chemistry and maths symbols

[Hugh Griffiths]

there are two symbols that I'd like to use but I can't find in Equation or
Symbols in Word 2007. They are:
(1) The three dots in a triangle meaning "therefore"
(2) The double harpoon meaning "in equilbrium with".

Can anyone help?

 

[Kamran]

You can use the Character Map to insert these symbols. Go to Start > All
Programs > Accessories > System Tools > Character Map.
For the "therefore" symbol, scroll down to the Symbol font, and you'll find
it third row down, on the right.
For the equilibrium symbol, go to Wingdings 3 font, and you'll find it third
row down, on the left.
Use the Select and Copy buttons, then paste into your document.

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

See http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/General/InsertSpecChars.htm for instructions
on using the Insert | Symbol dialog in Word. As Kamran points out, the
therefore character can be found in the Symbol font (characters 92 ).
Although there is a double arrow at character 68 in Wingdings 3, it's not
really a double harpoon; there are two of these at 21CB and 21CC (in the
Arrows character subset) in the Arial Unicode MS font (if you have that
installed).

 

[Kamran]

Right, that is a better way, and you don't have to go outside of Word for it.
Why didn't I think of that?? It also allows you to set a keyboard shortcut
for it as well.

 

[Jay Freedman]

Hugh,

In addition, you may not be aware of the feature called Math AutoCorrect that's
available in Word's new equation editor (the one invoked by Alt+= or by the
Insert > Equation command). This works like the regular AutoCorrect, but it's
loaded with mnemonics for many of the symbols, and you can add more.

There is a predefined mnemonic for the "therefore" symbol,

\therefore

followed by the spacebar to trigger the replacement.

To add one for the equilibrium arrows:

- Type the Unicode number 21CC into a document and press Alt+X to change it into
the symbol.

- Select the symbol.

- Go to Office button > Word Options > Proofing > AutoCorrect Options > Math
AutoCorrect. The symbol should appear in the With box at the top of the list.

- In the Replace box, type a mnemonic such as \equil and click the Add button.

- OK out to the document, and try out your new mnemonic.

- When you exit Word, if you're prompted to save changes to Normal.dotm, say
yes.

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

 

[Bob Buckland ?:-\)]

Hi Kamran,

To Add to Jay's reply,

If you use the Word 2007 Equation Editor, once you have used Alt=
to insert an empty equation content control the symbols are also available via

Equation Tools=>Design=>Symbols

'Therefore' is in both 'Basic Math' and 'Advanced Relation Operators'

'In equilibrium' is in the 'Arrows' section as 'Right Harpoon over Left Harpoon'. There isn't a predefined Math autocorrect (Alt,
T, A) shorthand for it, but that feature is extensible. To add the entry

1. Use Alt= to create a blank Equation content control.

2. Use Equation Tools=>Design=>Symbols and click on the 'More' arrow at the bottom right of the dialog.

3. At the top left of the gallery click the 'more' arrow and select the 'Arrows' category.

4. Insert the Right Harpoon Over Left Harpoon choice (center, 5th row down) into your equation.

5. In the equation select the just inserted symbol and type Alt, T, A and switch to the Math autocorrect tab.

6. In the 'Replace' block type your shorthand, for example \equalib
The symbol should already appear in the 'With' [replace with block].

7. Click the [Add] button.

It's generally recommended that for operators you stick with the Cambria Math font character set for adding Math Autocorrect items,
but you can save long, commonly used equations or groups in Math Autocorrect (example, the included Quadratic equation).

You can also select all or any part of an equation, right click and use Save As New Equation to put it into the Equation Gallery of
the Word 2007 Building Blocks. Both the Math Autocorrect and Building Block galleries can come in handy, but what combination of
these makes sense for the way you work is up to you

The older MS Equation Editor 3.0 (Insert=>Object=>Object) doesn't have the equilibrium symbol and Microsoft used to provide a font,
MathExt.TTF to allow you to build it there, but it's no longer provided by Microsoft, but it is, if I recall correctly, still
available as part of the older WordPerfect converter kit (WPCnv.exe) that's available from MS's FTP site or from http://gmayor.com.
You can get MathML features from Design Sciences Mathtype at http://mathtype.com

==================
Right, that is a better way, and you don't have to go outside of Word for it.
Why didn't I think of that?? It also allows you to set a keyboard shortcut
for it as well.>>
--

Bob Buckland ?
MS Office System Products MVP

*Courtesy is not expensive and can pay big dividends*

 

[Bob Mathews]

Hugh,

There have been some excellent replies thus far, but let me state that
if you need space above and/or below the equilibrium harpoon (for
stating initial conditions, catalysts, etc.) those templates are
provided in MathType. The length of the harpoon will expand according
to the length of whatever text you put in the slots accompanying the
harpoon.

For more information about MathType, or to download a free evaluation
copy, see the URL in my signature.

--
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