About shorthand \frac

Question

It is possible to write \frac 2 4 or \frac \pi 4 to get 2/4 and \pi/4, respectively.

However, it is not possible to write \frac \sqrt{2} 2 to get \sqrt{2}/2.

Are there consistent rules on how to write shorthand \frac?

Note that this is nothing to do with \frac per se: you will see the same with almost any commands where you provide single tokens as mandatory arguments. — Joseph Wright, Aug 08 '12 at 18:45

score 7 · Accepted Answer · answered Aug 08 '12 at 18:40

7

The command \frac has two mandatory arguments. So you can they the first two tokens are the arguments (or simple the first two groups).

\frac \sqrt{2} 2 fails because \sqrt is the first token, {2} the second one.

answered Aug 08 '12 at 18:40

Marco Daniel

1 Answers1