# Help:Math Help part 4

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## Related Math Help pages

• Math Help part 1 - contains information on Syntax, Rendering and Pros and Cons of TeX and HTML for math functions
• Math Help part 2 - contains information on Functions, Symbols and Special characters
• Math Help part 3 - contains information on Subscripts, Superscripts and Integrals
• Math Help part 6 - contains information on Parenthesising big exprssions, Brackets and Bars
• Math Help part 7 - contains information about Spacing, Aligning with normal text flow,Forced PNG rendering, Color and examples.

This wiki uses a subset of TeX markup, including some extensions from LaTeX and AMS-LaTeX, for mathematical formulae. It generates either PNG images or simple HTML markup, depending on user preferences and the complexity of the expression. In the future, as more browsers are smarter, it will be able to generate enhanced HTML or even MathML in many cases.

More precisely, MediaWiki filters the markup through Texvc, which in turn passes the commands to TeX for the actual rendering. Thus, only a limited part of the full TeX language is supported; see below for details.

## Fractions, matrices, multilines

Feature Syntax How it looks rendered
Fractions \frac{2}{4}=0.5 $\frac{2}{4}=0.5$
Large (nestled) Fractions \cfrac{2}{c + \cfrac{2}{d + \cfrac{2}{4}}} = a $\cfrac{2}{c + \cfrac{2}{d + \cfrac{2}{4}}} = a$
Matrices
\begin{matrix}
x & y \\
z & v
\end{matrix}
$\begin{matrix} x & y \\ z & v \end{matrix}$
\begin{vmatrix}
x & y \\
z & v
\end{vmatrix}
$\begin{vmatrix} x & y \\ z & v \end{vmatrix}$
\begin{Vmatrix}
x & y \\
z & v
\end{Vmatrix}
$\begin{Vmatrix} x & y \\ z & v \end{Vmatrix}$
\begin{bmatrix}
0      & \cdots & 0      \\
\vdots & \ddots & \vdots \\
0      & \cdots & 0
\end{bmatrix}
$\begin{bmatrix} 0 & \cdots & 0 \\ \vdots & \ddots & \vdots \\ 0 & \cdots & 0\end{bmatrix}$
\begin{Bmatrix}
x & y \\
z & v
\end{Bmatrix}
$\begin{Bmatrix} x & y \\ z & v \end{Bmatrix}$
\begin{pmatrix}
x & y \\
z & v
\end{pmatrix}
$\begin{pmatrix} x & y \\ z & v \end{pmatrix}$
Case distinctions
f(n) =
\begin{cases}
n/2,  & \mbox{if }n\mbox{ is even} \\
3n+1, & \mbox{if }n\mbox{ is odd}
\end{cases}
$f(n) = \begin{cases}  n/2, & \mbox{if }n\mbox{ is even} \\ 3n+1, & \mbox{if }n\mbox{ is odd}  \end{cases}$
Breaking up a long expression so that it wraps when necessary

$f(x) \,\!$
$= \sum_{n=0}^\infty a_n x^n$
$= a_0+a_1x+a_2x^2+\cdots$



$f(x) \,\!$$= \sum_{n=0}^\infty a_n x^n$$= a_0 +a_1x+a_2x^2+\cdots$

Simultaneous equations
\begin{cases}
3x + 5y +  z \\
7x - 2y + 4z \\
-6x + 3y + 2z
\end{cases}
$\begin{cases} 3x + 5y + z \\ 7x - 2y + 4z \\ -6x + 3y + 2z \end{cases}$