full list, see FunctionSurface Properties orParameterizedFunctionSurface Properties.

`'MeshDensity'` — Number of evaluation points per direction
35 (default) | number

Number of evaluation points per direction, specified as a number. The default is 35. Because fsurf objects use adaptive evaluation, the actual number of evaluation points is greater.

Example: 100

`'ShowContours'` — Display contour plot under plot
`'off'` (default) | on/off logical value

Display contour plot under plot, specified as 'on' or 'off', or as numeric or logical 1 (true) or 0 (false). A value of 'on' is equivalent to true, and 'off' is equivalent to false. Thus, you can use the value of this property as a logical value. The value is stored as an on/off logical value of type matlab.lang.OnOffSwitchState.

`'EdgeColor'` — Line color
`[0 0 0]` (default) | `'interp'` | RGB triplet | hexadecimal color code | `'r'` | `'g'` | `'b'` | ...

Line color, specified as 'interp', an RGB triplet, a hexadecimal color code, a color name, or a short name. The default RGB triplet value of [0 0 0] corresponds to black. The 'interp' value colors the edges based on the ZData values.

For a custom color, specify an RGB triplet or a hexadecimal color code.

An RGB triplet is a three-element row vector whose elements specify the intensities of the red, green, and blue components of the color. The intensities must be in the range [0,1]; for example, [0.4 0.6 0.7].
A hexadecimal color code is a character vector or a string scalar that starts with a hash symbol (#) followed by three or six hexadecimal digits, which can range from 0 to F. The values are not case sensitive. Thus, the color codes '#FF8800', '#ff8800', '#F80', and '#f80' are equivalent.

Alternatively, you can specify some common colors by name. This table lists the named color options, the equivalent RGB triplets, and hexadecimal color codes.

Color Name	Short Name	RGB Triplet	Hexadecimal Color Code	Appearance
`'red'`	`'r'`	`[1 0 0]`	`'#FF0000'`
`'green'`	`'g'`	`[0 1 0]`	`'#00FF00'`
`'blue'`	`'b'`	`[0 0 1]`	`'#0000FF'`
`'cyan'`	`'c'`	`[0 1 1]`	`'#00FFFF'`
`'magenta'`	`'m'`	`[1 0 1]`	`'#FF00FF'`
`'yellow'`	`'y'`	`[1 1 0]`	`'#FFFF00'`
`'black'`	`'k'`	`[0 0 0]`	`'#000000'`
`'white'`	`'w'`	`[1 1 1]`	`'#FFFFFF'`
`'none'`	Not applicable	Not applicable	Not applicable	No color

Here are the RGB triplets and hexadecimal color codes for the default colors MATLAB^® uses in many types of plots.

RGB Triplet	Hexadecimal Color Code	Appearance
`[0 0.4470 0.7410]`	`'#0072BD'`
`[0.8500 0.3250 0.0980]`	`'#D95319'`
`[0.9290 0.6940 0.1250]`	`'#EDB120'`
`[0.4940 0.1840 0.5560]`	`'#7E2F8E'`
`[0.4660 0.6740 0.1880]`	`'#77AC30'`
`[0.3010 0.7450 0.9330]`	`'#4DBEEE'`
`[0.6350 0.0780 0.1840]`	`'#A2142F'`

`'LineStyle'` — Line style
`'-'` (default) | `'--'` | `':'` | `'-.'` | `'none'`

Line style, specified as one of the options listed in this table.

Line Style	Description	Resulting Line
`'-'`	Solid line
`'--'`	Dashed line
`':'`	Dotted line
`'-.'`	Dash-dotted line
`'none'`	No line	No line

`'LineWidth'` — Line width
`0.5` (default) | positive value

Line width, specified as a positive value in points, where 1 point = 1/72 of an inch. If the line has markers, then the line width also affects the marker edges.

The line width cannot be thinner than the width of a pixel. If you set the line width to a value that is less than the width of a pixel on your system, the line displays as one pixel wide.

`'Marker'` — Marker symbol
`'none'` (default) | `'o'` | `'+'` | `'*'` | `'.'` | `'x'` | `...`

Marker symbol, specified as one of the markers listed in this table. By default, the object does not display markers. Specifying a marker symbol adds markers at the intersection points of mesh lines.

Value	Description
`'o'`	Circle
`'+'`	Plus sign
`'*'`	Asterisk
`'.'`	Point
`'x'`	Cross
`'square'` or `'s'`	Square
`'diamond'` or `'d'`	Diamond
`'^'`	Upward-pointing triangle
`'v'`	Downward-pointing triangle
`'>'`	Right-pointing triangle
`'<'`	Left-pointing triangle
`'pentagram'` or `'p'`	Five-pointed star (pentagram)
`'hexagram'` or `'h'`	Six-pointed star (hexagram)
`'none'`	No markers

Example: '+'

Example: 'diamond'

`'MarkerSize'` — Marker size
`6` (default) | positive value

Marker size, specified as a positive value in points, where 1 point = 1/72 of an inch.

Output Arguments

collapse all

`fs` — One or more `FunctionSurface` or `ParameterizedFunctionSurface` objects
scalar | vector

One or more FunctionSurface or ParameterizedFunctionSurface objects, returned as a scalar or a vector.

If you use the fsurf(f) syntax or a variation of this syntax, then fsurf returns FunctionSurface objects.
If you use the fsurf(funx,funy,funz) syntax or a variation of this syntax, then fsurf returns ParameterizedFunctionSurface objects.

