6 Brackets and Parentheses
Brackets and Parentheses
Brackets and parentheses are very common in mathematical formulas.
Ordinary symbols ()[] make parentheses and brackets (2+3)[3+7]. Use \{ and \} for curly braces.
These do not scale with the formula in between. You can control the size of brackets by using \left and \right. This will make the sizes adjust automatically to the formula they enclose.
Examples:
a) [latex](\frac{x}{y})^3[/latex] non stretchy braces
[latex](\frac{x}{y})^3[/latex]
b)[latex]\left(\frac{x}{y}\right)^3[/latex] stretchy braces when used with \left or \right
[latex]\left(\frac{x}{y}\right)^3[/latex]
Note: The same applies for square brackets [], braces \{ \} and vertical lines | | to name a few.
Exercises
Reproduce the following segment of LaTex output using a display style.
a) \[\left|\frac{1}{s_n} – \frac{1}{s}\right| = \left|\frac{s-s_n}{s_ns}\right|\]
b) \[\text{The dyadic rationals are} \left\{\frac{a}{2^b}\; \middle| \;a, b\; \text{integral}\right\}\]
To fix the spacing around the vertical line, use \; before and after.
HINT (optional): Use \middle to adjust the vertical line inside the brackets.
