Equations in Microsoft Word 2003
Microsoft Word uses the Equation Editor to produce mathematical
equations, which can include fractions, integrals, matrices, mathematical
symbols, etc.
Entering an Equation
To enter an equation into an already open document:
1. Move the insertion point to where you would like to insert the equation
2. Open the Insert menu and choose Object...
3. Select Microsoft Equation 3.0 then click on [OK] or press <Enter>
A small dotted box with a flashing cursor will appear in your text and the
Equation Editor toolbar will be displayed. You now need to build your
equation in the dotted box, using the tools provided on the toolbar. When
you have finished, simply click outside the equation box.
The Equation Toolbar
The Equation Editor toolbar has two rows of buttons. The top row provides
symbols, such as Greek characters. The bottom row contains templates,
into which you can insert text, numbers or symbols.
The symbols/templates provided are described as (left to right):


Symbols: Relational; Spaces & Ellipses; Embellishments; Operator;
Arrow; Logical; Set Theory; Miscellaneous; Greek lowercase; Greek
uppercase
Templates: Fence; Fraction & Radical; Sub & Superscript; Summation;
Integral; Under & Overbar; Labelled Arrows; Products & Set Theory;
Matrix
You build up your equation by typing in normal characters from the
keyboard and by choosing items from the toolbar. When you click on a
toolbar button, a drop-down menu appears, offering you a choice of options
(which you then click on to select). If you are not sure which option you
want, you can explore the drop-down menus without choosing any of the
items. You can move along your equation using the <Tab> or <arrow>
keys, while <Delete> and <Backspace> can be used to correct any
mistakes.
The best way to illustrate how it all works is to carry out a simple example:
1. In the special Equation Box type x=
2. Click on the [Fractional and radical templates] button - the second
on the lower toolbar
3. Choose the top left (fraction) button from the drop-down menu which
appears
4. Type -b
5. Click on the [Operator symbols] button - the fourth on the upper
toolbar
6. Choose the top left () button from the drop-down menu which appears
7. Click on the [Fractional and radical templates] button again
8. This time choose the fourth (square root) button down in the left-hand
column
9. Type b
10. Click on the [Superscript and subscript templates] button - the third
on the lower toolbar
11. Choose the top left (superscript) button from the drop-down menu
which appears
12. Type 2
13. Press the <Tab> or <right arrow> key to move out of the superscript
box
14. Type -4ac
15. Press the <Tab> or <down arrow> key twice to move to the box under
the line
16. Type 2a
17. Click anywhere outside the equation box to leave the Equation Editor
Your result should appear as:
If you want online help with creating equations, then press the <F1> key on
your keyboard while the Equation Editor is open - or use the Help menu.
Editing Existing Equations
To edit an existing equation, simply double click on the equation and you
will be taken into the Equation Editor. Use the mouse or <Tab> and
<arrow> keys to move around the equation and add, edit or delete
elements as necessary.
Documents produced by earlier versions of Word containing equations can
be loaded into Word 2003 without problems and the equations edited in the
normal way by double-clicking on them.
Spacing Equations
It is possible to change the amount of space between the various parts of
your equation and between one equation and the next. Spacing control is
provided by three different mechanisms:
The Spaces and Ellipses Button
The sub-menu of symbols provided here allows you to add from one to four
spaces to your equation - you simply select how many you require. If you
need to, you can add further spaces by clicking on the spacing symbols as
many times as are necessary.
Try adding some extra spaces to your existing equation:
1. Double click on the equation box to start up the Equation Editor
2. Move the insertion point between the characters 2 and a - use the
mouse or <arrow> keys
3. Click on the [Spaces and ellipses] symbol button - the second in the
top row
4. Use one of the buttons in row 2 to add two, three or four spaces (the
one on the right in the top row gives a single space)
Tip: You can also insert hard spaces and hard tabs from the keyboard by
pressing <Ctrl space> or <Ctrl Tab> - try it now, if you like. See also the
notes on using a text style below.
