# How do I make the fraction look more presentable and not so small? [duplicate]

\begin{align*}
\dv[2]{SA}{r} &=\frac{{\left({\pi^{2}r^{10}+9V^{2}r^{4}}\right)^{\frac{1}{2}}}(12\pi^{2}r^{5})
-\left({\frac{2\pi^{2}r^{6}-9V^{2}}{2\sqrt{\pi^{2}r^{10}+9V^{2}r^{4}}}}\right)}
\end{align*}


I am using amsmath. Additionally, I am not sure why the word "align" comes before the equal sign but I can figure that out later. I mostly confused as to why the fraction is so small.

• please provide a small complete document that shows the problem, where does the text align* come from in your output??? why is there no denominator to the fraction? Nov 30 '21 at 19:26
• Did you mean to keep the main denominator blank?
– Mico
Nov 30 '21 at 19:34
– Dan
Nov 30 '21 at 19:39

It is possible to use \dfrac instead of \frac in the last fraction

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{physics}

\begin{document}

\begin{align*}
\dv[2]{SA}{r} &=\frac{{\left({\pi^{2}r^{10}+9V^{2}r^{4}}\right)^{\frac{1}{2}}}(12\pi^{2}r^{5})-\left({\frac{2\pi^{2}r^{6}-9V^{2}}{2\sqrt{\pi^{2}r^{10}+9V^{2}r^{4}}}}\right)}{}\\
\dv[2]{SA}{r} &=\frac{{\left({\pi^{2}r^{10}+9V^{2}r^{4}}\right)^{\frac{1}{2}}}(12\pi^{2}r^{5})-\left({\dfrac{2\pi^{2}r^{6}-9V^{2}}{2\sqrt{\pi^{2}r^{10}+9V^{2}r^{4}}}}\right)}{}
\end{align*}

\end{document}


I think that using the \mfrac command (medium-sized fraction), from nccmath looks better. I took the opportunity to remove some unnecessary pairs of braces and replaced the \left( \right) around the nested fraction with better sized \Bigl( \Bigr).

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{amsmath, nccmath}
\usepackage{esdiff}

\begin{document}

\begin{align*}
\diff[2]{SA}{r} &=\frac{\left(\pi^2 r^{10}+9V^2 r^4\right)^{\frac{1}{2}}(12\pi^2 r^5)- \Bigl(\mfrac{2\pi^2 r^6 -9V^2} {2\sqrt{\pi^2 r^{10}+9V^2 r^4}}\Bigr)}{\text{denominator}}\\
\end{align*}

\end{document}


• +1. I'd be tempted to omit the large parentheses around the \mfrac term, though.
– Mico
Nov 30 '21 at 22:29
• @Mico: I have the same opinion, but respected the general layout of the O.P., just adapting the size of the parentheses. Nov 30 '21 at 22:47

I can think of two suggestions:

• Use \dfrac instead of \frac (while eliminating the unnecessary parentheses) for the second additive term in the numerator.

• Replace the repeated term \sqrt{\pi^{2}r^{10}+9V^{2}r^{4}} with a symbol, say, W.

I dare say the second expression is a bit more readable.

Either way, do please also supply the missing denominator term.

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{amsmath}
\newcommand\dv[3][]{\frac{\mathrm{d}^{#1}\mathit{#2}}{\mathrm{d}#3^{#1}}}
\begin{document}

Set $W\equiv{(\pi^{2}r^{10}+9V^{2}r^{4})}^{1/2}$. Then
\begin{align*}
\dv[2]{SA}{r}
&=\frac{{({\pi^{2}r^{10}+9V^{2}r^{4}})^{\frac{1}{2}}}(12\pi^{2}r^{5})-
%%\left({
\dfrac{2\pi^{2}r^{6}-9V^{2}}{2\sqrt{\pi^{2}r^{10}+9V^{2}r^{4}}}
%%}\right)
}{\text{(missing denominator??)}} \\[2\jot]
&= \frac{12\pi^{2}r^{5}W-(\pi^{2}r^{6}-4.5V^{2})/W%
}{\text{(missing denominator??)}}
\end{align*}
\end{document}


Using \displaystyle, you can do something like

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{ physics}
\begin{document}
\begin{align*}
\dv[2]{SA}{r} &=\frac{{\left({\pi^{2}r^{10}+9V^{2}r^{4}}\right)^{\frac{1}{2}}}(12\pi^{2}r^{5})-\left({\frac{2\pi^{2}r^{6}-9V^{2}}{2\sqrt{\pi^{2}r^{10}+9V^{2}r^{4}}}}\right)}{}\\
\dv[2]{SA}{r} &=\frac{\displaystyle{\left({\pi^{2}r^{10}+9V^{2}r^{4}}\right)^{\frac{1}{2}}}(12\pi^{2}r^{5})-\left({\frac{2\pi^{2}r^{6}-9V^{2}}{2\sqrt{\pi^{2}r^{10}+9V^{2}r^{4}}}}\right)}{}
\end{align*}
\end{document}