Another LaTeX formatting question

[Borek]

So I was answering in a thread here and what I got was ugly:

$$k_1 = e^{\frac {E_a} {RT_1}}$$

What I don't like is that the exponential part is so small it is barely readable (checked in Opera, Firefox, IE and Chrome). I can write it as

$$k_1 = exp\left({\frac {E_a} {RT_1}}\right)$$

and it definitely looks better, but sometimes I feel like writing e^x instead of exp(x) makes the equation easier to follow - at least for me it is easier to see and group exponents when they are all in superscript position.

Is there a way of making the exponential part larger?

For example OpenOffice formats it as

Still not perfect, but closer to what I am thinking about.

Any ideas?

 

[trollcast]

$$\large k_1 = e^{\frac {E_a} {RT_1}}$$

$$\LARGE k_1 = e^{\frac {E_a} {RT_1}}$$

Increasing the size helps sometimes although it probably isn't too practical.


EDIT:

This here doesn't look too bad $$k_1 = e^{\LARGE\frac {E_a} {RT_1}}$$

 

[D H]

$$x^{x}$$
Note how the superscript x is in a smaller font, that dictated by \scriptstyle.

$$a^{a^a}$$
Now note how the font sizes get progressively smaller. The font size goes from that dictated by \displaystyle to \scriptstyle to \scriptscriptsyle (which is where things stop).

$$e^{\frac{E_a}{RT_1}}$$
That "getting progressively smaller" is what is happening here. Both the superscript and \frac act to reduce the font by one level. The end result is that E_a and RT₁ are in that tiny \scriptscriptsyle font.

One way to overcome this is to force the numerator and denominator to be in the size dictated by \scriptstyle:
$$e^{\frac{\scriptstyle E_a}{\scriptstyle RT_1}}$$

Alternatively, just don't use the fractional form:
$$e^{E_a/(RT_1)}$$

With some abuse of notation,
$$e^{E_a/RT_1}$$

 

[Borek]

Thanks

No idea which one I will use, but it is nice to have some options to select from.