Question

SUGGESTION:

There should be a "help with math" cheat sheet in the input box.

Enclose ALL MATH code in \[ \] or \( \)
\( \) in the same line
\[ \] in a new line

FRACTIONS
a over b would be \frac{a}{b}
x+2 over x+4 would be\frac{x+2}{x+4}

EXPONENTS use the ^ (shift + 6 on your keyboard)

x squared would be x^{2}
x to the 14th would be x^{14}
(x + 2) to the 3rd would be (x+2)^{3}

INTEGRALS
The indefinite integral x dx \int x dx
The definite integral \int_{a}^{b} x dx

Answer 1

\ ( \ ) for in-line math
\ [ \ ] for new-line math

remove the spaces between the \ and the ( for it to take full effect.

Answer 2

A LaTex interface would be incredibly useful for this purpose. I wholeheartedly agree with a simple math input typeface. Look around Art of Problem Solving if you have no idea what I am talking about.

Answer 3

Hm. Where's the input interface on AoPS? I've been looking around.

For better or worse, we're very principled about the things we're building for the site. For example, we would like to make it so that you can type much simpler things to get fractions; e.g., (5 / 3) would get you a fraction in math mode. We just haven't had time to write the preprocessor that would let that happen. Prior experience trying to introduce people to LaTeX indicates that the obscurity of the syntax tends to make it so that they don't use it even if they can, without some tool or additional simplification.

I'm far less interested in the integrals and exponents, since there are buttons in the equation dialog that create the relevant code for them. Missing at the moment is passing code in the actual body of the reply through the same preprocessor that handles the code in the equation dialog. That would let you leave off \ on basically all math commands (including int, frac, etc), and, when we add the fraction functionality, allow that to happen, as well.

That said, a cheat sheet would be a good idea, with expanded content once we add those extra equation features.