Using the Control plus Arrow Keys
You can make fine adjustments to the vertical and horizontal position of any
single or group of characters in an equation by holding down <Ctrl> and
pressing an appropriate arrow key. First you need to select the characters
to be moved:
1. Using the mouse, select the whole equation except for the initial x by
dragging through it
2. Hold down <Ctrl> and press the <right arrow> key five times
3. Repeat steps 1 and 2 but this time select the right side of the equation
only (ie excluding x =)
4. Finally, select just the initial x and press <Ctrl up arrow> three times
Beware: When using the above method, take care not to move characters
in your equation such that they are superimposed over the top of other
characters.
The Spacing Command
You can change the default spacing that Word applies within an equation or
between one equation and the next. To do this:
1. Open the Format menu while in the Equation Editor and choose
Spacing...
The default values are as shown below:
2. Click on the various spacing setting options on the left hand side then
look carefully at the little diagram provided to see what each controls a little arrow denotes the movement
3. Click on Fraction bar overhang (use the scroll bar to view this option)
and reset this to 5pt
4. Click on [Apply] to see the effect of this change on the equation - you
may need to drag the Spacing window to a different position on the
screen to reveal your equation
5. Experiment with other settings, if you like
6. Click on [Cancel] to abandon the changes, on [Defaults] if you want to
return to normal and start again or on [OK] if you want to save the
settings
Alignment of Equations
If you have more than one equation in a single Equation Box, you can set
up the alignment in that box so that the equations line up properly above
each other.
1. Move to the right hand side of your equation - hold down the <right
arrow> key
2. Press <Enter> to move to a new line
3. Type in a second equation: y-log(x)=5.6+λ - use the Greek
characters (lowercase) symbols button to get the lambda (on the far
right of the third row)
4. Add 5 spaces each side of the = sign using <Ctrl right arrow> on
selected text, as before
5. Open the Format menu and select the alignment required - here, Align
at =
Your equations should now be properly aligned.
Using Styles
The Equation Editor has various built-in styles, which you can use to give
different parts of each equation a different look. Word automatically
recognises key words in your equations (such as log or exp) and will apply
the appropriate style associated with that key word (for log or exp, a
function style). For each style you can customise which font is to be used
and whether the characters appear as plain, bold or italic.
Microsoft Word follows standard typesetting conventions used in
mathematical publications to define the default settings for the styles.
However, the default font may not be the same as that used in the rest of
your document and may need to be changed.
To view the built-in styles and their settings:
1. While in the Equation Editor, open the Style menu and choose
Define...
The following window will appear:
The various styles are used for the following elements in an equation:









Text - if you explicitly choose a text style, you can enter words and
spaces into your equation in normal typing mode (useful for adding
notes such as for x>0)
Function - for standard mathematical functions such as log and sin
Variable - for letters representing variables and constants (eg x, y and
a)
L.C. Greek - for lowercase Greek characters
U.C. Greek - for uppercase Greek characters
Symbol - for mathematical symbols such as 
Matrix-Vector - for characters representing matrix or vector quantities
Number - for numerals 0 (zero) to 9
Language - allows you to set the language for text and other equation
styles
To see the effect of redefining a style:
2.
3.
4.
5.
For the Function style, turn on Bold
For the Variable style, choose a different font - eg Arial
For the L.C. Greek style, turn off Italic
Click on [OK] to see the effects (the λ is no longer italic while the log
function is bold)
6. To reset the styles to their defaults, press <Ctrl z> or open the Edit
menu and choose Undo Style Assignment - press <Enter> for [OK] if
a warning dialog box appears
Within an equation you can use the styles explicitly to override Word's
interpretation of the various elements. This is particularly useful when
adding notes to an equation box. Try out the following:
1. Move the insertion point (typing position) to the end of the second
equation
2. Press <Ctrl Tab> three times to move the typing to the right
3. Type the word constant
You will find that this is interpreted as cons tan t with tan being
interpreted as a function and the other characters as variables. Appropriate
styles are given to the various elements. To override these:
4. Drag through all the new characters to select them
5. Open the Style menu and choose Text
A text style is applied to the selection and the word constant appears as
intended.
