How do I produce the prime symbol in text mode? In math mode the prime symbol is produced by ' but in text mode it produces something else.
[Tex/LaTex] Prime in text mode
symbols
Related Solutions
This is actually one of the exercises in The TeXBook :) (exercise 16.5, p. 130):
Why do you think TeX treats
\primeas a large symbol that appears only in superscripts, instead of making it a smaller symbol that has already been shifted up into the superscript position?
And the answer is:
The second alternative doesn’t work properly when there’s a subscript at the same time as a prime. Furthermore, some mathematicians use
\primealso in the subscript position; they write, for example,$F'(w,z)=\partial F(w,z)/\partial z$and$F_\prime(w,z)=\partial F(w,z)/\partial w$.
You can use \mathchoice to adjust the size depending on the math context as follows:
References:
- For more details on
\mathchoicesee Is there a test for the different styles inside maths mode?, and Proper use of \mathchoice.
Code:
\documentclass{article}
\usepackage[figuresright]{rotating}
\newcommand*{\p}{%
\mathchoice%
{\turnbox{12}{$\displaystyle\,'$}\;}%
{\turnbox{12}{$\textstyle\,'$}\;}%
{\turnbox{12}{$\scriptstyle\,'$}\;}%
{\turnbox{12}{$\scriptscriptstyle\,'$}\;}%
}%
\begin{document}
$a+b\p$
$a_{c\p,d}+b\p$
\end{document}
Best Answer
If you really want the math prime symbol you may simply use
$'$or$\prime$, or if you want to use it in text and math mode\ensuremath{'}or\ensuremath{\prime}, e.g.:I've used
\primeinstead of'to avoid typo mistakes.\ensuremathdoes only switch to math mode, if math mode it not already active. So it is often useful to define commands, that uses math mode commands and should work in text and math mode.