Some mathematical elements change their style depending on the context, whether they are part of the text or in a equation-type environment. This article explains how to manually adjust the display style.

[edit] Introduction

Let's see an example

Depending on the value of $x$ the equation \( f(x) = \sum_{i=0}^{n} \frac{a_i}{1+x} \) may diverge or converge.
 
\[ f(x) = \sum_{i=0}^{n} \frac{a_i}{1+x} \]

Superscripts, subscripts and fractions are formatted differently.

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[edit] Setting mathematical styles

The maths styles can be set explicitly. For instance, if you want an in-line mathematical element to display as a equation-like element put \displaystyle before that element. There are some more maths style-related commands that change the size of the text.

In-line maths elements can be set with a different style: \(f(x) = \displaystyle \frac{1}{1+x}\). The same is true the other way around:
 
\begin{eqnarray*}
\begin{eqnarray*}
f(x) = \sum_{i=0}^{n} \frac{a_i}{1+x} \\
\textstyle f(x) = \textstyle \sum_{i=0}^{n} \frac{a_i}{1+x} \\
\scriptstyle f(x) = \scriptstyle \sum_{i=0}^{n} \frac{a_i}{1+x} \\
\scriptscriptstyle f(x) = \scriptscriptstyle \sum_{i=0}^{n} \frac{a_i}{1+x}
\end{eqnarray*}
\end{eqnarray*}

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[edit] Further reading

For more information see

• Mathematical expressions
• Subscripts and superscripts
• Aligning equations with amsmath
• Spacing in math mode
• Integrals, sums and limits
• Mathematical fonts
• The not so short introduction to LaTeX2ε