# Equations with only text in them

I would like to include equations in my article which have only text in them (in some cases there may be a little math) so that it keeps proper formatting. I tried using \mbox but then the text is so big that it is going out of the line. How do I include text in this way so that all formatting is preserved.

$$\label{key} The product of two complex numbers is given by the vector whose angle is the sum of the angles of the two complex numbers and whose magnitude is the product of the magnitudes of the$$


Thanks

• \text{} from amsmath Jul 21, 2014 at 12:18
• Providing an example of what you are looking for would be helpful. Jul 21, 2014 at 12:19
• @StevenB.Segletes: I have added the same. Jul 21, 2014 at 12:26
• Please always make your code sections complete documents, so that people can run them to see the result (see the code in the answer) Jul 21, 2014 at 13:18

You can use the \text{}-command with amsmath-package or \parbox{width}{text} To get a newline.

\documentclass{article}

\usepackage{amsmath}

\begin{document}
$$\label{key} \parbox{0.9\textwidth}{The product of two complex numbers is given by the vector whose angle is the sum of the angles of the two complex numbers and whose magnitude is the product of the magnitudes of the}$$
\end{document}

• \text is useless. Jul 21, 2014 at 13:35
• @greg Unnecessary would be more accurate:) Certainly, \text is useful with shorter bits of text.
– user30471
Jul 21, 2014 at 13:47
• @Andrew -- in this case, \text is useless, because among other things, it's supposed to "follow" the size and style of the surrounding text. \parbox disables/overrides both those goals. size isn't a problem here, but if the equation is in a theorem, chances are the text should appear in italic, and that would be a problem that would have to be addressed manually. Jul 21, 2014 at 15:41
• @barbarabeeton I agree...I was partly being pedantic (egreg's comment is unqualified) and partly trying to be funny (my humour is often not appreciated:)
– user30471
Jul 21, 2014 at 21:44