Formatting Guide for Questions and Comments
For formatting your questions, comments and solutions, you can use Markdown. Using Markdown, you can bold or italicize things, add links and add a full blank line.
For formatting mathematics, we use LaTeX throughout the site. This means that you can format the math parts of your question, comment or solution by putting certain code inside these brackets \( ... \). The tables below contain some symbols that you will need most often, with the "code" in the left column, and the result on the right.
| Markdown code | Appears as | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
*italics* or _italics_ | italics | ||||||||
**bold** or __bold__ | bold | ||||||||
- bulleted *Include an additional line break (empty row) before the start of a list. |
| ||||||||
1. numbered |
| ||||||||
paragraph 1 | paragraph 1 paragraph 2 | ||||||||
> This is a quote | This is a quote | ||||||||
[example link](https://brilliant.org) | example link | ||||||||
 |  | ||||||||
```
#By adding three tickmarks I've made a code block.
while True:
print "Solving problems now..."
print "All done."
``` | #By adding three tickmarks I've made a code block.
while True:
print "Solving problems now..."
print "All done." | ||||||||
```python
#By adding three tickmarks and a language name, I've added syntax highlighting.
while True:
print "Solving more problems..."
print "Achievement unlocked."
``` | | ||||||||
|
|
| LaTeX Code | Appears as |
|---|---|
1 + 2 | \( 1 + 2 \) |
2 \times 3 | \( 2 \times 3 \) |
2 \cdot 3 | \( 2 \cdot 3 \) |
2 * 3 | \( 2 * 3 \) |
2^3 | \( 2^3 \) |
2^{34} | \( 2^{34} \) |
2^34 | \( 2^34 \) |
a_{i-1} | \( a_{i-1} \) |
a_i-1 | \( a_i-1 \) |
2^a_1 | \( 2^a_1 \) |
\frac {2}{3} | \( \frac {2}{3} \) |
\frac 234 | \( \frac 234 \) |
| LaTeX Code | Appears as |
|---|---|
\frac {1}{1 + \frac {1}{x}} | \( \frac {1}{1 + \frac {1}{x}} \) |
\sqrt{2} | \( \sqrt{2} \) |
\sqrt[3]{2} | \( \sqrt[3]{2} \) |
1 \pm i | \( 1 \pm i \) |
\frac{-b \pm \sqrt{b^2-4ac}}{2a} | \( \frac{-b \pm \sqrt{b^2-4ac}}{2a} \) |
2 < 3 | \( 2 < 3 \) |
2 \leq 3 | \( 2 \leq 3 \) |
3 \geq 2 | \( 3 \geq 2 \) |
2 \neq 3 | \( 2 \neq 3 \) |
|x| | \( |x| \) |
\boxed{123} | \( \boxed{123} \) |
| LaTeX Code | Appears as |
|---|---|
\infty | \( \infty \) |
1 + 2 + 3 + \ldots + 10 | \( 1 + 2 + 3 + \ldots + 10 \) |
\sum_{i=1}^3 | \( \sum_{i=1}^3 \) |
\prod_{i=1}^{31} | \( \prod_{i=1}^{31} \) |
\displaystyle \sum_{i=1}^3 | \( \displaystyle \sum_{i=1}^3 \) |
\log_2 4^6 | \( \log_2 4^6 \) |
4 \equiv 2 \pmod{2} | \( 4 \equiv 2 \pmod{2} \) |
{6 \choose 3} | \( {6 \choose 3} \) |
\gcd(n,m) | \( \gcd(n,m) \) |
\angle ABC = 90 ^ \circ | \( \angle ABC = 90 ^ \circ \) |
| LaTeX Code | Appears as |
|---|---|
\sin \theta | \( \sin \theta \) |
\cos 90^\circ = 0 | \( \cos 90^\circ = 0 \) |
\tan \frac{\pi}{6} = \frac{1}{\sqrt{3}} | \( \tan \frac{\pi}{6} = \frac{1}{\sqrt{3}} \) |
\alpha, \beta, \gamma, \ldots | \( \alpha, \beta, \gamma, \ldots \) |
\overline{abba} | \( \overline{abba} \) |
\underline{abba} | \( \underline{abba} \) |
\rightarrow | \( \rightarrow \) |
\Rightarrow | \( \Rightarrow \) |
For a more extensive list of LaTeX symbols, you may refer to this Wikipedia page.
| LaTeX Code | Appears as |
|---|---|
\ce{H2O} | \( \ce{H2O} \) |
\ce{CrO4^2-} | \( \ce{CrO4^2-} \) |
\ce{A <--> B} | \( \ce{A <--> B} \) |
\ce{A ->[x_i] B} | \( \ce{A ->[x_i] B} \) |
\ce{CO2 + C -> 2 CO} | \( \ce{CO2 + C -> 2 CO} \) |
\ce{A\bond{~--}B\bond{~=}C\bond{-~-}D} | \( \ce{A\bond{~--}B\bond{~=}C\bond{-~-}D} \) |