Math Lessons

Math is LibreOffice’s component for writing mathematical and chemical 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 as a stand-alone tool. When used inside Writer, the equation is treated as an object inside the text document. Open, close…

Set basic options/preferences in the application: user name, default folder to open, save documents. To set the basic options in the Math application, click on ‘Tools’ from the main menu bar. From the resulting drop-down, click on ‘Options’. This will open the ‘Options’ dialog box. In the ‘Options’ dialog box, under ‘LibreOffice’, in ‘User Data’…

Entering a Formula in Math In Math, we can enter formulas to create equations which can be mathematical or chemical in nature. There are three ways in which a formula can be entered in Math. Selecting a symbol from the ‘Elements’ window. Right-clicking on the equation editor and selecting the symbol from the context menu.…

The Elements Window is the simplest method of entering a formula in Math. The Elements window is divided into two main parts. The top part shows the symbol categories. These can be used to change the list of symbols. The bottom part shows the symbols available in the current category. So the different symbols can…

Another way of entering formulas into Math is by using the context menu. This menu can be accessed by right-clicking inside the editor window. The steps to be followed are almost similar to what were followed for using the elements window. To insert ‘7 x 8’, right-click inside the editor window and this will display…

Greek characters (α, β, γ, θ, etc.) are common in mathematical formulas. These characters are not available in the Elements window or the right-click context menu in Math. Fortunately, the markup code for Greek characters is very simple. We just need to type a ‘%’ sign followed by the name of the character, in English.…

Using Brackets in Formulas The most difficult part in using LibreOffice Math is when writing complicated formulas. This is because LibreOffice Math knows nothing about the order of operations. We need to use brackets in order to state the order of operations explicitly. Consider the example which has been shown in the below given illustration.…

In the basic installation, Math outputs variables in italics. If we enter a function, Math usually recognizes it and outputs it normally. If Math fails to recognize a function, we can inform Math about it by entering the markup code ‘func’ before the function. By using this code, the text following the code will be…

Adding limits to a sum or an integral. In Math, the ‘sum’ and ‘int’ commands are used for sum and limits respectively. These commands can take the parameters ‘from’ and ‘to’. These are used for lower and upper limits respectively. These parameters can be used singly or together. The usage of these commands and parameters…

Changing the font size. In LibreOffice Math, we can change the font size of the formulas. To change the font size of the formulas, click on ‘Format’ from the main menu bar and from the resulting menu, click on ‘Font Size’. This will open the ‘Font Sizes’ dialog box. In this dialog box, select the…

Adjusting spacing. To increase or decrease the spacing between the different elements of a formula, click on ‘Format’ from the main menu bar and from the resulting menu, click on ‘Spacing’. This will open the ‘Spacing’ dialog box. In this dialog box, under ‘Spacing’, the spacing between different elements of an equation can be selected.…

Numbering equations in Writer We can write numbered equations in Writer. Equation numbering is one of the Writer’s best hidden features. The steps are very simple. Start a new line in Writer. Type ‘fn’ and then press ‘F3’ from the keyboard. The ‘fn’ gets replaced by the numbered formula: E = mc2 (2) Now we…

Graphical properties. Formula objects have similar properties in Calc, Impress, and Draw. They are always inserted with a transparent background and without borders. In Draw and Impress, they are assigned the Default graphical style; there is no assigned style for them in Calc and properties need to be specified explicitly. A formula can be positioned…

Formula editor as a floating window. The formula editor can cover a large part of the Writer window. In Writer, it is possible to turn the formula editor into a floating window. To convert the formula editor into a floating window hover the mouse over the editor frame. Now hold down the ‘Control’ key from…

Export as PDF In Math, we can export a formula as a PDF document. To export as a PDF, click on ‘File’ from the main menu bar. From the resulting drop-down, click on ‘Export’. This opens the ‘Export’ dialog box. In this dialog box, we can browse to the folder where we want to save…

This quiz is designed to test your knowledge of the contents of the LibreOffice Math Application, part of the Office Software Suite series. There are twenty questions. The pass mark is 70 out of a potential 100 points, 5 for each question. Once you are satisfied with your answers, complete your name and email address…