Normally you select the required style as you type:
6. Move the typing position to immediately before the word constant
7. Open the Style menu and choose Text (instead of Math)
8. Type the word where
9. Open the Style menu and choose Greek
10. Type the single letter l - you should get a lambda
11. Open the Style menu and choose Text
12. Type the words is a known to complete the note
Numbering Equations Automatically using Captions
You can number each equation box in your document automatically. Note,
however, that where more than one equation is held in a single box, these
are not numbered separately. If you plan to use automatic equation
numbering, it's a good idea to keep each equation in a separate box.
Normally you set up the captions before typing in the equations; here,
however, you are going to add them afterwards.
1.
2.
3.
4.
Close the Equation Editor (if open) by clicking outside the equation box
Open the Insert menu and choose Reference then Caption...
Click on the [AutoCaption...] button
Under Add Caption When Inserting: click on the Microsoft Equation
3.0 check box
Note: Once you have turned this option on it will remain in force, even for
new documents, until you remove the check mark.
5. Under Use label: choose Equation from the list provided - if you would
like to make your own label, click on the [New Label...] button, type the
label name then click on [OK]
6. Under Position: select the location where you want the caption to
appear - note that this is limited to Above item or Below item
7. If you want to change the number format used for the caption, click on
[Numbering...], select the format you want then click on [OK]
8. Click on [OK] again to close the AutoCaption Window
Only as you add new equations to your document will the captions appear
automatically. To add a caption to an existing equation:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Click once on the equation box to select it
Open the Insert menu and choose Reference then Caption...
Check that the correct Caption: is chosen (under Label:) - ie Equation
Click on [OK]
A new caption, correctly numbered, should appear above or below your
equation box.
Note that captions are, in fact, fields and are held separately from the
equation itself. If you want to delete or move an equation, you need to
select its caption too. When an equation is deleted or moved, any equations
further on in the document will not appear to renumber. However, when you
insert another equation (or when you next load up the document), all the
equations will be renumbered. They would also appear correctly if you
printed your document. The numbering can also be updated by selecting
the whole document (<Ctrl a>) and pressing key <F9>.
Tip: An easy way to add captions to existing unnumbered equation boxes is
to Copy an existing caption and then Paste it above or below each
unnumbered equation box in turn.
Modifying the Caption Style
You can modify the default Caption Style if you want - eg to place the
captions on the right of the page rather than on the left. You can also
change the font, font size, etc. To do this:
1. Click on [Styles and Formatting] button or open the Format menu
and choose Styles and Formatting... - the Task Pane appears
2. Click on the down arrow on the right of Caption and select Modify...
3. Set the font (type, size, bold etc) and justification as required
4. Click on [OK] to accept any changes
5. Finally, [Close] the Styles and Formatting Task Pane
Note that captions are linked to equation boxes to prevent page breaks
occurring between them.
Placing Captions alongside Equations
One very annoying feature of captions is that there is no option to place
them to the left or right of equations (only above or below). You can,
however, do this manually. If you want the numbering to the left of the
equation, choose the Above item option when setting the AutoCaption...
Position; if you want it to the right, choose Below item. Now proceed as
follows:
For a caption on the left of the equation box:
1. Click at the end of the caption and <Delete> the hidden paragraph
mark
2. Press <Tab> once to add space between the caption and equation box
3. Repeat the process for all the other equation boxes
For a caption on the right of the equation box:
1. Click to the right of the equation box and <Delete> the paragraph mark
2. Click twice on the [Tab Select] button on the left of the Ruler to get a
[Right Tab] icon
3. Click once on the right of the Ruler - ie at the 14.25cm mark
4. Drag the right tab to the position of the Right Indent marker
5. Press <Tab> once to add space between the equation box and caption
6. Repeat the process for all the other equation boxes
Tip: To speed up the process, <Delete> all the paragraph marks and insert
the tabs first. Then use the [Format Painter] to copy the tab settings from
the original equation to the others.
Cross-referencing Equations
When you discuss equations in the text, you should use cross-references.
These are then automatically updated if the equation numbering changes:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
On a new line, type the text As can be seen from
Open the Insert menu and choose Reference then Cross-reference...
Change the Reference type: to Equation
Change Insert reference to: to Only label and number
Press <Enter> for [Insert] then <Esc> for [Close]
Continue typing on page
Repeat steps 2 to 5 but at step 4 change Insert reference to: to Page
Number
8. Continue with the rest of your text