# How can I make height-matched absolute value symbols without including packages? [closed]

I want to use the following formula:

or, in markup:

$$| \sum_i \vec{v}_i \Delta t_i |$$


I want to make nice height-matched absolute value delimiters, but I can't use any packages (I'm using MathJax). Is there a way to do this in pure math mode?

• MathJax questions are in almost all cases off-topic here, and your question for me belongs to them. You could ask instead in the MathJaX Help Forums. Feb 19, 2013 at 1:21
• This meta post says they're a borderline case, but still allowable. I'll rephrase the question to make it less MathJax-specific.
– Dan
Feb 19, 2013 at 1:28
• Do \big|/\Big|/\bigg|/\Bigg| work? Feb 19, 2013 at 1:45
• BTW on Stack Overflow it should not be off-topic. There is also a tag, see stackoverflow.com/questions/tagged/mathjax. Feb 19, 2013 at 2:11
• @Speravir: Yes, but I was hoping for something more automatic, where I don't have to manually pick the size of the delimiters.
– Dan
Feb 19, 2013 at 2:12

## 1 Answer

You can use \left|....\right| for automatic sizing, or as Spervir comments: choose the size explicitly as (for example) \bigl|....\bigr|