You can use these objects to query and modify properties of a specific surface. For a list of properties, see FunctionSurface Properties and ParameterizedFunctionSurface Properties.

Documentation

fsurf

Syntax

Description

Examples

3-D Surface Plot of Expression

Specify Interval of Surface Plot and Plot Piecewise Expression

Parameterized Surface Plot

Add Title and Axis Labels and Format Ticks

Specify Surface Properties

Modify Surface After Creation

Show Contours Below Surface Plot

Control Resolution of Surface Plot

Input Arguments

`f` — 3-D function to plot
function handle

`xyinterval` — Plotting interval for `x` and `y`
`[-5 5 -5 5]` (default) | vector of form `[min max]` | vector of form `[xmin xmax ymin ymax]`

`funx` — Parametric function for x coordinates
function handle

`funy` — Parametric function for y coordinates
function handle

`funz` — Parametric function for z coordinates
function handle

`uvinterval` — Plotting interval for `u` and `v`
`[-5 5 -5 5]` (default) | vector of form `[min max]` | vector of form `[umin umax vmin vmax]`

`ax` — Axes object
axes object

`LineSpec` — Line specification
character vector | string

Name-Value Pair Arguments

`'MeshDensity'` — Number of evaluation points per direction
35 (default) | number

`'ShowContours'` — Display contour plot under plot
`'off'` (default) | on/off logical value

`'EdgeColor'` — Line color
`[0 0 0]` (default) | `'interp'` | RGB triplet | hexadecimal color code | `'r'` | `'g'` | `'b'` | ...

`'LineStyle'` — Line style
`'-'` (default) | `'--'` | `':'` | `'-.'` | `'none'`

`'LineWidth'` — Line width
`0.5` (default) | positive value

`'Marker'` — Marker symbol
`'none'` (default) | `'o'` | `'+'` | `'*'` | `'.'` | `'x'` | `...`

`'MarkerSize'` — Marker size
`6` (default) | positive value

Output Arguments

`fs` — One or more `FunctionSurface` or `ParameterizedFunctionSurface` objects
scalar | vector

See Also

Functions

Properties

Introduced in R2016a

MATLAB Documentation

Support

Documentation

fsurf

Syntax

Description

Examples

3-D Surface Plot of Expression

Specify Interval of Surface Plot and Plot Piecewise Expression

Parameterized Surface Plot

Add Title and Axis Labels and Format Ticks

Specify Surface Properties

Modify Surface After Creation

Show Contours Below Surface Plot

Control Resolution of Surface Plot

Input Arguments

f — 3-D function to plot function handle

xyinterval — Plotting interval for x and y [-5 5 -5 5] (default) | vector of form [min max] | vector of form [xmin xmax ymin ymax]

funx — Parametric function for x coordinates function handle

funy — Parametric function for y coordinates function handle

funz — Parametric function for z coordinates function handle

uvinterval — Plotting interval for u and v [-5 5 -5 5] (default) | vector of form [min max] | vector of form [umin umax vmin vmax]

ax — Axes object axes object

LineSpec — Line specification character vector | string

Name-Value Pair Arguments

'MeshDensity' — Number of evaluation points per direction 35 (default) | number

'ShowContours' — Display contour plot under plot 'off' (default) | on/off logical value

'EdgeColor' — Line color [0 0 0] (default) | 'interp' | RGB triplet | hexadecimal color code | 'r' | 'g' | 'b' | ...

'LineStyle' — Line style '-' (default) | '--' | ':' | '-.' | 'none'

'LineWidth' — Line width 0.5 (default) | positive value

'Marker' — Marker symbol 'none' (default) | 'o' | '+' | '*' | '.' | 'x' | ...

'MarkerSize' — Marker size 6 (default) | positive value

Output Arguments

fs — One or more FunctionSurface or ParameterizedFunctionSurface objects scalar | vector

See Also

Functions

Properties

Introduced in R2016a

MATLAB Documentation

Support

`f` — 3-D function to plot
function handle

`xyinterval` — Plotting interval for `x` and `y`
`[-5 5 -5 5]` (default) | vector of form `[min max]` | vector of form `[xmin xmax ymin ymax]`

`funx` — Parametric function for x coordinates
function handle

`funy` — Parametric function for y coordinates
function handle

`funz` — Parametric function for z coordinates
function handle

`uvinterval` — Plotting interval for `u` and `v`
`[-5 5 -5 5]` (default) | vector of form `[min max]` | vector of form `[umin umax vmin vmax]`

`ax` — Axes object
axes object

`LineSpec` — Line specification
character vector | string

`'MeshDensity'` — Number of evaluation points per direction
35 (default) | number

`'ShowContours'` — Display contour plot under plot
`'off'` (default) | on/off logical value

`'EdgeColor'` — Line color
`[0 0 0]` (default) | `'interp'` | RGB triplet | hexadecimal color code | `'r'` | `'g'` | `'b'` | ...

`'LineStyle'` — Line style
`'-'` (default) | `'--'` | `':'` | `'-.'` | `'none'`

`'LineWidth'` — Line width
`0.5` (default) | positive value

`'Marker'` — Marker symbol
`'none'` (default) | `'o'` | `'+'` | `'*'` | `'.'` | `'x'` | `...`

`'MarkerSize'` — Marker size
`6` (default) | positive value

`fs` — One or more `FunctionSurface` or `ParameterizedFunctionSurface` objects
scalar | vector