Mathematical formula in Word. How to write formulas in Word

Sometimes you need to check text editor MS Word something “sort of”, for example, decorating a course paper or diploma with a complex formula. No, of course you can “cheat” (and admit your ignorance of MS Office), that is, “draw” the formula in graphic editor(or pull it from the scanner) and paste it into the document as a picture... But this method very often causes problems with formatting the document, and placing the formula in a line of text will be quite problematic.

Fortunately, there are two ways to insert a complex equation or cumbersome formula into a MS Word sheet without resorting to using third party applications. Today I will tell you in detail about each of them.

Inserting equations and formulas in Word using Microsoft Equation 3.0

Microsoft Equation 3.0- Very powerful tool, which, although it looks like an anachronism from MS Word 97, gives the user a pretty solid set of additional features for formatting.

You can find this “dinosaur” at "Insert" tab, in the "Text" group. Find an inconspicuous "Object" button, left-click on it, and select Microsoft Equation 3.0 itself from the list provided.

After clicking the "Ok" button, open document will be transformed: unnecessary text formatting tabs will disappear, but a gray panel will appear in the middle of the screen with two rows of various logical and mathematical symbols. You can still enter letters and numbers from the keyboard, and at the same time, use Equation and insert the necessary elements where required.

Despite all the external “clumsiness” of the toolbar, it is not difficult to understand it. The panel is divided into 19 groups, each of which hides a drop-down list. I give a description of each of them, in order from left to right, top to bottom.

First row Microsoft tools Equation 3.0:

Symbols of comparison and relations (more, less, identity, etc.).
Spaces and dots.
Superscript (applies to the last character entered).
Mathematical operators (plus, minus, multiplication, etc.).
Arrows (single, double-headed, etc.).
Logical symbols (logical AND, OR, NOT, etc.).
Symbols of set theory (intersection, subset, etc.).
Various symbols (infinity, indefinite integral etc.).
Greek letters lowercase.
Greek letters are capitalized.

Second row of Microsoft Equation 3.0 tools:

Paired brackets (when inserting brackets, the cursor automatically moves between them).
Fraction and radical patterns(roots, fractions, etc., one of the most necessary items on this list).
Superscript and subscript patterns (can be applied to already created letters).
Amount templates.
Integral templates.
Overline and underline patterns.
Arrow templates with text.
Product patterns and set theory.
Matrix templates(another extremely useful point).

At the same time, all items called “template” are actually inserted onto the sheet blank template, into which, in place of the dotted squares, you need to insert the required numbers.

To exit the mode of editing equations and formulas, click on the free space of the MS Word sheet. To enter editing mode again, double-click on the inserted object with the left mouse button.

Please note: you will not be able to increase the size of the formula content using regular formatting tools - only the “regular” text will increase. To resize an object's contents, go into edit mode ( double click by object), select the contents of the formula, and select top menu item “Size”, and then “Large”.

Resizing the Contents of the Equation

Inserting equations and formulas into Word using the program's built-in tools

For those who don’t like Microsoft Equation 3.0 even externally, there is a more “modern” way to insert an equation into a Word sheet, which many will find much easier.

On the tab Insert: In the Symbols group, select the Equation tool.. By default, several templates of various formulas will be available to you (mainly, in my opinion, they are designed to demonstrate the operation of the tool and there is no particular point in them), but we are not interested in templates, we will do everything ourselves.

Just click on “Equation”, after which a block for creating a formula will be automatically added to the sheet, and “Designer” will become the active tab. If you take a closer look at the contents of the tab, it will become clear that this is the same “Microsoft Equation” content, but much more pleasant in appearance.

Let's take a closer look at the tools offered to us.

Service group:

Equation: insert preset templates (Pythagorean theorem, etc.)
Style(professional, linear and plain text): controls the style of displaying the equation on the worksheet. At the creation stage, “regular” is more logical, and during the final formatting, “professional” (spacing is added, the formula looks more neat). The “linear” style allows you to “stretch into a line” a ready-made complex formula.
Equation Parameters: setting appearance formulas for those who like to delve into the details. There's nothing particularly useful here.

Equation parameters. As you can see, nothing special.

Group "Symbols"

Everything is simple here - click on the desired symbol and it is instantly added to the sheet of the MS Word document. By default, a set of basic mathematical symbols is open, but by clicking on the button with an inverted triangle, you can replace it with a more suitable one: “arrows”, “operators”, “ latin letters"etc.

