Main Content

fimplicit3

Plot 3-D implicit function

  • Plot 3-D implicit function

Description

example

fimplicit3(f) plots the 3-D implicit function defined by f(x,y,z) = 0 over the default interval [-5 5] for x, y, and z.

example

fimplicit3(f,interval) specifies the plotting interval for x, y, and z.

fimplicit3(ax,___) plots into the axes specified by ax instead of into the current axes. Specify the axes as the first input argument, prior to any of the previous input arguments.

fimplicit3(___,LineSpec) specifies the line style, marker symbol, and line color. For example, '-r' specifies red lines.

example

fimplicit3(___,Name,Value) specifies surface properties using one or more name-value pair arguments. For example, 'FaceAlpha',0.6 specifies a transparency value of 0.6 for a semi-transparent surface.

example

fs = fimplicit3(___) returns the ImplicitFunctionSurface object. Use fs to access and modify properties of the surface after it is created. For a list of properties, see ImplicitFunctionSurface Properties.

Examples

collapse all

Plot the hyperboloid x2+y2-z2=0 over the default interval of [-5,5] for x, y, and z.

f = @(x,y,z) x.^2 + y.^2 - z.^2;
fimplicit3(f)

Figure contains an axes object. The axes object contains an object of type implicitfunctionsurface.

Plot the upper half of the hyperboloid x2+y2-z2=0 by specifying the plotting interval as [0 5] for z. For x and y, use the default interval [-5 5].

f = @(x,y,z) x.^2 + y.^2 - z.^2;
interval = [-5 5 -5 5 0 5];
fimplicit3(f,interval)

Figure contains an axes object. The axes object contains an object of type implicitfunctionsurface.

Plot the implicit surface x2+y2-z2=0. Remove the lines by setting the EdgeColor property to 'none'. Add transparency by setting the FaceAlpha property to a value between 0 and 1.

f = @(x,y,z) x.^2 + y.^2 - z.^2;
fimplicit3(f,'EdgeColor','none','FaceAlpha',.5)

Figure contains an axes object. The axes object contains an object of type implicitfunctionsurface.

Plot an implicit surface and assign the implicit surface object to the variable fs.

f = @(x,y,z) 1./x.^2 - 1./y.^2 + 1./z.^2;
fs = fimplicit3(f)

Figure contains an axes object. The axes object contains an object of type implicitfunctionsurface.

fs = 
  ImplicitFunctionSurface with properties:

     Function: @(x,y,z)1./x.^2-1./y.^2+1./z.^2
    EdgeColor: [0 0 0]
    LineStyle: '-'
    FaceColor: 'interp'

  Use GET to show all properties

Use fs to access and modify properties of the implicit surface after it is created. For example, show only the positive x values by setting the XRange property to [0 5]. Remove the lines by setting the EdgeColor property to 'none'. Add transparency by setting the FaceAlpha property to 0.8.

fs.XRange = [0 5];
fs.EdgeColor = 'none';
fs.FaceAlpha = 0.8;

Figure contains an axes object. The axes object contains an object of type implicitfunctionsurface.

Input Arguments

collapse all

3-D implicit function to plot, specified as a function handle to a named or anonymous function.

Specify a function of the form w = f(x,y,z). The function must accept three 3-D array input arguments and return a 3-D array output argument of the same size. Use array operators instead of matrix operators for the best performance. For example, use .* (times) instead of * (mtimes).

Example: fimplicit3(@(x,y,z) x.^2 + y.^2 - z.^2)

Plotting interval for x, y, and z, specified in one of these forms:

  • Two-element vector of form [min max] — Use the same plotting interval of [min max] for x, y, and z.

  • Six-element vector of form [xmin xmax ymin ymax zmin zmax] — Use different plotting intervals for x, y, and z. Plot over the interval [xmin xmax] for x, over [ymin ymax] for y, and over [zmin zmax] for z.

Example: fimplicit3(f,[-2 3 -4 5 -3 3])

Line style, marker, and color, specified as a string scalar or character vector containing symbols. The symbols can appear in any order. You do not need to specify all three characteristics (line style, marker, and color). For example, if you omit the line style and specify the marker, then the plot shows only the marker and no line.

Example: "--or" is a red dashed line with circle markers.

