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Creating 3D Plots of Functions / 133
Step 2: Insert a 3D plot
Choose Graph from the Insert menu and select a 3D plot type.
To create a surface plot from the functions X, Y, and Z, defined above:
1. Choose Graph > Surface Plot from the
Insert menu to display a blank 3D plot.
2. Type the name of the functions separated by
commas and enclosed in parentheses in the
placeholder. For this example, type:
(X,Y,Z)
3. Press [Enter].
To change your plot to a different plot type:
1. Double-click on the graph to bring up the 3D Plot Format dialog box.
2. In the “Display As” section on the General tab, select “Bar Plot,” “Contour Plot,”
or “Data Points” from the array of plot types.
Figure 12-1 shows a 3D scatter plot created from the function G and a contour plot
created from the function F, both defined above.
Figure 12-1: A scatter plot and a contour plot created from functions of two
variables.
Note All 3D QuickPlots are parametric curves or surfaces. In other words, all QuickPlots are created
from three vectors or matrices of data representing the x-, y-, and z-coordinates of the plot. In the
case of a single function of two variables, Mathcad internally creates two matrices of x- and ydata over the default range –5 to 5 with a step size of 0.5 and then generates z-data using these
x- and y-coordinates.