Markdown, Mathematical Expressions and VSCode

Markdown documents can include elegant representations of algebraic formulae, using KaTeX.

The CommonMark specification of Markdown does not include scope for representing formulae or equations. Fortunately, there is KaTeX , an excellent typesetting library, which can be embedded in Markdown. KaTeX is supported extensively.

VSCode supports $\KaTeX$ in Markdown, equations are rendered in the VSCode preview pane, Ctrl + K V.

Inline math equations are wrapped in single dollar signs. For example, $x^2$ becomes $x^2$.

$\KaTeX$ blocks begin and end with two dollar signs:

1$$
2x^2
3$$

produces $$ x^2 $$

Here are a few more examples:

Pythagorean Theorem

1$$
2a^2 + b^2 = c^2
3$$

$$ a^2 + b^2 = c^2 $$

Einstein’s Theory of Special Relativity

1$$
2e=mc^2
3$$

$$ e=mc^2 $$

Matrices

 1$$
 2\begin{pmatrix}
 3a & b \cr
 4c & d
 5\end{pmatrix}
 6+
 7\begin{pmatrix}
 8e & f \cr
 9g & h
10\end{pmatrix}
11$$

$$ \begin{pmatrix} a & b \cr c & d \end{pmatrix} + \begin{pmatrix} e & f \cr g & h \end{pmatrix} $$

Special Cases

1$$
2\begin{dcases}
3   a &\text{if } b \cr
4   c &\text{if } d
5\end{dcases}
6$$

$$ \begin{dcases} a &\text{if } b \cr c &\text{if } d \end{dcases} $$

See many more examples at Cheat Sheet: Mathematical Notation in Markdown .