How to Use the LaTeX Editor

Modified on Sat, 26 Apr at 2:48 PM

How to Use the LaTeX Editor

LaTeX is a markup language used primarily in mathematics, physics, computer science, and economics. Since CourseKey works with these departments, LaTeX syntax is possible in all question types.

While LaTeX can be used in any question type, it is required in math questions.

Should you wish to enter raw LaTeX, below you will find a list of useful math LaTeX expressions.

LaTeX expression	Default title	keyboard shortcut	Symbol
x	x	x	x
y	y	y	y
z	z	z	z
a	a	a	a
b	b	b	b
c	c	c	c
d	d	d	d
f	f	f	f
\text{abc}	abc	`Shift` + `Opt / Alt`* + `abc`	abc
′	Prime/Arcminute		'
″	Double Prime/Arcsecond		"
\$	Dollars		$
+	Plus	+	+
-	Minus	-	-
\times	Multiply	*	×
\div	Divide	`Shift` + `Opt / Alt`* + `/`	÷
\pm	Plus or minus	`Shift` + `Opt / Alt`* + `pm`	±
=	Equals	=	=
>	Greater than	>	>
<	Less than	<	<
\ge	Greater than or equal to	`Shift` + `Opt / Alt`* + `gte`	≥
\le	Less than or equal to	`Shift` + `Opt / Alt`* + `lte`	≤
\neq	Not equal to	`Shift` + `Opt / Alt`* + `ne`	≠
\approx	Approximately equal to	`Shift` + `Opt / Alt`* + `ae`	≈
\perp	Perpendicular to	`Shift` + `Opt / Alt`* + `pr`	\perp
\propto	Proportional to	`Shift` + `Opt / Alt`* + `pl`	\propto
\|	Vertical line		\|
(	Group in parentheses	`Shift` + `Opt / Alt`* + `rd`	\left(\right)
[	Group in brackets	`Shift` + `Opt / Alt`* + `sr`	\left[\right]
{	Group in curly braces	`Shift` + `Opt / Alt`* + `cr`	\left\{\right\}
\left[\right)	Group in odd braces		\left[\right)
\left(\right]	Group in odd braces		\left(\right]
^	Exponent	^	x^{}
^2	Square	`Shift` + `Opt / Alt`* + `pt`	x^2
_	Subscript	_	x_{}
/	Fraction	/	\frac{x}{}
\frac{}{}	Mixed Fraction	`Shift` + `Opt / Alt`* + `mf`	x\frac{}{}
:	Ratio	:	:
%	Percentage	%	%
\abs	Absolute value	`Shift` + `Opt / Alt`* + `abs`	\abs{}
\sqrt	Square root	`Shift` + `Opt / Alt`* + `sq`	\sqrt{}
\nthroot	Nth root	`Shift` + `Opt / Alt`* + `nsq`	\sqrt[]{}
\int_{}^{}	Integral	`Shift` + `Opt / Alt`* + `int`	\int_{}^{}
\mathbf{\underset{\sim}{}}	Vector	`Shift` + `Opt / Alt`* + `vec`	\mathbf{\underset{\sim}{}}
\mathbb{R}	Real number set	`Shift` + `Opt / Alt`* + `rea`	\mathbb{R}
\alpha	Alpha	`Shift` + `Opt / Alt`* + `al`	\alpha
\gamma	Gamma	`Shift` + `Opt / Alt`* + `ga`	\gamma
\pi	Pi	`Shift` + `Opt / Alt`* + `pi`	\pi
\Pi	Pi (uppercase)	`Shift` + `Opt / Alt`* + `upi`	\Pi
\sigma	Sigma	`Shift` + `Opt / Alt`* + `sig`	\sigma
\Sigma	Sigma (uppercase)	`Shift` + `Opt / Alt`* + `w`	\Sigma
\delta	Delta	`Shift` + `Opt / Alt`* + `de`	\delta
\Delta	Delta (uppercase)	`Shift` + `Opt / Alt`* + `ude`	\Delta
