Graphing Three Dimensional Functions

The command used for three-dimensional plots is splot. The simplest use of it is:

splot <function>

For example, to plot the function z = -x³ -y, you would type the following:

splot -x**3 -y

You should see something like the following:

You can change the scale in a similar manner to plot:

splot [x1:x2] [y1:y2] [z1:z2] <function>
splot [x1:x2] <function> (To just set the x range)
splot [] [y1:y2] <function> (To just set the y range).
splot [] [] [z1:z2] <function> (To just set the y range).

Or, you can use the following commands to change the default ranges for subsequent graphs:

set xrange [x1:x2]
set yrange [y1:y2]
set zrange [z1:z2]

To change back to the default x and y ranges, type the following:

set xrange [-10:10]
set yrange [-10:10]

It is important to note that if you set the range for the zaxis in one plot, it will remain at that range for subsequent plots. If you want to turn GnuPlot's autoscaling back on, type:

set autoscale z

For more information on autoscaling, type help autoscale. Also, if you get an error about an invalid range, you need to change the ranges you are using.

Subtopics: Hidden 3d views - Increasing Precision of 3D plots - Adding Contour Lines - Changing Perspectives

Table of Contents - Previous - 2D plots - Next - Hidden 3D views

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