MATLAB Programming 52 - 3D plots of functions

Three-Dimensional Plots

Three-dimensional plots basically display a surface defined by a function in two variables, g = f (x,y).
As before, to define g, we first create a set of (x,y) points over the domain of the function using the meshgrid command. Next, we assign the function itself. Finally, we use the surf command to create a surface plot.

The following example demonstrates the concept:

Use the peaks function to define X, Y, and Z as 25-by-25 matrices. Then, create a surface plot.

[X,Y,Z] = peaks(25);

figure
surf(X,Y,Z);

surf creates the surface plot from corresponding values in X, Y, and Z. If you do not define the color data C, then surf uses Z to determine the color, so color is proportional to surface height.