Start Learning LaTex for Physics Forum: Easier Than It Seems

[PsychonautQQ]

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?

 

[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

[tex] [/tex]

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:

[tex]\alpha^2[/tex]

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]

Check this: https://www.physicsforums.com/showpost.php?p=3977517&postcount=3

(First few paragraphs are about incorporating LeTeX in your posts, then there is a short introduction to LaTeX).

 

[reenmachine]

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.