Math Guide

What is Math?
Math is OpenOffice.org (OOo)’s component for writing mathematical equations. It is
most commonly used as an equation editor for text documents, but it can also be used
with other types of documents or stand-alone. When used inside Writer, the equation
is treated as an object inside the text document.
Note
The equation editor is for writing equations in symbolic form, as in
equation 1. If you want to evaluate a numeric value, see the Calc Guide.
df (x)
dx
=ln ( x)+tan
−1
( x
2
)
(1)
Getting started
To insert an equation, go to Insert > Object > Formula.
The equation editor opens at the bottom of the screen, and the floating Elements
window (called “Selection” before Math 3.2 and “Formula Elements” in Math 3.2)
may appear. You will also see a small box with a gray border in your document, where
the formula will be displayed, as shown in Figure 1.
Figure 1: Equation Editor, Elements window, and location of resulting equation
4 OpenOffice.org 3 Math Guide