Group "Structures"

It also doesn’t raise any questions - we click on the desired symbol and the corresponding template is immediately added to the document, and all you have to do is enter the required values in the dotted empty squares.

Video on inserting formulas in Word

The simplest ways to insert formulas in MS-Word

The simplest option can be used if the task is only to use lower or upper case. In the main menu of Word, in the “Font” section, there are tools that allow you not only to change the typeface, style or point, but also to select a superscript or subscript version of the character. The buttons are designated as follows: X 2 and X 2. This feature will especially appeal to those who are faced with the problem of how to write chemical formulas and equations. The demand for such a function was heard by the developers, who assigned hotkeys for converting to upper or lower case: Ctrl+Shift+= and Ctrl+=, respectively.

Another way to write a formula with a not very complex structure is to use symbols (Insert - Symbol). The Symbol font contains, for example, Greek letters, which are often found in mathematical equations, as well as .

Using the Microsoft Equation Editor

To create more complex formulas, you have to use special editors that are included with the program. Well proven Microsoft editor Equation 3.0, which is a truncated version of the "Math Type" program and is included with old and new Word versions. To insert a formula in Word using this tool, you need to find it in the objects menu:

When you frequently work with formulas, it can be quite inconvenient to open the Microsoft Equation 3.0 editor each time through the “Object” menu. For users of new versions (2007, 2010), the problem of how to insert a formula is solved much faster, since the developers themselves have placed the “Formula” button on one of the “Insert” panels. This tool is called “Formula Builder”, does not require opening a new window and allows you to do the same operations as the previous editor.

“Formula Builder” allows you not only to create your own formulas, but also to use a set of templates; To view them, you need to click on the triangle-arrow next to the “Formula” button. The standard set contains, for example, the Pythagorean theorem, the quadratic equation, the area of a circle, Newton's binomial and other equations popular in physics and mathematics.

Quite often we need to insert some kind of formula into our text document Microsoft Word. This could be some kind of test, report, paper, or anything at all where we might need to write a formula. If you don't know how to insert a formula in Word, this article is definitely for you. Today I will talk about the formula editor of the Word text editor and show how you can quickly and easily write any formula in Word.

Where is the formula editor in Word?

So let's begin. In order to start writing formulas in Word, we need to open a text formula editor. This is very simple to do - go to the insert menu, to the very right edge of the screen and there you will find a large letter P or, more correctly, an icon indicating the symbol of the number Pi, this is the formula editor. (This is for Word 2010, if you are using version 2007, then you need to go to the service menu, select settings there, in the menu that opens, click on the commands tab, in the category window find the Insert category and in the command window, formula editor). In general, if you have just started mastering Word, install the 2010 or 2013 version, they are much more convenient, simpler and clearer for beginners. All actions demonstrating the process of inserting formulas in this article are given for Microsoft Word 2010 (2013); in other versions of the program, the actions may differ, but the meaning will remain the same.

We found the formula menu; to insert a formula into the desired part of the text, place the cursor on this place and click on the Formula icon. You will have a large panel at the top of the page for working with formulas. Let's understand this panel a little. In the symbols submenu, which is located on the left side of the screen, you can select those symbols for your formula that cannot be typed from the keyboard, in other words, this menu special characters. Right side menu – Structures, allows you to select the initial structure of your formula. That is, if you need a fraction, you select the appropriate construction in the menu, insert it onto the page, and only then start editing. An important detail, if you have already chosen one of the structures for your formula, but want to add another structure to this structure, for example, you needed a fraction, but in the numerator of this fraction you need to put a number with a power, then you simply place the cursor on that the place in your formula where this element should be in the formula menu, select a new construction, in our case an index. That is, you simply embed one formula into another.

How to write and edit a formula in Microsoft Word?

Let's say you wrote a new formula in your Word. For example, I wrote this (see screenshot). Now, to write the text of your work further and exit the formula editor, just click on free space on the sheet and the formula editor will close immediately. Once you click on the formula again, the formula editor will open and you can edit your formula further.

Now we need to learn how to move our formula around the text and adapt it to the text (change the font, font size, etc.). First, we will learn how to move the formula around the text, to do this, click on your formula, and then on the icon in the lower left corner of the formula (it means a down arrow), the icon will appear immediately after you click on the formula. After clicking on the icon, a menu will open where you will be asked to align the formula to the center, left or right.

