Typesetting Mathematics

I specifically chose WordPress for this blog because of it allows the use of $\LaTeX$ for typesetting mathematics, used by many mathematicians and scientists for writing documents with extensive mathematical symbols.

To use $\LaTeX$ in WordPress, the basic command is

$\$\hbox{latex [Your LaTeX command here]} \$$

This creates a small image rendering the mathematical symbols. If you hover your mouse over any $\LaTeX$ image, you should see the source code that made the image possible.

If you’re not familiar with $\LaTeX$ , I’ve illustrated some common syntax with the examples below. The text on the left should replace [Your LaTex command here] above.

y = a(x-h)^2 + k becomes $y = a(x-h)^2 + k$
\frac{x^2-y^2}{x-y} = x + y \hbox{~if~} x \ne y becomes $\frac{x^2-y^2}{x-y} = x + y \hbox{~if~} x \ne y$
\pi \approx \frac{22}{7} becomes $\pi \approx \frac{22}{7}$
\pi \approx \displaystyle \frac{355}{113} becomes $\pi \approx \displaystyle \frac{355}{113}$
a^2 + b^2 = c^2 becomes $a^2 + b^2 = c^2$
x \ge 6 becomes $x \ge 6$
\sqrt{x^2} = |x| becomes $\sqrt{x^2} = |x|$
\sqrt[3]{-216} = -6 becomes $\sqrt[3]{-216} = -6$
\log_{10} \frac{x}{y} = \log_{10} x – \log_{10} y becomes $\log_{10} \frac{x}{y} = \log_{10} x - \log_{10} y$
\sin^2 \theta + \cos^2 \theta = 1 becomes $\sin^2 \theta + \cos^2 \theta = 1$
(x+y)^n = \displaystyle \sum_{k=0}^n {n \choose k} x^k y^{n-k} becomes $(x+y)^n = \displaystyle \sum_{k=0}^n {n \choose k} x^k y^{n-k}$
\displaystyle \int_a^b f(x) dx \approx \frac{h}{2} \left[ f(x_0) + 2f(x_1) + \dots + 2f(x_{n-1}) + f(x_n) \right] becomes $\displaystyle \int_a^b f(x) dx \approx \frac{h}{2} \left[ f(x_0) + 2f(x_1) + \dots + 2f(x_{n-1}) + f(x_n) \right]$
\frac{d}{d\phi} \left(\tan^2 \phi\right) = 2 \tan \phi\sec^2 \phibecomes $\frac{d}{d\phi} \left( \tan^2 \phi\right) = 2 \tan \phi\sec^2 \phi$
\mathbb{Z} \subset \mathbb{Q} \subset \mathbb{R} \subset \mathbb{C} becomes $\mathbb{Z} \subset \mathbb{Q} \subset \mathbb{R} \subset \mathbb{C}$
\displaystyle \frac{-b \pm \sqrt{b^2-4ac}}{2a} becomes $\displaystyle \frac{-b \pm \sqrt{b^2-4ac}}{2a}$
P(A \cap B) becomes $P(A \cap B)$
\triangle ABC \cong \triangle DEF becomes $\triangle ABC \cong \triangle DEF$
(-\infty,-2] \cup [2,\infty) becomes $(-\infty,2] \cup [2,\infty)$