How to Make a Column Vector in MATLAB

This tutorial will discuss creating a column vector using the semicolon symbol in MATLAB.

Creating Column Vectors Using the Semicolon Symbol in MATLAB

A column vector is a vector that has only one column. To create a column vector in MATLAB, we must use the semicolon symbol after each element except the last element. For example, let’s create a column vector with three elements using the semicolon symbol. See the code below.

v = [1;2;3]

Output:

v =

     1
     2
     3

We can also take the transpose of a row vector to convert it into a column vector. For example, let’s create a row vector and convert it into a column vector using the transpose() function. See the code below.

RowV = [1 2 3]
colV = transpose(RowV)

Output:

RowV =

     1     2     3


colV =

     1
     2
     3

We can also use the apostrophe symbol instead of the transpose() function to take the transpose of a vector or matrix. For example, we can change the third line of the above code to RowV, generating the same result. We can also convert a matrix into a column vector using the colon symbol. For example, let’s create a matrix and convert it into a column vector using the colon symbol. See the code below.

RowV = [1 2 3; 7 8 9]
colV = RowV(:)

Output:

RowV =

     1     2     3
     7     8     9


colV =

     1
     7
     2
     8
     3
     9

In the output, the columns of the given matrix are placed vertically on top of each other to create a single column vector. The first column will be on top, and the second column will be below the first column, and so on.