**Course Title:** MATLAB Programming: Applications in Engineering, Data Science, and Simulation **Section Title:** Plotting and Data Visualization **Topic:** Customizing plots: Titles, labels, legends, and annotations In this topic, we will delve deeper into customizing plots in MATLAB to enhance their clarity and readability. We have already covered the basics of 2D plotting in MATLAB, including line plots, scatter plots, bar graphs, and histograms. Now, we will focus on adding titles, labels, legends, and annotations to our plots to make them more informative and engaging. **Adding Titles to Plots** To add a title to a plot, you can use the `title()` function in MATLAB. This function takes a string argument, which is the title text. Here is an example: ```matlab % Create a sample plot x = 0:0.1:10; y = sin(x); plot(x, y); % Add a title to the plot title('Sine Wave Plot'); ``` **Adding Labels to Axes** To add labels to the x-axis and y-axis, you can use the `xlabel()` and `ylabel()` functions in MATLAB. These functions take a string argument, which is the label text. Here is an example: ```matlab % Create a sample plot x = 0:0.1:10; y = sin(x); plot(x, y); % Add labels to the x-axis and y-axis xlabel('X Axis (radians)'); ylabel('Y Axis (amplitude)'); ``` **Adding Legends to Plots** To add a legend to a plot, you can use the `legend()` function in MATLAB. This function takes a string argument for each plot, which is the legend text. Here is an example: ```matlab % Create a sample plot with two lines x = 0:0.1:10; y1 = sin(x); y2 = cos(x); plot(x, y1, x, y2); % Add a legend to the plot legend('Sine Wave', 'Cosine Wave'); ``` **Adding Annotations to Plots** To add annotations to a plot, you can use the `text()` function in MATLAB. This function takes three arguments: the x-coordinate, y-coordinate, and text string. Here is an example: ```matlab % Create a sample plot x = 0:0.1:10; y = sin(x); plot(x, y); % Add an annotation to the plot text(2, 0.5, 'Maximum Amplitude'); ``` **Customizing Plot Appearance** MATLAB provides several options to customize the appearance of plots, including font, color, line style, and more. To customize the plot appearance, you can use various functions, such as `set()`, `get()`, and `plot()` with additional arguments. Here is an example: ```matlab % Create a sample plot x = 0:0.1:10; y = sin(x); h = plot(x, y); % Customize the plot appearance set(h, 'LineStyle', '--', 'Marker', 'o', 'Color', 'r'); ``` **Key Concepts and Takeaways** * Adding titles, labels, legends, and annotations to plots can enhance their clarity and readability. * MATLAB provides various functions to customize the appearance of plots, including font, color, line style, and more. * Understanding the syntax and options of these functions is crucial to creating informative and engaging plots. **Practical Exercises** 1. Create a plot with a title, labels, and a legend. 2. Customize the plot appearance by changing the font, color, and line style. 3. Add annotations to a plot to highlight important features. **External Resources** * MATLAB documentation on plotting: <https://www.mathworks.com/help/matlab/plotting.html> * MATLAB documentation on customizing plots: <https://www.mathworks.com/help/matlab/creating-graphics/customize-graphics-objects.html> **Leave a Comment or Ask for Help** If you have any questions or need help with customizing plots in MATLAB, feel free to leave a comment below. In the next topic, 'Working with multiple plots and subplots,' we will explore how to create multiple plots in a single figure window and customize their layout.