matplotlib plot_surface plot

Question

The matplotlib tutorial provides a nice example of how to draw a spherical suface:

from mpl_toolkits.mplot3d import Axes3D
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
import         


        

Answer 1

The Equation of a surface is:

  f(x,y,z)=c

where the constants characterize the surfaces. In the case of a circle it is:

(x^2 + y^2 + z^2)^(1/2) = c

Where c is the radius. each value of gives one surface. In other words, f(x,y,z) can be written as z=g(x,y). Now if you have to span an area with two independent variables x & y, both will have to be 2D arrays. note that both x and y will be 2D arrays and so will z.