Practical 7

Number Format

By default, the Symbolic Toolbox uses integers or rational fractions such as 1, 1/2.

Otherwise, it uses a real number approximation by a fraction of large integers, eg 3333/100000. Command sym(number) converts a number to its symbolic form while double(number) command reverses symbolic representation to MATLAB standard format. Therefore, sym command means ‘switch to Symbolic Toolbox’, while double means ‘switch back to MATLAB’

> Exercise: Understanding Numerical Formats

> For the following numbers, find out their symbolic and standard formats.

Number Symbolic Command Standard Command
11/13 sym 11/13 double (11/13)
3.85
pi
0.33333
(4/5)2 sym((4/5)^2 double ((4/5)^2)
591/2
e1
sin(1)