\theta	Theta	`Shift` + `Opt / Alt`* + `th`	\theta
\Theta	Theta (uppercase)	`Shift` + `Opt / Alt`* + `uth`	\Theta
\lambda	Lambda	`Shift` + `Opt / Alt`* + `lbd`	\lambda
\phi	Phi	`Shift` + `Opt / Alt`* + `ph`	\phi
\tau	Tau	`Shift` + `Opt / Alt`* + `t`	\tau
\sin	Sine	`Shift` + `Opt / Alt`* + `sin`	\sin
\cos	Cosine	`Shift` + `Opt / Alt`* + `cos`	\cos
\tan	Tangent	`Shift` + `Opt / Alt`* + `tan`	\tan
\arcsin	Inverse sine	`Shift` + `Opt / Alt`* + `isin`	\arcsin
\arccos	Inverse cosine	`Shift` + `Opt / Alt`* + `icos`	\arccos
\arctan	Inverse tangent	`Shift` + `Opt / Alt`* + `itan`	\arctan
\intersection	Intersection	`Shift` + `Opt / Alt`* + `ir`	\intersection
\union	Union	`Shift` + `Opt / Alt`* + `un`	\union
\in	Member of	`Shift` + `Opt / Alt`* + `mo`	\in
\notin	Not member of	`Shift` + `Opt / Alt`* + `nmo`	\notin
\ni	Contains	`Shift` + `Opt / Alt`* + `cs`	\ni
\subseteq	Subset	`Shift` + `Opt / Alt`* + `sb`	\subseteq
\supseteq	Superset	`Shift` + `Opt / Alt`* + `sp`	\supseteq
\subset	Subset (strict)	`Shift` + `Opt / Alt`* + `ssb`	\subset
\supset	Superset (strict)	`Shift` + `Opt / Alt`* + `ssp`	\supset
!	Factorial	!	!
\emptyset	Empty set		\emptyset
\angle	Angle	`Shift` + `Opt / Alt`* + `ang`	\angle
\measuredangle	Measure of angle	`Shift` + `Opt / Alt`* + `mang`	\measuredangle
\parallel	Parallel to	`Shift` + `Opt / Alt`* + `pa`	\parallel
\nparallel	Not parallel to	`Shift` + `Opt / Alt`* + `npa`	\nparallel
\sim	Similar to	`Shift` + `Opt / Alt`* + `sm`	\sim
\cong	Congruent to	`Shift` + `Opt / Alt`* + `cg`	\cong
\degree	Degree symbol	`Shift` + `Opt / Alt`* + `dg`	\degree
\triangle	Triangle	`Shift` + `Opt / Alt`* + `tri`	\triangle
\circledot	Circle	`Shift` + `Opt / Alt`* + `cir`	\circledot
\parallelogram	Parallelogram	`Shift` + `Opt / Alt`* + `par`	\parallelogram
\leftarrow	Leftwards arrow	`Shift` + `Opt / Alt`* + `la`	\leftarrow
\rightarrow	Rightwards arrow	`Shift` + `Opt / Alt`* + `ra`	\rightarrow
\leftrightarrow	Left/right arrow	`Shift` + `Opt / Alt`* + `lr`	\leftrightarrow
\longleftrightarrow	Long left/right arrow	`Shift` + `Opt / Alt`* + `llr`	\longleftrightarrow
\overrightarrow	Ray	`Shift` + `Opt / Alt`* + `ry`	\overrightarrow{}
\overleftarrow	Left ray	`Shift` + `Opt / Alt`* + `ry`	\overleftarrow{}
\overleftrightarrow	Line	`Shift` + `Opt / Alt`* + `li`	\overleftrightarrow{}
\overline	Line segment	`Shift` + `Opt / Alt`* + `li`	\overline{}
\longdiv	Long division	`Shift` + `Opt / Alt`* + `ld`	\longdiv{}
\therefore	Therefore	`Shift` + `Opt / Alt`* + `tf`	\therefore
\infinity	Infinity	`Shift` + `Opt / Alt`* + `ift`	\infinity
