Maths Equations with the Word 2010 Equation Editor

Introduction

As a young scientist you will be asked to write reports from now on which will often contain mathematical equations and symbols. In Word 2010, you can do this with the built-in Equation Editor. There are some subtle differences to the Equation Editor in Word 2003, and also a few bugs which you need to know about. This is a short guide to the Equation Editor for Word 2010.

Opena Word 2010 document (its filename should end in “.docx”), in which you want to insert your mathematical equation. At the place where you want to addthe equation, go to the Insert tab and select the Equation drop-down button.

You will now see a built-in list, containing different equations.

In the rare event when one of the built-in equations from the displayed is of any use for your purpose, click the desired equation from the list, and it will be automatically added into the document.

You can now start modifying this equation by simply overwriting what is there.

In most cases, you probably will have to create your equation from scratch, so select “Insert New Equation” further down the bottom of the menu.

An equation box with a shaded “Type equation here” instruction will appear.

Tip:Click the drop-down button being present in the equation box for more options, selectChange to Inline, to place it in the line you were editing if it isn’t there already.

For editing equation values you need to click inside equation box to change values manually.

You can also save the newly created equation through single click on Save as New Equation.

When you click on an equation, an Equation Tools Design tab shows up with a variety of useful mathematical symbols, as well as an extended list of mathematical notations.

The mathematical structures could be a fraction,

… a power function, a root,

… an integral or sum,

… brackets, a trigonometric function, a matrix, and many more.

A note of warning: If you save a Word 2010 document in an older format (e.g. as .doc), your carefully edited equation will be converted into a bitmap. So, best don’t change the Word format.

You can also include equation from Microsoft Equation 3.0, as an object. For this navigate to Insert tab, Click Object, that will open Object dialog to insert any object, select Microsoft Equation 3.0 from Object type, and click OK.

Upon click a new window will open up where you can customize equation as shown in the screenshot below, the difference will be Word will be treated this as an object of Microsoft Equation 3.0.

While this may seem an odd thing to do (using a 15-year old add-in in the latest version of Word), there could be reasons for doing so:

Not everyone will have the latest version of Word. So, if you are collaborating with other scientists, Equation Editor 3.0 works also with older Word 97 documents and ensures backward compatibility.
Older scientists (amongst them most of your lecturers) who have worked with Equation Editor 3.0 for a long time find the latest version less straightforward to use.

Spare a few moments to try out the two equation editors, then decide for yourself which is your own favourite.