# Help using LaTex

## Main Question or Discussion Point

If I want to start using LaTex on the physics forum, is the best way to do it just to learn all the coding? This seems like quite a task for me (I've never learned any computer language thing). I downloaded MiKtex (LaTex software) and was hoping that it would somehow write up the proper syntax for me and I could just paste it onto here... Idk i'm not that computer savy. Is there software that will write LaTex format for me that I can download to my computer and then paste onto Physics Forums easily?

## Answers and Replies

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phyzguy
It's just not that hard to learn. I'm sure you could be making equations in 30 min or so if you try it.
A few simple things:
(1) You wrap
Code:

around the latex stuff.
(2) the latex symbols are preceded by a backslash \, so greek letters, for example are \alpha.
(3) ^ makes a superscript, and _ makes a subscript.
(4) You can look at the tex code in an equation by right-clicking on it and then selecting Show Math as - tex commands
(5) When you can't remember a command, like "what was the tex for an integral?", you just google: latex - integral and it will show you.

So for example the tex for

$$\alpha^2$$

is just:
Code:
$$\alpha^2$$
Try it!

Note that I wrapped CODE tags around the latex stuff you you could see what they look like - you don't want to do tht if you want latex to implement it.

Borek
Mentor
reenmachine
Gold Member
I used to be afraid of trying to learn LaTeX so I copy-pasted all the symbols I needed by googling them.Let me just say that this was a stupid approach in retrospective.LaTeX takes a couple of days to get used to , so it's really not that hard.You just have to get started and once you're there it will just flow.