\square	Square	`Shift` + `Opt / Alt`* + `sqr`	\square
\begin{matrix}\end{matrix}	Matrix	`Shift` + `Opt / Alt`* + `mx`	☷
\begin{pmatrix}\end{pmatrix}	Matrix bounded by parentheses	`Shift` + `Opt / Alt`* + `px`	(☷)
\begin{bmatrix}\end{bmatrix}	Matrix bounded by brackets	`Shift` + `Opt / Alt`* + `bx`	[☷]
\begin{Bmatrix}\end{Bmatrix}	Matrix bounded by braces	`Shift` + `Opt / Alt`* + `bbx`	{☷}
\begin{vmatrix}\end{vmatrix}	Matrix bounded by vertical lines	`Shift` + `Opt / Alt`* + `vx`	\|☷\|
\begin{Vmatrix}\end{Vmatrix}	Matrix bounded by double vertical lines	`Shift` + `Opt / Alt`* + `vvx`	‖☷‖
\ldots	Horizontal dots (baseline)	`Shift` + `Opt / Alt`* + `ld`	\ldots
\cdots	Horizontal dots (centered)	`Shift` + `Opt / Alt`* + `cd`	\cdots
\ddots	Diagonal dots	`Shift` + `Opt / Alt`* + `dd`	\ddots
\vdots	Vertical dots	`Shift` + `Opt / Alt`* + `vd`	\vdots
\cdot	Dot multiplier		\cdot
\cdotp	Center dot (punctuation)		\cdotp
	Insert column (matrix)	`Shift` + `space`	║
	Insert row (matrix)	`Shift` + `enter`	═
\text{g}	Gram	g	g
\text{cg}	Centigram	cg	cg
\text{kg}	Kilogram	kg	kg
\text{mg}	Milligram	mg	mg
\text{ng}	Nanogram	ng	ng
\text{m}	Meter	m	m
\text{cm}	Centimeter	cm	cm
\text{km}	Kilometer	km	km
\text{mm}	Millimeter	mm	mm
\text{nm}	Nanometer	nm	nm
\text{s}	Second	s	s
\text{cs}	Centisecond	cs	cs
\text{ks}	Kilosecond	ks	ks
\text{ms}	Millisecond	ms	ms
\text{ns}	Nanosecond	ns	ns
\text{L}	Liter	L	L
\text{mL}	Millitliter	mL	mL
\text{µg}	Microgram		µg
\text{in}	Inch	in	in
\text{ft}	Foot	ft	ft
\text{mi}	Mile	mi	mi
\text{fl oz}	Fluid Ounce	fl	fl oz
\text{cup}	Cup	cup	cup
\text{pt}	Pint	pt	pt
\text{qt}	Quart	qt	qt
\text{gal}	Gallon	gal	gal
\text{oz}	Ounce	oz	oz
\text{lb}	Pound	lb	lb
\mug	Microgram	mug	µg
\mus	Microsecond	mus	µs
\mum	Micrometer	mum	µm
\muL	Microlitre	muL	µL
\text{mol}	Mole	mol	mol
\frac{\text{g}}{\text{mol}}	Molar mass	gpm	\frac{\text{g}}{\text{mol}}
\rightleftharpoons	Right / left harpoons	`Shift` + `Opt / Alt`* + `rlh`	\rightleftharpoons
\ce{\bond{-}}	Single bond	`Shift` + `Opt / Alt`* + `sib`	\ce{\bond{-}}
\ce{\bond{=}}	Double bond	`Shift` + `Opt / Alt`* + `dob`	\ce{\bond{=}}
\ce{\bond{#}}	Triple bond	`Shift` + `Opt / Alt`* + `trb`	\ce{\bond{#}}
\ce{\bond{... }}	Three dot bond	`Shift` + `Opt / Alt`* + `tdb`	\ce{\bond{... }}
\ce{\bond{.... }}	Four dot bond	`Shift` + `Opt / Alt`* + `fdb`	\ce{\bond{.... }}
\ce{\bond{->}}	Right arrow bond	`Shift` + `Opt / Alt`* + `rgb`	\ce{\bond{->}}
\ce{\bond{<-}}	Left arrow bond	`Shift` + `Opt / Alt`* + `lfb`	\ce{\bond{<-}}
'	Single quote symbol	`Shift` + `Opt / Alt`* + `qs`	'