[Tex/LaTex] Is it possible to typeset text inside math without amsmath

amsmathmath-modetext-mode

Is it possible to typeset text properly inside math without amsmath?

Typically I typeset short text using mathrm, or text (amsmath) within equation:

$M_\mathrm{effective mass}$
$M_\text{effective mass}$

\mathrm works most of the time but is not a real text environment (for example the spaces are ignored as in math mode). On the other hand \text depends on amsmath.

The question is, is possible to create the same result as with text but without using amsmath?

Best Answer

To have a functionality similar to amsmath's \text, but without loading any of the AMS-family packages, you can simply copy into your preamble a modification of the code for \text from amstext.sty:

\documentclass{article}

\makeatletter
\DeclareRobustCommand{\text}{%
  \ifmmode\expandafter\text@\else\expandafter\mbox\fi}
\let\nfss@text\text
\def\text@#1{{\mathchoice
  {\textdef@\displaystyle\f@size{#1}}%
  {\textdef@\textstyle\f@size{#1}}%
  {\textdef@\textstyle\sf@size{#1}}%
  {\textdef@\textstyle \ssf@size{#1}}%
  \check@mathfonts
  }%
}
\def\textdef@#1#2#3{\hbox{{%
                    \everymath{#1}%
                    \let\f@size#2\selectfont
                    #3}}}
\makeatother


\begin{document}

$\text{effective mass}$

$M_\text{effective mass}$

$A_{M_\text{effective mass}}$

\end{document}

enter image description here

Related Solutions

[Tex/LaTex] the “correct” way of embedding text into math mode

Another option is to use the \text{} command provided by the amsmath package.

Having said that, I doubt that it's possible to have a single format that is "correct" for all possible requirements of leading and trailing spaces. For instance, I think you'll find that your example looks better without the space before "number" but with the space after "Let."

If there's some reason that you really want to not have the space inside whatever text environment you choose, you can force a space in math mode using a single backslash followed by a space (i.e. \<space>). For example,

\[ \text{Let}\ x=\text{number of cats}. \]

[Tex/LaTex] How to typeset times in regular text

Simple
I’d write it as plain text

Meeting at 5:00

Or if you need it in math mode with \text

$\text{5:00} + \text{1:00} = \text{6:00}$

But I can’t see a reason for that since times arn’t math and the colon can be misread as divide: 5:30 = 5/30 = \frac{5}{30}.

Advanced
You could even define a command to have a globe appearance that can be change later easily:

\newcommand\Time[2]{%
   \text{#1:#2}% <------------------ change format here
}

and then use it like \Time{5}{00} in text or math mode.

To parse an input like \Time{5:00} you’ll need something like this:

\makeatletter
\def\@time@parse#1:#2\end@time{%
   \text{#1\,h #2\,min}% <------------------ change format here
}
\newcommand{\Time}[1]{%
   \@time@parse#1\end@time
}
\makeatother

Where \@time@parse does the work and is called from within \Time

full MWE

\documentclass{article}

\usepackage{amsmath}

\newcommand{\TimeI}[2]{%
   \text{#1:#2}%
}

\makeatletter
\def\@time@parse#1:#2\end@time{%
   \text{#1\,h #2\,min}%
}
\newcommand{\TimeII}[1]{%
   \@time@parse#1\end@time
}
\makeatother

\begin{document}
Meeting at \TimeI{5}{00}

Meeting at \TimeII{5:00}
\end{document}

Best Answer

Related Solutions

[Tex/LaTex] the “correct” way of embedding text into math mode

[Tex/LaTex] How to typeset times in regular text

Related Question