Use a function handle inside another function handle

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I need to find out the integral of some function Let's say f(x).*sin(x). I define a function handle y=@(x)f(x); Now I want to define another function handle z as z = @(x)y.*sin(x) so that I can integrate: int = integral(z,x1,x2). Matlab does not allow me to do this. Is there a way so I can define the function separately and then define the function handle for the integrand?

Accepted Answer

Steven Lord
Steven Lord on 24 Jun 2015
You're missing one small piece in your definition of z. You can't multiply a function handle and a numeric value, but you can multiply the numeric value obtained by evaluating that function handle and a numeric value.
f = @cos;
y = @(x) f(x);
z = @(x) y(x).*sin(x); % Note y(x) instead of y
To test, compare evaluating the function using the function handle and evaluating the function normally, by calling COS and SIN:
v = 0:0.1:2*pi;
usingFH = z(v);
usingFun = cos(v).*sin(v);
isequal(usingFH, usingFun)
That last statement will return true.
  1 Comment
Sudipta Ray
Sudipta Ray on 25 Jun 2015
Thank you Steven. It worked perfectly. I should have known, Matlab was giving me this error "operator '*' undefined for function handle". Now it is working fine. I needed this because I want to use different functions as an input.

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