Defining Vectors edit page

The standard way to define a three dimensional vector is by its coordinates.

v = vector3d(1,1,0);

This gives a single vector with coordinates (1,1,0) with respect to the x, y , z coordinate system. A second way to define a specimen directions is by its spherical coordinates, i.e. by its polar angle and its azimuth angle.

polar_angle = 60*degree;
azimuth_angle = 45*degree;
v = vector3d.byPolar(polar_angle,azimuth_angle);

Finally, one can also define a vector as a linear combination of the predefined vectors xvector, yvector, and zvector 

v = xvector + 2*yvector;

Predefined Vectors

[vector3d.X vector3d.Y vector3d.Z]
ans = vector3d
 size: 1 x 3
  x y z
  1 0 0
  0 1 0
  0 0 1

The command vector3d.rand allows to define random unit vectors

vector3d.rand
ans = vector3d
         x        y        z
  0.978643 0.160846 -0.12801

Similarly, the commands vector3d.ones, vector3d.zeros and vector3d.nan allow to define vectors of ones, zeros and nan.

[vector3d.ones vector3d.zeros vector3d.nan]
ans = vector3d
 size: 1 x 3
    x   y   z
    1   1   1
    0   0   0
  NaN NaN NaN