# Best way to make text appear in equations

I know there are a few questions on this, but I've found conflicting ideas and just wanted to know what people thought was best.

By inputting the following:

\documentclass{report}
\usepackage{amsmath}
\usepackage{amsfonts}
\usepackage{amssymb}

\begin{document}
$$Var(x)$$
\end{document}


I want the Var bit to appear as normal text rather than as an italics style Var. I know I could use \mbox{} but was just wondering if there was a better way?

• Welcome! Since Var looks like a math operator (function name), you should use \DeclareMathOperator{\Var}{Var} from amsmath to get the right spacing. Then you can use it just like \sin, etc: \Var(x). – Paul Gessler Jan 13 '15 at 16:03
• Welcome to TeX.SX! You can have a look at our starter guide to familiarize yourself further with our format. It's good that you want to know the 'right way' :) Since it not only declares the presentation but also the meaning, \DeclareMathOperator is indeed that 'right way'. – Sean Allred Jan 13 '15 at 16:09

\DeclareMathOperator{\Var}{Var}
$\Var(x)$

If you really want to use text in math mode (and not a notation in roman font) you should use the \text{...} command from the amsmath package.
$V_{\text{atom}}$