how to use the mathmatical constant "e" in conjunction with a vector.

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I am trying to use the mathmatical constant "e" in conjunction with a vector and each time i rum my script i tells me that the " * " is wrong. I have narrowed it down by removign things one piece at a time and everything runs great until i add the e back into my script. i saw somewhere that you can use exp() to make it work but in conjunction with the rest of the function i am not getiing it to work.
  1 Comment
SonOfAFather
SonOfAFather on 29 Aug 2012
i really don't like assigning e = exp(1) but if that works thats's fine. I would like to get this function done in a oneliner. here is what i have so far.
clear;
clc;
close all;
% create vector of time values
t = 0.0 : 0.01 : 5.0;
% evaluate function at time points
e = exp(1);
f = 22*cos(15*pi*t)*e.^(-0.5*t);
% plot t vs f(t)
figure(1)
plot(t,f);
xlabel('t (sec)');
ylabel('f(t)');
Error using *
Inner matrix dimensions must agree.
Error in tesst (line 8)
f = 22*cos(15*pi*t)*e.^(-0.5*t);

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Accepted Answer

Matt Tearle
Matt Tearle on 29 Aug 2012
Your problem isn't the e, it's that the two parts you're trying to multiply are both vectors, hence you need .* instead of *:
f = 22*cos(15*pi*t) .* e.^(-0.5*t);
% ---vector--- ---vector--
But, as Wayne King says, don't use e.^x, use exp(x):
f = 22*cos(15*pi*t) .* exp(-0.5*t);

More Answers (1)

Wayne King
Wayne King on 29 Aug 2012
Edited: Wayne King on 29 Aug 2012
You need to post some code so we can see where you encounter an error. You can certainly use exp() with vectors.
x = 1:0.001:10;
y = exp(x);
% or
z = exp(1)*ones(100,1);
Of course, you can always define a variable.
e = exp(1);
but I don't think you should need to do that.
Also, don't forget the "dot" notation if that is necessary.
x = 1:0.001:10;
y = exp(-x.^2);
plot(x,y)

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