Basic LaTeX¶

This page covers LaTeX command support in Equation Maker, focusing on frequently-used mathematical notation features.

Common Commands¶

Text Formatting¶

Command	Description
\space	Whitespace
\text{content}	Normal text
\textbf{content}	Bold text
\textit{content}	Italic text
\underline{content}	Underlined text

Superscripts¶

Use base^{super} to create superscripts.

Subscripts¶

Use base_{sub} to create subscripts.

Square Root¶

Use \sqrt[root]{expression} to create square roots and nth roots.

Fractions¶

Use \frac{numerator}{denominator} to create fractions.

Summation¶

Use \sum_{start}^{end} to create summation notation.

Product¶

Use \prod_{start}^{end} to create product notation.

Integration¶

Use \int_{start}^{end} to create integration symbols.

Limits¶

Use \lim_{x \to number} to create limit expressions.

Math Sizing and Formatting¶

To change the math text size, use sizing commands ranging from \tiny through \Huge.

Command	Description
\tiny	Smallest text size
\scriptsize	Very small text
\footnotesize	Footnote-sized text
\small	Small text
\normalsize	Normal text size
\large	Large text
\Large	Larger text
\LARGE	Even larger text
\huge	Huge text
\Huge	Largest text size
\bf	Bold formatting
\it	Italic formatting
\rm	Roman (upright) formatting
\mathbf{x}	Bold math symbol
\mathit{x}	Italic math symbol
\mathrm{x}	Roman math symbol
\mathsf{x}	Sans-serif math symbol
\mathtt{x}	Typewriter math symbol
\mathcal{X}	Calligraphic (script) letters
\mathbb{R}	Blackboard bold (e.g., for real numbers)

Example: {\tiny i=0} produces tiny text for the expression.

Matrices¶

Matrices are created using the matrix environment:

\begin{matrix}
a & b \\
c & d
\end{matrix}

• Columns are separated by &
• Rows are separated by \\

Parentheses, Brackets, and Braces¶

Delimiters¶

Use \left and \right paired with delimiters for auto-sizing:

Command	Description
\left( ... \right)	Parentheses
\left[ ... \right]	Square brackets
\left\{ ... \right\}	Curly braces
\left| ... \right|	Vertical bars (absolute value)
\left\| ... \right\|	Double vertical bars (norm)
\left\langle ... \right\rangle	Angle brackets
\left\lfloor ... \right\rfloor	Floor brackets
\left\lceil ... \right\rceil	Ceiling brackets
\left. ... \right)	Use . for invisible delimiter

Shortcuts¶

• pmatrix - Matrix with parentheses
• bmatrix - Matrix with brackets

Example:

\begin{pmatrix}
a & b \\
c & d
\end{pmatrix}

Greek Letters¶

Greek letters are accessed via backslash + letter name. Capitalize the first letter for uppercase versions.

Lowercase Greek Letters¶

Command	Symbol	Command	Symbol
\alpha	α	\nu	ν
\beta	β	\xi	ξ
\gamma	γ	\omicron	ο
\delta	δ	\pi	π
\epsilon	ε	\rho	ρ
\varepsilon	ε (variant)	\varrho	ϱ (variant)
\zeta	ζ	\sigma	σ
\eta	η	\varsigma	ς (final)
\theta	θ	\tau	τ
\vartheta	ϑ (variant)	\upsilon	υ
\iota	ι	\phi	φ
\kappa	κ	\varphi	ϕ (variant)
\lambda	λ	\chi	χ
\mu	μ	\psi	ψ
		\omega	ω

Uppercase Greek Letters¶

Command	Symbol	Command	Symbol
\Gamma	Γ	\Sigma	Σ
\Delta	Δ	\Upsilon	Υ
\Theta	Θ	\Phi	Φ
\Lambda	Λ	\Psi	Ψ
\Xi	Ξ	\Omega	Ω
\Pi	Π

Mathematical Operators¶

Basic Operators¶

Command	Symbol	Description
+	+	Addition
-	−	Subtraction
\times	×	Multiplication (cross)
\cdot	·	Multiplication (dot)
\div	÷	Division
\pm	±	Plus or minus
\mp	∓	Minus or plus
\ast	∗	Asterisk
\star	⋆	Star
\circ	∘	Circle (composition)
\bullet	•	Bullet

Large Operators¶

Command	Symbol	Description
\sum	Σ	Summation
\prod	Π	Product
\coprod	∐	Coproduct
\int	∫	Integral
\iint	∬	Double integral
\iiint	∭	Triple integral
\oint	∮	Contour integral
\bigcup	⋃	Big union
\bigcap	⋂	Big intersection
\bigoplus	⊕	Big direct sum
\bigotimes	⊗	Big tensor product

