Outputting an equation with variables and text

I have the following variables:

a=0.9; %CH4 reactant
b=0.2; %H2O reactant
c=0.1; %CO2 reactant
d=1.8; %O2 reactant
e=2; %H20 product
f=1; %O2 product

These are coefficients to a chemical equation. I am using if else if statements to manipulate the coefficients for the reaction balance. I need to output the chemical reaction balance for the user, for example:

The balance for the chemical reaction is: 0.9CH4 + 0.2H2O + 0.1CO2 + 1.8O2 -> 2H2O + 1O2

How may I type code in matlab to incorporate both text and values of variables?

Answer 1

[Peng Li]

a=0.9; %CH4 reactant
b=0.2; %H2O reactant
c=0.1; %CO2 reactant
d=1.8; %O2 reactant
e=2; %H20 product
f=1; %O2 product

fprintf("the balance for the chemical reaction is: %.1fCH4 + %.1fH2O " ...
    + "+ %.1fCO2 + %.1fO2 -> %dH2O + %dO2\r", ...
    a, b, c, d, e, f);
the balance for the chemical reaction is: 0.9CH4 + 0.2H2O + 0.1CO2 + 1.8O2 -> 2H2O + 1O2

Is this what you want?

Answer 2

[Star Strider]

Try this:

ChemEqn = sprintf('%gCH4 + %gH20 + %gCO2 + %gO2 -> %gH2O + %gO2',a,b,c,d,e,f)

producing:

ChemEqn =
    '0.9CH4 + 0.2H20 + 0.1CO2 + 1.8O2 -> 2H2O + 1O2'

See the documentation for sprintf (or fprintf) to understand how it works.

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