Some "math" symbols are obtained by typing the corresponding keyboard character. Examples include
+ - = < >Note: plus, minus, and equal sign may be used in either text or math mode, but < and > are math mode only (they produce inverted exclamation and question marks, respectively, in text mode).
The following commands may be used only in math mode:
\pm
plus or minus sign
\mp
minus or plus sign
\times
times (an "x")
\div
divided by sign
\ast
an asterisk (centered)
\star
a five-point star (centered)
\bullet
a bullet
\circ
an open bullet
\cdot
a centered dot
\leq
less than or equal to
\ll
much less than
\subset
is a subset of
\geq
greater than or equal to
\gg
much greater than
\equiv
equivalence symbol
\sim
similar to
\simeq
similar or equal to
\approx
approximately equal to
\neq
not equal to
\per
"perpendicular to" symbols
\propto
proportional to
Note that "greater than" and "less than" are obtained simply by
entering >
and <
.
A slash, indicating "not" can be placed through a symbol
(or a letter) with the \not
command. For example, not less than is
\not<
and not less than or equal to is
\not\leqIf the slash isn't properly positioned it can be moved by putting a math mode spacing command between the
\not
and the symbol.