Plotting Surfaces with Maple

First we load the plots package. (Ignore the warning message.)

> with(plots):

Warning, the name changecoords has been redefined

Example 1: Plot the plane 5x+6y+z=12. Solution: First solve for z=-5x-6y+12. Then plot with the command plot3d. It takes a considerable amount of practice and experimentation to get the image in

a useful form. This exported webpage is static, but on the actual Maple worksheet you can click on the image and move it around. The third menu bar will change and also gives you various choices for how to view the image.

> plot3d(-5*x-6*y+12,x=0..3,y=0..3,view=0..20,color=blue);

Example 2: A second plane. 2x-3y+z=1. This time I'll show 3 different views. Notice the commands are the identical. But, I can click and drag the figure around to get the different views. You can try this in the Math Computer Lab.

The first is the default output. Not very informative.

> plot3d(-2*x+3*y+1,x=-3..3,y=-3..3);

Next I put in axes and placed in image in a box.

> plot3d(-2*x+3*y+1,x=-3..3,y=-3..3);

Below I have used standard (unboxed) axes, and rotated the viewing angle in an odd way. Not very informative.

> plot3d(-2*x+3*y+1,x=-3..3,y=-3..3);

Example 3: A parabolic surface.

> plot3d(5-x^2-(y^2)/9,x=-5..5,y=-7..7,view=0..5);

Example 4: Just some odd ball surface.

> plot3d(5+y*x^2-3*y^2,x=-5..5,y=-5..5,color=yellow);

Example 5: Contour plotting. Here I do a contour plot of the function in Example 4.

> contourplot(5-x^2-(y^2)/9,x=-10..10,y=-10..10,thickness=2, contours=[0,1,3,4,4.7,4.9],grid=[100,100],coloring=[red,green]);

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