Type equations without LaTeX

Every time you press space, the editor looks at the word you just finished. If that word is clearly math, it gets replaced with a rendered equation. If it isn't, nothing happens. So 2^4=16 becomes a formatted equation, and a year range like 2024-2025 stays exactly as you typed it.

Because it only looks at one word at a time, type the math without spaces: x^2+y^2=z^2, not x^2 + y^2 = z^2. If you want spaces, or you need something the shorthand below can't express, put LaTeX between dollar signs instead.

Typing in the box above is free and unlimited. It runs in your browser, nothing is sent anywhere, and nothing you type here is saved.

• Powers: x^2 or 2^10. Use parentheses for a longer exponent: 2^(n+1).
• Subscripts: a_1 or x_i. a_1+a_2=10 works too.
• Relations: =, <, >, and <=, >=, !=, which render as ≤, ≥ and ≠. You can also type ≤, ≥, ≠ and ≈ directly.
• Multiplication: * renders as a centered dot, so y=2*x becomes y = 2·x. Two letters next to each other are read as two variables multiplied together, which is how the mc in E=mc^2 works.
• Square roots: sqrt(16)=4. The parentheses are required.
• Functions: sin, cos, tan, log, ln and exp, always with parentheses: sin(x)=0.
• Greek letters and constants: pi, alpha, beta, gamma, delta, theta, lambda, mu, sigma, omega and infty. For example A=pi*r^2 or delta_x>0.
• Fractions: x=1/2 renders as an inline slash. For a stacked fraction, use LaTeX: $\frac{1}{2}$.
• Anything else: LaTeX between dollar signs, like $\sum_{i=0}^{n} i$. It's passed through as written, spaces and all, and converts when you type the closing dollar sign and a space.

A period, comma, semicolon, colon or question mark right after the math stays as regular text, so you can end a sentence with E=mc^2. and it still works.

The rules are narrow on purpose. Turning a word you meant as text into an equation is more annoying than missing one, so when it's unsure, it leaves your text alone. These all stay as you typed them:

• Number ranges and dates, like 2024-2025 or 9/11.
• Plain arithmetic with no =, ^ or _, like 3/4 or 1+1. Add a relation (3/4=0.75) if you want it formatted.
• Words joined by symbols, like and/or or snake_case.
• Common two-letter words, so is, in and to are never read as variables.
• Code comparisons like x==5.
• Math you haven't finished yet, like x= or (x+1.

If you already wrote a lab report or problem set with math typed as plain text, you don't have to retype it. Drop a Word doc or PDF into the box, or paste your text, then press Format all equations.

It looks for three kinds of math:

• Typed math, like x^2 + 3x = 0 or v = d / t, including versions with spaces.
• Math symbols that come out of PDFs as plain characters, like x², √2, Δx or Greek letters.
• Math written out in words, but only when the sentence is clearly an expression.

Every conversion shows up in place as a change: the plain text crossed out, the rendered equation next to it. Accept or reject each one, or all of them at once. When you're done, copy the result or open it in the full VibeWrite editor. Any changes you haven't decided on come with it.

Only the math moves. Before a change reaches you, it gets checked, and it's thrown out if:

• any text outside the equation changed, even by one character;
• the equation doesn't render cleanly;
• a number from your original sentence is missing.

A summary above the editor tells you how many equations were formatted and how many spans were left as text. Documents up to about 15,000 words work in one pass.

• Put an equation you want on its own line in its own paragraph. When format-all finds a standalone equation, it centers it.
• Define every variable right after the equation, in plain text. Most engineering courses expect it, and it keeps the math readable.
• If an equation needs anything past powers, subscripts and basic functions (integrals, matrices, sums), write it in LaTeX between dollar signs from the start.

Most engineering courses expect the same few things from equations, whatever tool you write them in:

• Equations you refer back to get a number in parentheses at the right margin, like (1), and you refer to them by that number later: "Substituting into (2) gives the spring constant."
• Every variable is defined the first time it shows up, usually in a sentence right after the equation: "where F is the applied force in newtons and x is the extension in meters."
• Short expressions can sit inside a sentence. Anything long or important goes on its own line.
• An equation is part of the sentence around it, so it still takes a comma or a period when the sentence needs one.
• Use the same symbol for the same quantity all the way through. If the theory section calls it k, the results section shouldn't call it K.

Your instructor's or journal's rules win over any of these.