4

I'm wondering is there any way to make the letters "V" and "P" in my TVPI abbreviation be closer to each other? Now they look to far from each other to me.

Here is the code

\begin{equation}
TVPI=\frac{Distributed\:capital}{Paid\mbox{-}in\:capital}
\end{equation}

and the result

enter image description here

Thanks.

Spike
  • 95

2 Answers2

8

In TeX's math mode, individual letters are treated as separate variables. That's why you're getting the four letters in "TVPI" spaced apart so far (with the gap between V and P being especially large).

To make TeX/LaTeX treat "TVPI" as the name of a single variable (and, by the way, typeset the text in the numerator and denominator as upright text rather than in math italics), you should use code along the following lines:

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{amsmath} % for \text macro
\newcommand{\TVPI}{\textit{TVPI}} % set acronym in text-italics mode
\begin{document}
\begin{equation}
\TVPI=\frac{\text{Distributed capital}}{\text{Paid-in capital}}
\end{equation}
\end{document}

enter image description here

If you prefer an upright-roman rather than italic look for the variable name, you should use \textnormal instead of \textit. Happy TeXing!

Mico
  • 506,678
  • Thanks for the answer. I have another though general question. Are there any standards concerning text in equations in LaTeX, i.e. should the text (in my case "Distributed capital" and "Paid-in capital") be italic or normal? – Spike Oct 03 '13 at 18:27
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    @Spike -- whether upright or italic type is used isn't a latex question; it's a question of the subject matter. my guess (i'm not an economist) is that these terms are really text, and should follow the style of the enclosing environment. thus, if this equation happens to be embedded in a theorem (italic), the terms should be in (text) italic; if they're in normal (upright) text, they whould be upright. the \text command (from amsmath) pays attention to that, and follows the surrounding style. – barbara beeton Oct 03 '13 at 19:25
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    @Spike - I think it's customary in math settings -- at least among some economists... -- to use italics for variable names and upright lettering for 'plain' text, such as "Distributed capital" and "Paid-in capital". Actually, the code I used in the example, which employs the \text command, would use upright roman or italics depending on the surrounding material; as barbara beeton has pointed out, if the formula occurred in a theorem-like environment that italices text, the contents of a \text command would also be set in italics. If it has to be in upright letters, use \textnormal. – Mico Oct 03 '13 at 19:41
2

Another way to do it (with the same output as Mico's) if you need this acronym only once (and don't need to define a new command, using \mbox and \itshape.

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{amsmath}
\begin{document}
\begin{equation}
\mbox{\itshape TVPI}=\frac{\mbox{Distributed capital}}{\mbox{Paid-in capital}}
\end{equation}
\end{document}

Output

Ludovic C.
  • 8,888
  • What exactly does the \mbox do? – Spike Oct 03 '13 at 18:36
  • @Spike the \mbox command creates a box just wide enough to hold the text created by its argument. In this case it helps to escape the math mode and write as if it was regular text. – Ludovic C. Oct 03 '13 at 18:39
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    since you're using amsmath, you could use \text instead of \mbox. this would ensure the correct size should one of these terms happen to get used (for example) in a subscript. – barbara beeton Oct 03 '13 at 19:19