In "math-mode line" non-math type

Question

I'd like to type non-math text inside of the bracket math text lines, or know of a better way to do what I'm trying to do.

In the following, I don't literally type \nomath. I don't know what I need to type there in order to make this work.

This is what I type (the dashes are disappearing, I don't know why):

\begin{document}

\[ K=L \]

\[ A = B \nomath or \nomath A_1 = B_1\]

\end{document}

This is what I get:

K=L

A=B

or

A_1=B_1

This is what I want:

K=L

A=B or A_1=B_1

What I'd like for the or word to be in non-math text mode, with everything around it following the normal rules according to the dashes and brackets. Can anyone help me?

Answer 1

If you use the amsmath package, you should be able to write something like

\[A = B \text{ or } A_1 = B_1\]

You'll have to manually add space around the or. You can do it as I did or you can do it as:

\[A = B \quad \text{or} \quad A_1 = B_1\]

EDIT 1

Here's a complete MWE:

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{amsmath}
\pagestyle{empty}
\begin{document}

\[A = B \text{ or } A_1 = B_1\]

\[A = B \quad \text{or} \quad A_1 = B_1\]

\end{document}

EDIT 2

A comparison of \mbox{...} vs \text{...}

\[ A_{\mbox{Hi}} \text{ vs } A_{\text{Hi}}\]

If you want to know more about the differences between these, you should probably post another question.

Or see Difference between various methods for producing text in math mode