convert 1x1 Cell with scientific number as text to a number in MATLAB.

So I have a small doc with some orthotropic material data inside and I am working on changing the axis of the material for a simulation. However for one of the properties, some calculations need to be done so I need the data as a number in matlab rather than just assiging the values to a temp then reassigning them to their new positions. I am struggling to find a way to access this value as a number in order to use it in calculations.

Here is my code:

clear;
clc;
% I have also used readtable and got a similar result
T = readcell('ExampleFile.xlsx', 'range', 'A1:C11'); %Range is included as more info is in the full doc
E1 = T(1,2); % Shows as {[1.1988e+11]}

%% EDIT: Answer below uses E1 = T{1,2}; To correctly call the cell contents as a numerical Value

I would like E1 to be a number.

I have attached the simple example file which is in the format I would recieve.

Any help and advice is appreciated.

Answer 1

[Stephen23]

Just use the correct indexing for accessing the contents of a cell array:

E1 = T{1,2};

https://www.mathworks.com/help/matlab/matlab_prog/access-data-in-a-cell-array.html

[Eddie Martin]

This worked well, thanks!

Answer 2

[Sriram Tadavarty]

Hi Eddie,

To convert cell to a number, you can use cell2mat function. For usage of the function, look https://www.mathworks.com/help/matlab/ref/cell2mat.html

For your question, try E1 = cell2mat(T(1,2));

Hope this helps. Regards, Sriram

[Eddie Martin]

Thanks for the help, Stephens answer worked very simply.

E1 = T{1,2};

Returns the cell as a numerical value.