what is the difference between matrix and array in the meaning and functions?

i want to know the difference between the matrix and array in terms of the meaning and function , if any one will answer please with an example thanks

[dpb]

A matrix is a 2D array with which follows the rules for linear algebra. It is, therefore, a subset of more general arrays which may be of higher dimension or not necessarily follow matrix algebra rules.

[mohammad]

thank you , if possible an example

[dpb]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matrix_%28mathematics%29

An array is any ordered n-dimensional collection.

[Star Strider]

MATLAB takes liberties with the definition. See for example the documentation on Cell Arrays.

Answer 1

[Arun Mathew Iype]

I agree with what dpb said above. Here is the example which will help you visualize.

Matrix

mat_A= [1 2 3; 3 4 5; 6 7 8]

Conventionally this is shown in 2 dimenstions (2D) as:

Mat_A = 
 1 2 3 
 3 4 5 
 6 7 8

Arrays : May be of various dimensions. The above is a 2D array or matrix. A 1D array is called a vector. arr_1D = [1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9] We can also have 3D, as well as, ND arrays. In case of a 3D array, imagine a Rubik’s cube with each cell having a value inside it.

Here is and example using MATLAB "rand" function >> Arr_3D = rand(2,2,2)

Arr_3D(:,:,1) =

    0.8147    0.1270
    0.9058    0.9134

Arr_3D(:,:,2) =

    0.6324    0.2785
    0.0975    0.5469

[Jan]

[EDITED, I've formatted the code]

[Markiian]

Thanks a lot!

[Steven Lord]

Another way to explain this is by looking at the help text for the ismatrix function.

help ismatrix

 ISMATRIX True if input is a matrix.
    ISMATRIX(M) returns logical 1 (true) if M is an m-by-n matrix, and
    logical 0 (false) otherwise.
 
    See also ISSCALAR, ISVECTOR, ISROW, ISCOLUMN, ISNUMERIC, ISLOGICAL,
             ISCHAR, ISEMPTY, SIZE.

    Documentation for ismatrix
       doc ismatrix

    Other functions named ismatrix

       categorical/ismatrix    distributed/ismatrix    tall/ismatrix
       datetime/ismatrix       duration/ismatrix

So a 1-by-1 array is a matrix. A 3-by-3 array is also a matrix. But a 2-by-3-by-4 array is not a matrix.

ismatrix(zeros(1, 1))

ans = logical
   1

ismatrix(zeros(3, 3))

ans = logical
   1

ismatrix(zeros(2, 3, 4))

ans = logical
   0

Answer 2

[Robin Szeto]

All MATLAB variables are multidimensional arrays, no matter what type of data. A matrix is a two-dimensional array often used for linear algebra. source: https://www.mathworks.com/help/matlab/learn_matlab/matrices-and-arrays.html

[Stephen23]

+1 This is true: all MATLAB array types are N-dimensional, with implicit infinite trailing singleton dimensions, as has been discussed many times before:

"Arrays in MATLAB are N-dimensional, with an infinite number of trailing singleton dimensions."

source: http://blogs.mathworks.com/loren/2006/08/09/essence-of-indexing/

https://www.mathworks.com/matlabcentral/answers/21992-singleton-dimention-as-last-dimension-in-matrix

https://www.mathworks.com/matlabcentral/answers/229956-how-can-i-reshape-a-20370x1-matrix-into-2037x10x1

[Markee Foster]

helpful clarification!