Why use LaTeX?

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 LaTeX is a document mark-up language and preparation system for the original Tex base program.  LaTeX was originally created in the early 1980s by Leslie lamport at SRI International.  LaTeX  refers  to the language in which documents are written in, but not the language of the editor.  LaTeX provide the high-level powers of TeX, but in a user friendly format. This is  because the TeX formatting commands are very low-level, whereas the LaTeX commands are high level , making it much simpler for end-users to use LaTeX.

Why use LaTeX?

Short and sweet- if you’re writing a document with special characters, and you must follow a certain format, LaTeX is your friend! Let’s say you’re working on your Master’s or doctoral dissertation. The last thing you want to do is concentrate on formatting. LaTeX lets you concentrate on what you are writing – not the format, structure, numbering or any other distractions. You can just write!

Advantages of using LaTeX

  • It does not matter if you’re writing one page or a book, LaTeX can be used for any length.
  • When converting documents into PDFs, LaTeX high quality output produces elegant and professional work.
  • Unlike its competitor, Microsoft Word, LaTeX does not crash – it has great performance
  • Can be used with the bibliography/reference package
  • LaTeX files are just text files, so the files are tiny!
  • It’s free, which is awesome!
  • Platform independent, meaning it can be used on any computer
  • Once you learn LaTeX, you never have to write a document in Word again!

With this being said, LaTeX is an awesome tool which can be used to concentrate on writing, letting the program format everything else. Here are some examples….

 

These are some simple examples of mathematical equations using LaTeX

y= c^{x^{2}}
\frac{1}{2}{x^{2}}+y^{2}= k

Lets say we are asked to solve the following problem, but it has to be typed (a random problem made up for you!)

A particle falls toward the ground and is solely acted on by the force of gravity. The height from which the particle began falling (h) is greater than our traditional approximation and F=mg can not be use to solve this problem. so describe the motion.

F= -\frac{KmM}{y^{2}} \rightarrow m\frac{dv}{dt}= -\frac{KmM}{y^{2}}\rightarrow-\frac{g R^{2}}{y^{2}}
and lets see if you can solve the rest…