a fraction bug in Equation Editor in Word2007?

[Lee]

When I typed "a\sqrt(b/a)+b\sqrt(a/b) if ab=9"
the height of the first radical became bigger than the second one.
This is a typical example. I am having a quite a few similar problems in
fractions.
Any thoughts???

Thanks in advance.

 

[Bob Buckland ?:-\)]

Hi Lee,

The way it appears that you've constructed the equation you're computing one square root within the original one so that the first
square root 'symbol' is larger to attempt to show it's encompassing the full equation.
In fact the first sqrt symbol changes sizing from the time you first type it and then as you proceed through the equation.

The effect only appears if you have chosen 'Professional' display rather than 'Linear' for the equation. If in the Equation Tools
ribbon you click on the launcher (square box) on the bottom of the 'Tools' group and then choose the option

'Reduce size of nested fractions in display equations'

does that give you more of what you were expecting?

============
<<<Lee> wrote in message When I typed "a\sqrt(b/a)+b\sqrt(a/b) if ab=9"
the height of the first radical became bigger than the second one.
This is a typical example. I am having a quite a few similar problems in
fractions.
Any thoughts???

Thanks in advance.>>
--

Bob Buckland ?
MS Office System Products MVP

*Courtesy is not expensive and can pay big dividends*

 

[Jay Freedman]

Bob, I can reproduce Lee's problem, and it isn't because one square root is
inside the other (that is, it isn't inside). The difference in size appears to
be caused by the fact that (b/a) contains a letter with an ascender in the
numerator of the fraction, while (a/b) doesn't. If you change the expression to
"a\sqrt(b/a)+b\sqrt(d/b)" then both radicals become the same size.

--
Regards,
Jay Freedman
Microsoft Word MVP
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so all
may benefit.

 

[Lee]

Hi Bob,
Thank you for your post to help me out.
Actually, the sample equation I provided was not a nested fraction. It is like
a*sqrt( b/a) + b* sqrt(a/b) ...
I've tried both manual-typing "\sqrt" and toolbar menus within "Design"
sub-menus, but the result is same.
Unfortunately, I can't upload the image for the screenshot. My best
description should be "the 1st square-root sign is taller than the 2nd one."

I've tried "Reduce ..." option you suggested and it has the same effect.

The funny thing is,
once the above equation is in "Professional" display, in the 2nd square-root
if I change the numerator "a" to "b", then the both height of the square-root
signs becomes same, and if I change back to "a", then the height reduces.

 

[Stefan Blom]

FWIW, the same thing seems to happen if you make use of an Equation object.
:-(

--
Stefan Blom
Microsoft Word MVP


in message

 

[Bob Mathews]

When I typed "a\sqrt(b/a)+b\sqrt(a/b) if ab=9"
the height of the first radical became bigger than the second
one. This is a typical example. I am having a quite a few similar
problems in fractions.

and Stefan Blom responded:

FWIW, the same thing seems to happen if you make use of an
Equation object. :-(

I don't follow that. You mean Insert > Object > Microsoft Equation
3.0? I just tried it in both Equation Editor and MathType, and it
looked "normal" in both cases (meaning that the height of the radical
symbol was the same for both radicals).

--
Bob Mathews
Director of Training
Design Science, Inc.
bobm at dessci.com
http://www.dessci.com/free.asp?free=news
FREE fully-functional 30-day evaluation of MathType
MathType, WebEQ, MathPlayer, MathFlow, Equation Editor, TeXaide

 

[Stefan Blom]

Sorry for not being clear. The test (which was actually the opposite of the
one that Jay was talking about in his post) was performed in Word 2007 with
the old Equation Editor. What I found was this:

If the denominator in a fraction inside a square root has a letter with a
descender, such as p, the old Equation Editor will make the square root
bigger, thus making two square roots different in size. For example, this
happens with an expression such as sqrt(a/p) + sqrt(a/b).

--
Stefan Blom
Microsoft Word MVP


in message

 

[Bob Mathews]

Stefan, thanks for the clarification, and you're right. In the
situation you describe, the radical symbol does indeed extend farther
if the denominator has a descender than it does if the denominator
does not have a descender. Same is true with MathType. Same is true
with LaTeX. Same is true with Word 2007's OMML Equation Editor (aka
"the new one"). In fact, it needs to. The expression would look pretty
goofy otherwise.

Here's a document showing examples of all the situations we've
discussed in this thread. I've added dotted horizontal lines to make
it easy to compare the height of the radicals with other radicals in
the same expression...

In DOCX format: http://afwings.net/radical-with-descender.docx
In PDF format (same document):
http://afwings.net/radical-with-descender.pdf

I think there's room for improvement in each of the examples. Notice
that even in the LaTeX example, the last radical (the one multiplied
by "d") extends too far above the numerator.

--
Bob Mathews
Director of Training
Design Science, Inc.
bobm at dessci.com
http://www.dessci.com/free.asp?free=news
FREE fully-functional 30-day evaluation of MathType
MathType, WebEQ, MathPlayer, MathFlow, Equation Editor, TeXaide