Checking Symbolic Equation Equality in Matlab

Question

How can one check if symbolic eq1 is equal to symbolic eq2 in Matlab:

syms a x y
eq1 = a*(x+y)
eq2 = a*x + a*y

Answer 1

You could use simplify on the difference, then logical to test if it is equal to 0:

eqAreEqual = logical(simplify(eq1-eq2) == 0);

You could also use simplify on each and isequal for comparison:

eqAreEqual = isequal(simplify(eq1), simplify(eq2));

For example:

>> syms a x y
>> eq1 = a*(x+y);
>> eq2 = a*x + a*y;
>> eqAreEqual = logical(simplify(eq1-eq2) == 0)

eqAreEqual =

  logical

   1  % True!

>> eqAreEqual = isequal(simplify(eq1), simplify(eq2))

eqAreEqual =

  logical

   1  % Also true!