Roots of Equations

MATLAB is capable of locating roots of single algebraic and transcendental

equations. We can either use the MATLAB function fzero or solve to find the roots
of the nonlinear equations.

The fzero function is designed to located one root of a single function.

x = fzero(inline(‘f’),x0)

where f is the function you are analyzing, x0 is the initial guess.

Note that one or two guesses can be employed. If two guesses are employed, they are
assumed a bracket a root.

Example: Locate the root of
  0.9

1.7 5  0. Given x0 = 1.

>> x0=1;
>> fzero(inline('0.9*x^2+1.7*x-5'),x0)

ans =
1.5948

Activity: Locate the root of
      0. Given x0 = 1.

Example: Find the root of
   2 3  0. Given xa = 1, xb = 4.

>> x0 = [1 4];
>> fzero(inline('x^2-2*x-3'),x0)

ans =
3.0000

Activity: Find the root of
  2

 15  0. Given xa = 1, xb = 5.

If S is a symbolic expression,

Solve(S)

attempts to find values of the symbolic variable in S for which S is zero. This function
is most useful for the solving polynomials since it provides expressions for all roots.

Example: Find the root of
  2

 15  0.
 >> syms x
>> f = 2*x^2 + x - 15;
>> solve(f)

ans =
5/2
-3

Activity: Locate the root of
   2 3  0.

Linear Algebraic Equations

MATLAN uses the division terminology to describe the solution of a general system
of simultaneous equations. The two equation symbols, slash, / , and backslash, \ , are
used for the two situation where the unknown matrix appears on the left or right of
the coefficient matrix.

X = A\B Denotes the solution to the matrix equation AX = B

X = B/A Denotes the solution to the matrix equation XA = B

Example:
Solve
3x1 – 0.1x2 – 0.2x3 = 7.85
0.1x1 + 7x2 – 0.3x3 = -19.3
0.3x1 – 0.2x2 + 10x3 = 71.4

>> A = [3 -0.1 -0.2; 0.1 7 -0.3; 0.3 -0.2 10];

>> B=[7.85 -19.3 71.4]';
>> X = A\B;
>> x1 = X(1)
>> x2 = X(2)
>> x3 = X(3)

Activity:
Solve
12x1 – 3x2 – x3 = 15
x1 + 8x2 + x3 = 20
2x1 – x2 + 10x3 = 30