Is it possible to plot the data and show two different scales for the same data using MATLAB 7.9 (R2009b)?

I want to plot some data and show two different scales for the Y-axis. For example, the data I have plotted is in inches (for Y-axis, displayed on the left side) and I wish to show the equivalent scale in centimeters on the right side of the axis.

Answer 1

[MathWorks Support Team]

It is possible to create a new scale that may be corresponding to the scale on the left side (Y-axis) and display it on the right side of the axis. Please follow the example below which demonstrates one way of how this may be done.

% Create data for demonstration

x = 0:0.01:20;

y = 200*exp(-0.05*x).*sin(x); % Assuming result is in inches

% Plot the results

f = figure;

a1 = axes;

plot(x,y)

% Query the YTicks

yt = get(a1,'YTick');

% Create a new axis based on the existing axis

a2 = copyobj(a1,f);

% Make the new axis transparent

set(a2,'Color','none')

% Remove the XTicks (since they are redundant)

set(a2,'Xtick',[])

% Display the YTicks on the right side

set(a2,'YAxisLocation','right')

% Convert the YTick values based on a different scale

% In this case we are converting inches into centimeters

converted_values = 2.54*yt;

% Use essentially the same ticks but update the labels

set(a2,'YTickLabel',converted_values)

% Label your plot appropriately

xlabel(a1,'X [units]')

ylabel(a1,'Y [inches]')

ylabel(a2,'Y [cms]')