Night Elf Posted May 3, 2012 Share Posted May 3, 2012 Long shot here, but is anyone familiar with the equation tool in Word? Ds15 needs to use it for homework assignments in Trig/PreCal. Is there a rule that states all equations must be in Cambria Math italic? Can we change the default font to something else? I tried just turning the italics off for that font, but it won't change it. The italics bother ds so he ends up having to turn them off for each equation he is writing. The entire task of entering equations is laborious! This is for an online class. He does have the option to write out assignments by hand and then scan them to email them. That just seems even more of a hassle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gardening momma Posted May 3, 2012 Share Posted May 3, 2012 Do you mean that the italics within the equation bothers him, or does he do other writing between equations that he has to turn the italics off for each time? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sgo95 Posted May 3, 2012 Share Posted May 3, 2012 What version of Word is being used? In Word 2010 it seems relatively simple to turn the equation into what they call "Normal Text." Also, from what I've seen from academic papers, it seems to be the standard for mathematical notation to be in "italics" in order to distinguish it from normal discussion text. Sorry that I couldn't help more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dana Posted May 3, 2012 Share Posted May 3, 2012 MathType is the full version of Equation Editor. You could search with their faq's some too. As a rule, the italics in equation editor ARE how an equation should look (all variables italicized, etc.). What I do when writing tests is use Word for anything written, then Equation Editor for any math to insert. So there will be a LOT of inserted equations. I use Times New Roman for my text and MathType for the equations. I also assigned a shortcut for the Insert, Object, Equation so I didn't have to move the mouse. I definitely wouldn't type notes or comments in Equation Editor though. Just insert equations as needed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dana Posted May 3, 2012 Share Posted May 3, 2012 The entire task of entering equations is laborious! This is for an online class. He does have the option to write out assignments by hand and then scan them to email them. That just seems even more of a hassle. I've been using Equation Editor for well over 15 years - typing notes in grad school, writing tests, and even designing an online course. I would be MUCH faster writing out neat solutions and scanning them rather than typing in Word. And that's with ALL my experience and knowledge of all the shortcuts (^ for exponent, CTL-H for fraction (unless I'm getting it confused with different software at this point)). Write, scan, email... It's a MUCH better solution. People who REALLY do math and do math for publication in journals use LaTeX (or did when I was in school). I just never wanted to learn it :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Night Elf Posted May 3, 2012 Author Share Posted May 3, 2012 I'll try to answer some questions. He is doing trigonometric functions and inverse trigonometric relations, so he has to write sin, cos, etc. into the equation box along with the exponents and fractions. We haven't learned many shortcuts yet. He does have a tab at the very top of the page with a pi symbol on it that he clicks on to bring up the equation box. At first, he was just going to insert, then equation tool. Also, he learned to use control i to toggle italics. But he is still having to use the mouse to choose the actions such as fraction, exponent, and radical. It brings up the symbol with a small box that he clicks into to type in the number. I'll suggest he leave it all in italics as it's just expected in math equations. He might accept that. He has Aspergers and some things just bother him, though things with logical explanations are okay. :) He doesn't like to write by hand too much. He likes the idea of using the computer for all of his work in math. But this is the first time he's ever needed to use that tool. However, I will tell him he can try it by hand once and see how it goes. Maybe he'll find it easier than he expects. When he has to turn in graphing assignments, he can use an online graphing calculator or his own TI-83plus and just send screen shots to the teacher. He did a line graph for one assignment and used Excel to do it. Then he copy/pasted it into Word. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gardening momma Posted May 3, 2012 Share Posted May 3, 2012 I'll suggest he leave it all in italics as it's just expected in math equations. He might accept that. He has Aspergers and some things just bother him, though things with logical explanations are okay. :) Dh does math on the computer for a living. He said, "Equations in math have always been in italics since the printing press was invented." Maybe that'll help? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wapiti Posted May 3, 2012 Share Posted May 3, 2012 How about learning LaTeX? Supposedly it is not difficult. http://www.artofproblemsolving.com/Wiki/index.php/LaTeX:About Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twigs Posted May 3, 2012 Share Posted May 3, 2012 Wow! You people are so.smart!!! I've been typing math equations, formulas, etc. for.years and I never heard about Equation Editor and Cambria Math. Those are as much fun as being let loose in the candy shop! Thank you!:001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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