MATLAB Function Reference

ellipsoid - Generate ellipsoid

Syntax

[x,y,z] = ellipsoid(xc,yc,zc,xr,yr,zr,n)
[x,y,z] = ellipsoid(xc,yc,zc,xr,yr,zr)
ellipsoid(axes_handle,...)
ellipsoid(...)

Description

[x,y,z] = ellipsoid(xc,yc,zc,xr,yr,zr,n) generates a surface mesh described by three n+1-by-n+1 matrices, enabling surf(x,y,z) to plot an ellipsoid with center (xc,yc,zc) and semi-axis lengths (xr,yr,zr).

[x,y,z] = ellipsoid(xc,yc,zc,xr,yr,zr) uses n = 20.

ellipsoid(axes_handle,...) plots into the axes with handle axes_handle instead of the current axes (gca).

ellipsoid(...) with no output arguments plots the ellipsoid as a surface.

Algorithm

ellipsoid generates the data using the following equation:

Note that ellipsoid(0,0,0, .5,.5,.5) is equivalent to a unit sphere.

Example

Generate ellipsoid with size and proportions of a standard U.S. football:

[x, y, z] = ellipsoid(0,0,0,5.9,3.25,3.25,30);
surfl(x, y, z)
colormap copper
axis equal

See Also

cylinder, sphere, surf

Polygons and Surfaces for related functions

ellipke

else