Relation Symbols¶

Command	Symbol	Description
=	=	Equals
\neq or \ne	≠	Not equal
<	<	Less than
>	>	Greater than
\leq or \le	≤	Less than or equal
\geq or \ge	≥	Greater than or equal
\ll	≪	Much less than
\gg	≫	Much greater than
\approx	≈	Approximately equal
\sim	∼	Similar to
\simeq	≃	Similar or equal
\cong	≅	Congruent
\equiv	≡	Equivalent/identical
\propto	∝	Proportional to
\perp	⊥	Perpendicular
\parallel	∥	Parallel

Set Theory¶

Command	Symbol	Description
\in	∈	Element of
\notin	∉	Not element of
\ni	∋	Contains as member
\subset	⊂	Subset
\supset	⊃	Superset
\subseteq	⊆	Subset or equal
\supseteq	⊇	Superset or equal
\cup	∪	Union
\cap	∩	Intersection
\setminus	∖	Set difference
\emptyset	∅	Empty set
\varnothing	∅	Empty set (variant)

Logic Symbols¶

Command	Symbol	Description
\forall	∀	For all
\exists	∃	There exists
\nexists	∄	Does not exist
\neg or \lnot	¬	Logical not
\land or \wedge	∧	Logical and
\lor or \vee	∨	Logical or
\implies or \Rightarrow	⇒	Implies
\iff or \Leftrightarrow	⇔	If and only if
\therefore	∴	Therefore
\because	∵	Because

Arrows¶

Command	Symbol	Description
\leftarrow or \gets	←	Left arrow
\rightarrow or \to	→	Right arrow
\leftrightarrow	↔	Left-right arrow
\uparrow	↑	Up arrow
\downarrow	↓	Down arrow
\updownarrow	↕	Up-down arrow
\Leftarrow	⇐	Double left arrow
\Rightarrow	⇒	Double right arrow
\Leftrightarrow	⇔	Double left-right arrow
\Uparrow	⇑	Double up arrow
\Downarrow	⇓	Double down arrow
\mapsto	↦	Maps to
\longmapsto	⟼	Long maps to
\longrightarrow	⟶	Long right arrow
\longleftarrow	⟵	Long left arrow
\nearrow	↗	Northeast arrow
\searrow	↘	Southeast arrow
\swarrow	↙	Southwest arrow
\nwarrow	↖	Northwest arrow

Functions¶

Trigonometric Functions¶

Command	Output	Command	Output
\sin	sin	\arcsin	arcsin
\cos	cos	\arccos	arccos
\tan	tan	\arctan	arctan
\cot	cot	\sinh	sinh
\sec	sec	\cosh	cosh
\csc	csc	\tanh	tanh

Logarithmic & Exponential¶

Command	Output	Description
\log	log	Logarithm
\ln	ln	Natural logarithm
\lg	lg	Log base 10
\exp	exp	Exponential

Other Functions¶

Command	Output	Description
\lim	lim	Limit
\limsup	lim sup	Limit superior
\liminf	lim inf	Limit inferior
\max	max	Maximum
\min	min	Minimum
\sup	sup	Supremum
\inf	inf	Infimum
\det	det	Determinant
\dim	dim	Dimension
\ker	ker	Kernel
\gcd	gcd	Greatest common divisor
\lcm	lcm	Least common multiple
\deg	deg	Degree
\hom	hom	Homomorphism
\arg	arg	Argument
\mod	mod	Modulo
\bmod	mod	Binary modulo operator
\pmod{n}	(mod n)	Parenthesized modulo

Accents & Decorations¶

Command	Description	Example
\hat{a}	Hat/circumflex	â
\widehat{abc}	Wide hat	â͡b͡ĉ
\bar{a}	Bar/macron	ā
\overline{abc}	Overline (wide)	a̅b̅c̅
\underline{abc}	Underline	a̲b̲c̲
\tilde{a}	Tilde	ã
\widetilde{abc}	Wide tilde	ã͡b͡c̃
\vec{a}	Vector arrow	a⃗
\overrightarrow{AB}	Vector (wide)	A͢B
\overleftarrow{AB}	Left arrow over	A͞B
\dot{a}	Single dot	ȧ
\ddot{a}	Double dot	ä
\dddot{a}	Triple dot	a⃛
\acute{a}	Acute accent	á
\grave{a}	Grave accent	à
\breve{a}	Breve	ă
\check{a}	Caron/háček	ǎ
\overbrace{abc}	Brace over	Horizontal brace above
\underbrace{abc}	Brace under	Horizontal brace below
\boxed{abc}	Box around	Boxed expression
\cancel{abc}	Strikethrough	Cancelled expression