Line StyleDescriptionResulting Line
"-"Solid line

Sample of solid line

"--"Dashed line

Sample of dashed line

":"Dotted line

Sample of dotted line

"-."Dash-dotted line

Sample of dash-dotted line, with alternating dashes and dots

MarkerDescriptionResulting Marker
"o"Circle

Sample of circle marker

"+"Plus sign

Sample of plus sign marker

"*"Asterisk

Sample of asterisk marker

"."Point

Sample of point marker

"x"Cross

Sample of cross marker

"_"Horizontal line

Sample of horizontal line marker

"|"Vertical line

Sample of vertical line marker

"square"Square

Sample of square marker

"diamond"Diamond

Sample of diamond marker

"^"Upward-pointing triangle

Sample of upward-pointing triangle marker

"v"Downward-pointing triangle

Sample of downward-pointing triangle marker

">"Right-pointing triangle

Sample of right-pointing triangle marker

"<"Left-pointing triangle

Sample of left-pointing triangle marker

"pentagram"Pentagram

Sample of pentagram marker

"hexagram"Hexagram

Sample of hexagram marker

Color NameShort NameRGB TripletAppearance
"red""r"[1 0 0]

Sample of the color red

"green""g"[0 1 0]

Sample of the color green

"blue""b"[0 0 1]

Sample of the color blue

"cyan" "c"[0 1 1]

Sample of the color cyan

"magenta""m"[1 0 1]

Sample of the color magenta

"yellow""y"[1 1 0]

Sample of the color yellow

"black""k"[0 0 0]

Sample of the color black

"white""w"[1 1 1]

Sample of the color white

Axes object. If you do not specify the axes, then fimplicit3 uses the current axes.

Name-Value Arguments

Specify optional pairs of arguments as Name1=Value1,...,NameN=ValueN, where Name is the argument name and Value is the corresponding value. Name-value arguments must appear after other arguments, but the order of the pairs does not matter.

Before R2021a, use commas to separate each name and value, and enclose Name in quotes.

Example: fimplicit3(f,'MeshDensity',50,'FaceAlpha',0.5) specifies the number of evaluation points and a transparency value.

The ImplicitFunctionSurface properties listed here are only a subset. For a complete list, see ImplicitFunctionSurface Properties.

Number of evaluation points per direction, specified as a scalar.

Face transparency, specified as a scalar in the range [0,1]. Use uniform transparency across all of the faces. A value of 1 is fully opaque and 0 is completely transparent. Values between 0 and 1 are semitransparent.

Face color, specified as 'interp', an RGB triplet, a hexadecimal color code, a color name, or a short name. The default value of 'interp' interpolates the colors based on the ZData values.

For a custom color, specify an RGB triplet or a hexadecimal color code.

  • An RGB triplet is a three-element row vector whose elements specify the intensities of the red, green, and blue components of the color. The intensities must be in the range [0,1], for example, [0.4 0.6 0.7].

  • A hexadecimal color code is a string scalar or character vector that starts with a hash symbol (#) followed by three or six hexadecimal digits, which can range from 0 to F. The values are not case sensitive. Therefore, the color codes "#FF8800", "#ff8800", "#F80", and "#f80" are equivalent.

Alternatively, you can specify some common colors by name. This table lists the named color options, the equivalent RGB triplets, and hexadecimal color codes.

Color NameShort NameRGB TripletHexadecimal Color CodeAppearance
"red""r"[1 0 0]"#FF0000"

Sample of the color red

"green""g"[0 1 0]"#00FF00"

Sample of the color green

"blue""b"[0 0 1]"#0000FF"

Sample of the color blue

"cyan" "c"[0 1 1]"#00FFFF"

Sample of the color cyan

"magenta""m"[1 0 1]"#FF00FF"

Sample of the color magenta

"yellow""y"[1 1 0]"#FFFF00"

Sample of the color yellow

"black""k"[0 0 0]"#000000"

Sample of the color black

"white""w"[1 1 1]"#FFFFFF"

Sample of the color white

"none"Not applicableNot applicableNot applicableNo color

Here are the RGB triplets and hexadecimal color codes for the default colors MATLAB® uses in many types of plots.

