Rich Content Editor w/ MathJax

[akhounm]

Is there a way for me to enter in math expressions/equations directly to the rich content editor without using the equation editor? I have a lot of math that I need to insert and clicking on the equation editor every single time gets tiring since it's not directly in the main toolbar. I know a little bit of latex and whatnot, but not a lot apparently.   

I've read something about mathjax, but I know I'm doing something wrong-- I want f(1)=6 and f(4)=-1 to also be formatted, but it's showing up as regular fonts. 

(Ignore the answer choice, I know it's B lol)

[chriscas]

Hi @akhounm,

I'm going to tag @James to see if he may have time to write a short reply to you.  He's a math teacher and a Canvas "wizard" and I know I've seen some posts from him regarding the equation editor and maybe MathJax before.  I'm hoping he'll be able to tell you if there's a quick way to do what you'd like, or at least accurately say that it can't be done at this time.

-Chris

[James · Accepted solution]

@akhounm,

Yes, this is quite straightforward since support for math was added everywhere in Canvas a couple of years ago.

You need to use the LaTeX delimiters around the math content. When typing in a .tex file, you probably use $ as a delimiter. Since $ can be used for so much else, Canvas went with the more unique (but still standard) delimiters. Those are a backslash followed by an opening parentheses to start and a backslash followed by a closing parentheses to end. That's \ ( and \ ) but without the spaces between them. You can also use a \ [ and \ ] to make it display mode and centered on the line.

The community software also recognizes them, so if I type them the way you're supposed to, you won't be able to see it. That's why I put the space between them, but you should not when you type them in Canvas. I think if I put it in a code block it may work.

If a function \(f\) is continuous on the closed interval \([1,4]\), 
\(f(1)=6\), and \(f(4)=-1\), then which of the following must be true?

Here is the same thing outside a code block. Again the community software will interpret it like Canvas does.

If a function \(f\) is continuous on the closed interval \([1,4]\), \(f(1)=6\), and \(f(4)=-1\), then which of the following must be true?

Note that this approach does not immediately render the content because the page doesn't reload. That means you have to be careful to double check that it's in there correctly. You will need to save the question and perhaps reload the page before it renders properly.

The backtick ` that you are using is for variable substitution with new quizzes. You can now use variable substitution with formula questions. Just put the backticks around the variable name within the LaTeX.

If a function \(f\) is continuous on the closed interval \([`a`,`b`]\), 
\(f(`a`)=`c`\), and \(f(`b`)=`d`\), then which of the following must be true?