If you need to change the font or font size of a formula, simply select the formula itself and in Word go to the home tab, where you always change these parameters. Changing the formula font in Word occurs in the same way as for all other text. It is also worth noting that for those who often use entering formulas in Word, so as not to click the insert tab a hundred times, the formula menu can be placed directly on the panel quick access. This can be done by right-clicking on the formula button and selecting context menu, which is called "Add to Quick Access Toolbar". After clicking on this button, the formula menu will appear on the panel next to the view and print icons and you can create a formula at any time without doing unnecessary steps.

In general, insert and write formulas in the program Microsoft Office Word is not difficult at all. To do this, just read my article and find the formula editor in Word itself. After you start working, you will understand all the other points on your own, since in Word everything is done on an intuitive level and all additional elements are very easy to find. But, if you still don’t understand something, be sure to write in the comments.

The Word text editor has a lot of different features. With its help, you can insert pictures, tables and other objects into the text. Now we will talk about formulas. In this material we will tell you step by step how to insert a formula in Word.

Step No. 1. Place the cursor in the desired location.

First, you need to place the cursor in the place where you would like to write your formula.

Step No. 2. Open the “Insert” tab and find a button there to insert formulas.

In text Word editor All objects inserted into the document are collected on the “Insert” tab. Here are buttons for inserting tables, pictures, figures, diagrams, links, headers and footers, and of course formulas.

Step #3: Paste the formula into Word.

Next you need to click on the “Formula” button. After this, at the location of your choice Word document A small window will appear with the inscription “Place for formula”. In this window you can write your formula in Word.

Step #4: Write your formula using the Design tab.

When you select the window for writing formulas, the Word appears new tab called "Constructor". This tab has everything necessary tools for writing formulas of almost any complexity. There are special buttons for inserting fractions, indices, radicals, integrals, functions, etc.

Step #5: Move your formula to another location.

It should be noted that moving formulas around a document is quite difficult, especially if there is a lot of text and other formulas in the document. Therefore, it is best to write the formula immediately in that place text document where it should be. This way you will save a lot of time.

But, if there is such a need, then you can move the formula. To do this you need to click on left side window with the formula and drag the formula up or down. At the same time, you will see a cursor running across the document, which will indicate the place where the formula will be inserted. Once the cursor gets to the right place, you just need to release left button mice.

A little trick.

If you have to work a lot with formulas, and you often insert similar formulas into Word documents, then you can save the formulas you need and then insert them in just one click. To do this, write a formula in Word and open the menu for this formula (click on the down arrow). In the menu that opens, select “Save as new formula.”

Once you save your formula, you can quickly paste it using the Formula button on the Design tab.

Formulas in Word table allow you to perform only some mathematical and logical operations, and are completely incomparable in functionality with the formulas in Excel program. Formulas in a Word table are a type of field codes and are applicable only within one table. To use data from other tables in a document, it is possible to substitute values for which a bookmark has been created. In addition, calculation results are updated only when the document is opened or when manual update. To do this, select the formula and press the key "F9".

Calculations in tables in Word are performed immediately after creating the formula. To obtain reliable data when using empty cells in calculations, empty cells should be filled with zeros. When composing formulas in Word, positional arguments are used to simplify some entries. LEFT, RIGHT, ABOVE, BELOW , but their use is only possible in following functions AVERAGE, COUNT, MAX, MIN, PRODUCT, SUM . Note that when using positional arguments, the values in the header row are not taken into account.

Each cell in the table has its own serial number, and there are two options for recording the positioning of a cell in a Word table. For example, you can write a cell reference in the format RnCn, where Rn corresponds to the nth row and Cn corresponds to the nth column.

The second method of writing the addresses of table cells is more familiar, since similar addressing is used in Excel. In this option, the letter corresponds to the column and the number to the row of the cell.

There are not many functions available for calculations in a Word table.

Now let's try to create a formula in a Word table and, for example, calculate the sum of numbers in two cells located in different tables. Before you start creating a formula, you need to place the cursor in the table cell in which the result of the calculation should ultimately be located. After that, go to the bookmark "Layout" tabs "Working with tables" and select from the menu "Formula". Next, in the list of functions, select the required function and indicate the required table cells. We have created a bookmark for the value in the second table, and for substitution given value In our formula, just select the bookmark name in the list of bookmarks. If desired, you can also set the number format.