This is a list of the simplest TeX commands you might want to use in your problems/articles, etc. For a longer list, see the Short Maths Guide to LaTeX . Be forewarned that not everything in that guide works on our site, though (for example using &quotfrac" for fractions fails).

You need to be in "math mode" to use special mathematical TeX symbols and structures. To get into "math mode" enter a $ (dollar sign). Likewise, to exit math mode, enter another $. Putting the two together, you would enter $x = 5$ to get the equation x=5 in TeX.

Using the content editor on the NRICH site, if you wanted to enter x=5 as TeX, you would select "insert->TeX..." from the top menu on the editor. Then into the window 'this'

type (or cut and paste) $ x=5 $.

In the resulting web page, this gives

Now on to some of the basic TeX commands. These all should go between dollar signs.

• Superscript (exponentiation): ^ .

  $2^5$ is written $2^5$. If you want a longer expression in the superscript, put it in curly braces: $e^{2}i$ is written $e^2i$.

• Subscript: _ .

  $x_2$ is written $x_2$. As for the superscript, longer expressions need to be in curly braces: $x_{i+j}$ is written $x_{i+j}$.

• Fractions: \over.

  $\frac{a}{b}$ is written $a\over b$. $\frac{i+j}{m+n}$ is written ${i+j}\over{m+n}$.

• Square root: \sqrt.

  $\sqrt{x+5}$ is written $\sqrt{x+5}$.

Here are some of the most common mathematical symbols. Most of the rest can be found in the guide mentioned earlier.

$\leqq$ $\backslash$ leq
$\geqq$ $\backslash$ geq
$\ne$ $\backslash$ neq (in general, stick an n in front to negate, eg nleq for $\backslash nleq$)
$\equiv$ $\backslash$ equiv
$\approx$ $\backslash$ approx
$~$ $\backslash$ sim
$\subset$ $\backslash$ subset
$\subseteq$ $\backslash$ subseteq
$\int$ $\backslash$ int
$\backslash infinity$ $\backslash$ infinity $\pi$ $\backslash$ pi
$\pi$ $\backslash$ Pi
(similarly for $\backslash$ alpha, $\backslash$ Alpha, $\backslash$ beta, $\backslash$ Beta, etc.) $\varnothing$ $\backslash$ emptyset
$\int$ $\backslash$ int $\leqq$ $\backslash$ leq
$\geqq$ $\backslash$ geq
$\ne$ $\backslash$ neq (in general, stick an n in front to negate, eg nleq for $\backslash nleq$)
$\equiv$ $\backslash$ equiv
$\approx$ $\backslash$ approx
$~$ $\backslash$ sim
$\subset$ $\backslash$ subset
$\subseteq$ $\backslash$ subseteq
$\int$ $\backslash$ int
$\backslash infinity$ $\backslash$ infinity