Getting Started With LaTeX

$\LaTeX$ (pronounced 'lay-tek') is a sort of 'language' that, besides many other things, can be used to write mathematical equations in a form that a computer can display. Both our website and forum support LaTeX so here is a short guide to help you get started.

To use $\LaTeX$ in a forum post you need to enclose it in [tex] tags like this:

[tex]a + b = c[/tex]

There are many symbols you can use. Here is a table containing some of the more useful ones:

LaTeX code	Produces
\pi	$\Pi$
\sqrt{x}	$\sqrt{x}$
\times	$\times$
\frac{1}{2}	$\frac{1}{2}$
\div	$\div$
\frac{a}{b}	$\frac{a}{b}$
\infty	$\infty$
a^2	$a^2$
\pm	$\pm$
a^x	$a^x$
\leq	$\leq$
a_1	$a_1$
\geq	$\geq$
a_x	$a_x$
\equiv	$\equiv$
180^\circ	$180^\circ$
\neq	$\neq$
\pm	$\pm$
\therefore	$\therefore$
\alpha	$\alpha$
\int	$\int$
\theta	$\theta$
\ .\ .\\\ o \\\smile	$\ .\ .\\\ o \\\smile$

For example, if I wanted to post to the forum a question regarding the following quadratic equation…

$x^2 + 11 x + 30$

…to have this formula appear in my post like this I would have to type the following:

[tex]x^2 + 11 x + 30[/tex]

These are just a few examples of the very many $\LaTeX$ commands available. For the complete guide to using $\LaTeX$ please check out The Comprehensive $\LaTeX$ Symbol List. To download the guide you can click on the following link…

http://www.ctan.org/tex-archive/info/symbols/comprehensive/symbols-a4.pdf