Chapter 4 Plotting

temperature of that region will be within the range defined and, thus, the
definition of the range will become critical. If the minimum and maximum
values of temperature are T1 and T2 and the number of levels are n, then
the temperature range of a zone is given by

T2 - T1
n

4.4  2D Animation

During simulation, it is sometimes useful to animate an equation to
understand its evolution. Scilab contains very useful functions for this
purpose. Please note that figures provided are snapshots-at-the-end for the
animations. Users should write the code as discussed and test it on their
own to see the animation on a computer monitor. Animations are found to
be particularly useful for teaching concepts to students.

4.4.1  comet
The comet() function comes in handy in such cases. In Listing 4-14, we
animate the equation x 5 − x3 + x +5 using the comet function.

Listing 4-14.  comet.sce

1  // Program to demonstarte usage of comet

2  
3  x = linspace(−%pi,%pi,500);
4  comet(x,%sˆ5−%sˆ3+%s+5)
5  xtitle('Using comet function to animate an equation')
6  xlabel('x')
7  ylabel('y')

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4.4.2  paramfplot2d()
Time evolution of a function at multiple points can be represented by the
paramfplot2d() function. Let’s consider the evolution of the function
y = sin(x) + sin(2x) + sin(4x) (mixing of a signal with double and four times
its own frequency). The resulting signal is the complex waves combining
these three primary waves (sin(x), sin(2x), and sin(4x)), as shown in
Figure 4-17 and Listing 4-15.

Figure 4-17.  Plotting using the comet function

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Listing 4-15.  paramfplot2d.sce

1  deff('y=f(x,t)','y=t∗sin(x)+sin(2∗x)+sin(4∗x)')
// Def ining equation
2  x = linspace(−4∗%pi,4∗%pi,10e3); // def ining spatial steps
3  t = 100;
4  time_speed = 0:0.05:1; // step size determines speed of
animation
5  paramfplot2d(f,x,time_speed);
6  xtitle('Using paramfplot2d function to animate an equation')
7  xlabel('x')
8  ylabel('y')

Please note that deff is used to define a function. Its usage can be
checked from help deff. Its detailed usage will be discussed in the
chapter concerning the definition of Scilab function.

4.5  Plotting Multiple Plots in the Same

Graph
Multiple plots can be plotted within the same figure by simply supplying
x-axis and y-axis vectors, as shown in Listing 4-16 and Figure 4-18.

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Listing 4-16.  multi.sce

 1  // Program for multiple plots with legends

 2
 3  x = linspace(1,10,30);
 4  plot(x,x.ˆ2,'k∗')
 5  plot(x,x.ˆ2.5,'r−')
 6  plot(x,x.ˆ3,'b−−')
 7  legend(['xˆ2';'xˆ3';'xˆ4']);
 8  title('Plotting multiple plots in same window')
 9  xlabel('x')
10  ylabel('y')

Figure 4-18.  Plotting using the paramfplot2d function

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Figure 4-18 is obtained by running the code in Listing 4-16. These

types of plots are generally used to check the variation of results by varying
a particular parameter.

4.5.1  Plotting Multiple Plots Separately

The subplot(row,coloumn, index) command is used to plot multiple
plots within the same figure separately. subplot(2,2,4) means that the
plot will be on the second row, second column, and fourth index.
(See Listing 4-17 and Figure 4-19.)

Listing 4-17.  subplot.sce

 1  // Program to show usage of subplot function

 2  // subplot function produces a f igure as a matrix
 3
 4  x = linspace(−2∗%pi,2∗%pi,1000);
 5  //1st f igure of a 2X2 f igure matrix
 6  subplot(221)
 7  plot(x,sin(x),'r∗')
 8  title('Plot for sin(x)')
 9  xlabel('x')
10  ylabel('sin(x)')
11
12  //2nd f igure of a 2X2 f igure matrix
13  subplot(222)
14  plot(x,sin(x)+sin(2.∗x),'b∗')
15  title('Plot for sin(x) + sin(2x)')
16  xlabel('x')
17  ylabel('sin(x) + sin(2x)')
18

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Figure 4-18 is obtained by running the code in Listing 4-16. These

types of plots are generally used to check the variation of results by varying
a particular parameter.

4.5.1  Plotting Multiple Plots Separately

The subplot(row,coloumn, index) command is used to plot multiple
plots within the same figure separately. subplot(2,2,4) means that the
plot will be on the second row, second column, and fourth index.
(See Listing 4-17 and Figure 4-19.)

Listing 4-17.  subplot.sce

 1  // Program to show usage of subplot function

 2  // subplot function produces a f igure as a matrix
 3
 4  x = linspace(−2∗%pi,2∗%pi,1000);
 5  //1st f igure of a 2X2 f igure matrix
 6  subplot(221)
 7  plot(x,sin(x),'r∗')
 8  title('Plot for sin(x)')
 9  xlabel('x')
10  ylabel('sin(x)')
11
12  //2nd f igure of a 2X2 f igure matrix
13  subplot(222)
14  plot(x,sin(x)+sin(2.∗x),'b∗')
15  title('Plot for sin(x) + sin(2x)')
16  xlabel('x')
17  ylabel('sin(x) + sin(2x)')
18

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As seen in Figure 4-20, plots are organized as a matrix where the row

number as well as the column number dictate its position. The index of
the plot can then be used to treat it as an object for further processing
on a graphical object. Theoretically, the limit of the number of rows
and columns depends on the memory of computer but, while printing,
users must understand that according to the size of plots, some of them
will go outside the print area. Hence, judicious usage of this command
is recommended. The automatic generation of a figure matrix can be
achieved by generating the index of plots using a loop.

Figure 4-20.  Separate multiple plots within the same figure using a
subplot

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