Spacing¶

Command	Description	Size
\!	Negative thin space	-3/18 em
\,	Thin space	3/18 em
\:	Medium space	4/18 em
\;	Thick space	5/18 em
\ (backslash space)	Normal space	1 space
\quad	Quad space	1 em
\qquad	Double quad space	2 em
\hspace{1cm}	Horizontal space	Custom

Miscellaneous Symbols¶

Command	Symbol	Description
\infty	∞	Infinity
\partial	∂	Partial derivative
\nabla	∇	Nabla/gradient
\prime	′	Prime
\angle	∠	Angle
\triangle	△	Triangle
\square	□	Square
\diamond	◇	Diamond
\aleph	ℵ	Aleph
\hbar	ℏ	h-bar (Planck's constant)
\ell	ℓ	Script l
\Re	ℜ	Real part
\Im	ℑ	Imaginary part
\wp	℘	Weierstrass p
\cdots	⋯	Centered dots
\ldots	…	Lower dots
\vdots	⋮	Vertical dots
\ddots	⋱	Diagonal dots
\degree	°	Degree symbol

Chemical Formulas¶

Equation Maker supports chemical formula notation using specialized commands. These commands automatically format chemical formulas with proper subscripts, superscripts, and spacing.

Command	Description
\ce{formula}	Chemical equation/formula (primary command)
\cf{formula}	Chemical formula (alias for \ce)
\cee{formula}	Chemical equation (alias for \ce)

Chemical Formula Syntax¶

Inside \ce{}, \cf{}, or \cee{}, you can write chemical formulas naturally:

• Element symbols are automatically formatted: \ce{H2O} → H₂O
• Subscripts are created from numbers: \ce{H2SO4} → H₂SO₄
• Superscripts use ^: \ce{Ca^2+} → Ca²⁺
• Charges: \ce{SO4^2-} → SO₄²⁻
• Reaction arrows: \ce{A -> B} for forward reaction
• Reversible reactions: \ce{A <=> B} for equilibrium
• Coefficients: \ce{2H2 + O2 -> 2H2O}
• State symbols: \ce{NaCl(aq)}, \ce{H2O(l)}, \ce{CO2(g)}, \ce{ite(s)}

Chemical Formula Examples¶

Simple Compounds

\ce{H2O}
\ce{NaCl}
\ce{H2SO4}
\ce{Ca(OH)2}

Ions and Charges

\ce{Na+}
\ce{Cl-}
\ce{Ca^2+}
\ce{SO4^2-}
\ce{Fe^3+}

Chemical Reactions

\ce{2H2 + O2 -> 2H2O}
\ce{NaOH + HCl -> NaCl + H2O}
\ce{CH4 + 2O2 -> CO2 + 2H2O}

Common Number Sets¶

Use \mathbb{} for blackboard bold number sets:

Command	Symbol	Description
\mathbb{N}	ℕ	Natural numbers
\mathbb{Z}	ℤ	Integers
\mathbb{Q}	ℚ	Rational numbers
\mathbb{R}	ℝ	Real numbers
\mathbb{C}	ℂ	Complex numbers

Example Equations¶

Here are some complete example equations you can use as templates:

Quadratic Formula¶

x = \frac{-b \pm \sqrt{b^2 - 4ac}}{2a}

Pythagorean Theorem¶

a^2 + b^2 = c^2

Euler's Identity¶

e^{i\pi} + 1 = 0

Definition of Derivative¶

f'(x) = \lim_{h \to 0} \frac{f(x+h) - f(x)}{h}

Definite Integral¶

\int_{a}^{b} f(x) \, dx = F(b) - F(a)

Summation Example¶

\sum_{i=1}^{n} i = \frac{n(n+1)}{2}

Matrix Multiplication¶

\begin{pmatrix} a & b \\ c & d \end{pmatrix} \begin{pmatrix} x \\ y \end{pmatrix} = \begin{pmatrix} ax + by \\ cx + dy \end{pmatrix}

Binomial Coefficient¶

\binom{n}{k} = \frac{n!}{k!(n-k)!}

Gaussian Integral¶

\int_{-\infty}^{\infty} e^{-x^2} \, dx = \sqrt{\pi}

Taylor Series¶

e^x = \sum_{n=0}^{\infty} \frac{x^n}{n!}

Multi-line Aligned Equations¶

 
(a + b)^2 &= (a + b)(a + b) \\
&= a^2 + ab + ba + b^2 \\
&= a^2 + 2ab + b^2
 

Piecewise Function¶

f(x) = \begin{cases}
x^2 & \text{if } x \geq 0 \\
-x^2 & \text{if } x < 0
\end{cases}