RGB TripletHexadecimal Color CodeAppearance
[0 0.4470 0.7410]"#0072BD"

Sample of RGB triplet [0 0.4470 0.7410], which appears as dark blue

[0.8500 0.3250 0.0980]"#D95319"

Sample of RGB triplet [0.8500 0.3250 0.0980], which appears as dark orange

[0.9290 0.6940 0.1250]"#EDB120"

Sample of RGB triplet [0.9290 0.6940 0.1250], which appears as dark yellow

[0.4940 0.1840 0.5560]"#7E2F8E"

Sample of RGB triplet [0.4940 0.1840 0.5560], which appears as dark purple

[0.4660 0.6740 0.1880]"#77AC30"

Sample of RGB triplet [0.4660 0.6740 0.1880], which appears as medium green

[0.3010 0.7450 0.9330]"#4DBEEE"

Sample of RGB triplet [0.3010 0.7450 0.9330], which appears as light blue

[0.6350 0.0780 0.1840]"#A2142F"

Sample of RGB triplet [0.6350 0.0780 0.1840], which appears as dark red

Line color, specified as 'interp', an RGB triplet, a hexadecimal color code, a color name, or a short name. The default RGB triplet value of [0 0 0] corresponds to black. The 'interp' value colors the edges based on the ZData values.

For a custom color, specify an RGB triplet or a hexadecimal color code.

  • An RGB triplet is a three-element row vector whose elements specify the intensities of the red, green, and blue components of the color. The intensities must be in the range [0,1], for example, [0.4 0.6 0.7].

  • A hexadecimal color code is a string scalar or character vector that starts with a hash symbol (#) followed by three or six hexadecimal digits, which can range from 0 to F. The values are not case sensitive. Therefore, the color codes "#FF8800", "#ff8800", "#F80", and "#f80" are equivalent.

Alternatively, you can specify some common colors by name. This table lists the named color options, the equivalent RGB triplets, and hexadecimal color codes.

Color NameShort NameRGB TripletHexadecimal Color CodeAppearance
"red""r"[1 0 0]"#FF0000"

Sample of the color red

"green""g"[0 1 0]"#00FF00"

Sample of the color green

"blue""b"[0 0 1]"#0000FF"

Sample of the color blue

"cyan" "c"[0 1 1]"#00FFFF"

Sample of the color cyan

"magenta""m"[1 0 1]"#FF00FF"

Sample of the color magenta

"yellow""y"[1 1 0]"#FFFF00"

Sample of the color yellow

"black""k"[0 0 0]"#000000"

Sample of the color black

"white""w"[1 1 1]"#FFFFFF"

Sample of the color white

"none"Not applicableNot applicableNot applicableNo color

Here are the RGB triplets and hexadecimal color codes for the default colors MATLAB uses in many types of plots.

RGB TripletHexadecimal Color CodeAppearance
[0 0.4470 0.7410]"#0072BD"

Sample of RGB triplet [0 0.4470 0.7410], which appears as dark blue

[0.8500 0.3250 0.0980]"#D95319"

Sample of RGB triplet [0.8500 0.3250 0.0980], which appears as dark orange

[0.9290 0.6940 0.1250]"#EDB120"

Sample of RGB triplet [0.9290 0.6940 0.1250], which appears as dark yellow

[0.4940 0.1840 0.5560]"#7E2F8E"

Sample of RGB triplet [0.4940 0.1840 0.5560], which appears as dark purple

[0.4660 0.6740 0.1880]"#77AC30"

Sample of RGB triplet [0.4660 0.6740 0.1880], which appears as medium green

[0.3010 0.7450 0.9330]"#4DBEEE"

Sample of RGB triplet [0.3010 0.7450 0.9330], which appears as light blue

[0.6350 0.0780 0.1840]"#A2142F"

Sample of RGB triplet [0.6350 0.0780 0.1840], which appears as dark red

Line style, specified as one of the options listed in this table.

Line StyleDescriptionResulting Line
"-"Solid line

Sample of solid line

"--"Dashed line

Sample of dashed line

":"Dotted line

Sample of dotted line

"-."Dash-dotted line

Sample of dash-dotted line, with alternating dashes and dots

"none"No lineNo line

Line width, specified as a positive value in points, where 1 point = 1/72 of an inch. If the line has markers, then the line width also affects the marker edges.

The line width cannot be thinner than the width of a pixel. If you set the line width to a value that is less than the width of a pixel on your system, the line displays as one pixel wide.

Tips

  • Use element-wise operators for the best performance and to avoid a warning message. For example, use x.*y instead of x*y. For more information, see Array vs. Matrix Operations.

  • When you zoom in on the chart, fimplicit3 recalculates the data, which can reveal hidden details.

Version History

Introduced in R2016b