Chapter 2 Creating Arrays The array is a fundamental form that MATLAB uses to store and manipulate data. An array is a list of numbers arranged in rows and/or columns. The simplest array (one-dimensional) is a row or a column of numbers. A more complex array (two- dimensional) is a collection of numbers arranged in rows and columns. One use of arrays is to store information and data, as in a table. In science and engineering, one-dimensional arrays frequently represent vectors, and two-dimensional arrays often represent matrices. This chapter shows how to create and address arrays, and Chapter 3 shows how to use arrays in mathematical operations. In addition to arrays made of numbers, arrays in MATLAB can also be a list of characters, which are called strings. Strings are discussed in Section 2.10. 2.1 C REATING A O NE -D IMENSIONAL A RRAY (V ECTOR ) A one-dimensional array is a list of numbers arranged in a row or a column. One example is the representation of the position of a point in space in a three-dimen- sional Cartesian coordinate system. As shown in Figure 2-1, the position of point A is defined by a list of the three numbers 2, 4, and 5, which are the coordinates of the point.