A The Microsoft Office CD contains a plug-in module for Word ù called Equation Editor ù which lets you add equations and mathematical symbols to your documents. Equation Editor is a separate program that you access from within Word and if itÆs not installed, youÆll need to run the Office Setup program to install it.

To create an equation in your document, click where you want to insert the equation, then select Insert-Object and click the Create New tab. In the Object type box, select Microsoft Equations 3.0 and click OK. Next, build your equation by choosing symbols from the Equation toolbar and typing in numbers and variables. The top row of the toolbar contains mathematical symbols; the bottom row contains templates for symbols such as fractions, integrals and summations. When youÆre done, click in your document to return to Word. You can edit an equation later by double-clicking it.

If you frequently work with equations and formulae and need more functionality than Equation Editor provides, there are two other programs to consider. MathType 4.0 (www.mathtype.com) and MathEdit 3.2 (ktalk.com/mathedit.html) are powerful tools that let you easily create, edit and import mathematical equations into word processing and desktop publishing documents. Both programs support Microsoft Office, have intuitive graphical interfaces and provide a comprehensive collection of mathematical symbols. A demo of MathEdit is included on this monthÆs CD. Both programs retail for $US129 and academic pricing is available for students.