Typesetting Equations in Microsoft Word

Two choices for typesetting equations in Microsoft Word are to use Words built-in equation editor (called
Microsoft Equation Editor), or to use Design Sciences MathType, which is a professional version of Equation
Editor. The benefit of using the latter is that if you are working on a networked computer that does not have
Equation Editor installed, you can download a free trial copy of MathType and install it yourself.
The steps that follow are a quick How-To-Start Guide for typesetting equations.
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1. To start Equation Editor or MathType, click on Insert on the menu bar, and then slide the mouse down
and click on Object. This is shown in the picture below.

2. A dialog box will pop up with a list of objects to insert in your document. Scroll down and choose either
Microsoft Equation or MathType, and then click on the OK button.

3. A text box where your typing will appear and a menu box with buttons containing mathematical symbols
should now appear as shown in one of the two pictures below.

Microsoft Equation Menu Window

MathType Menu Window

4. Any letters or numbers you type will appear in the text box. If you want special symbols, like Greek
letters, arrows, or formatting elements like the fraction bar or radical symbol to appear, you will have to
choose that symbol by clicking on it from the appropriate button in the Equation menu box. The picture
below shows most of the choices available in Microsoft Equation. MathType has similar formatting and
symbol choices. Some advice: it is better to use the parentheses fence template rather than typing
parentheses from the keyboard, because when you use the parentheses fence template, they change size
automatically when you nest parentheses or have a fraction inside the parentheses.