Math Typing Tips

Here are some suggestions for how to enter in answers in a form that the com- puter will understand:

Multiplication matters! To type 2x, correct forms are “2 * x” or “x * 2” but not “2x”. 3π2 We are looking for exact answers to problems, so if the correct answer is 4 then we will be looking for “3 * (piˆ2) / 4”, not “7.4022” or any other approxi- mation. Similarly, if you want to enter the exact value 2, then entering 2.0 may cause problems. If ∞ is the correct answer, then type “infty”. Likewise, use “-infty” for −∞. For some problems, it’s possible that does not exist is a valid answer. This may happen for instance in a limit or extrema problem. In such a case, type “dne”. Take care to use parentheses if the numerator and/or denominator of a fraction a + b contains multiple terms, so we type “(a+b)/(c+d)” for . c + d b • If we type “a + b / c + d”, then this is interpreted as a + + d. c √ • We may express x + 1 as “(x+1)ˆ(1/2)” or “sqrt(x+1)”. Some problems may use “cos(x)”, “sin(x)” or other standard functions. • For example, if (ln x)(sin x)(1 + cos x)ex is the answer we may type this as ”ln(x) * sin(x) * (cos(x) + 1) * eˆx”. • For example, if |x| is the answer, then we may type this as “abs(x)”. • For inverse trigonometric functions, use ”arc” notation instead of using the “-1” exponent. So “arcsin(x)” is the correct way to type the inverse of sine, not “sin(x)ˆ(-1)”. In the MAT104 portion of this website, we ask for answers that are complex numbers. √ • For these problems, use “i” for the imaginary unit i = −1 and make sure to include “*” when mulitplying. • For example, if the an answer is 5 + 4i then we may type “5 + 4 * i”. If an answer asks for an interval, be careful to type exact numbers and choose the appropriate endpoint brackets. • The interval of x satisfying 4 < x ≤ 8 can be typed as “(4, 8]”. The left side is an “open bracket” while the right side is a “closed bracket”. • The interval of x satisfying −10 ≤ x (no upper bound) can be typed as “[-10, infty)”. For these exams, always use the open brackets, “(” or ”)”, for ±∞.