Set your wayback machine to the early 2000s. I was just starting to write online tutorials and quizzes and I searched and searched for a reliable way to display math in a webpage. There were browser plugins but they tended to be flaky on the Mac and cross-platform support was difficult to find. So I resorted to making pictures out of the math equations. Luckily, standards were being written to properly display Math within a page and surely it would be supported within a few years. Right? Right?
So here we are in 2014. Over a decade later. And it's still not universally supported. *sigh*
Thank goodness for MathJax which is a cross-browser JavaScript library. And it works in numerous browsers and on both Mac, iOS, and Windows. This is just the test page to show what MathJax can do and how the equations are formatted. I use it in any quiz that requires dimensional analysis. It loads quickly and looks good.
Sample MathJax Equations
The Lorenz Equations
\begin{align} \dot{x} & = \sigma(y-x) \\ \dot{y} & = \rho x - y - xz \\ \dot{z} & = -\beta z + xy \end{align}
The Cauchy-Schwarz Inequality
\[ \left( \sum_{k=1}^n a_k b_k \right)^{\!\!2} \leq \left( \sum_{k=1}^n a_k^2 \right) \left( \sum_{k=1}^n b_k^2 \right) \]
A Cross Product Formula
\[ \mathbf{V}_1 \times \mathbf{V}_2 = \begin{vmatrix} \mathbf{i} & \mathbf{j} & \mathbf{k} \\ \frac{\partial X}{\partial u} & \frac{\partial Y}{\partial u} & 0 \\ \frac{\partial X}{\partial v} & \frac{\partial Y}{\partial v} & 0 \\ \end{vmatrix} \]
The probability of getting \(k\) heads when flipping \(n\) coins is:
\[P(E) = {n \choose k} p^k (1-p)^{ n-k} \]
An Identity of Ramanujan
\[ \frac{1}{(\sqrt{\phi \sqrt{5}}-\phi) e^{\frac25 \pi}} = 1+\frac{e^{-2\pi}} {1+\frac{e^{-4\pi}} {1+\frac{e^{-6\pi}} {1+\frac{e^{-8\pi}} {1+\ldots} } } } \]
A Rogers-Ramanujan Identity
\[ 1 + \frac{q^2}{(1-q)}+\frac{q^6}{(1-q)(1-q^2)}+\cdots = \prod_{j=0}^{\infty}\frac{1}{(1-q^{5j+2})(1-q^{5j+3})}, \quad\quad \text{for $|q|<1$}. \]
Maxwell's Equations
\begin{align} \nabla \times \vec{\mathbf{B}} -\, \frac1c\, \frac{\partial\vec{\mathbf{E}}}{\partial t} & = \frac{4\pi}{c}\vec{\mathbf{j}} \\ \nabla \cdot \vec{\mathbf{E}} & = 4 \pi \rho \\ \nabla \times \vec{\mathbf{E}}\, +\, \frac1c\, \frac{\partial\vec{\mathbf{B}}}{\partial t} & = \vec{\mathbf{0}} \\ \nabla \cdot \vec{\mathbf{B}} & = 0 \end{align}
In-line Mathematics
Finally, while display equations look good for a page of samples, the ability to mix math and text in a paragraph is also important. This expression \(\sqrt{3x-1}+(1+x)^2\) is an example of an inline equation. As you see, MathJax equations can be used this way as well, without unduly disturbing the spacing between lines.
