LaTeX Tasks


To test your LaTeX skills, please try the following tasks. You should be able to use the ALPHA editor to prepare your files, and OZTEX to process them.

1) Create a document containing two paragraphs of text. using italic and boldface fonts for a few words. Process the document through OZTEX and then view the DVI file.

2) In your document, add a paragraph that includes a list. The list may be unordered, numbered, or a description list. Here is an example:

        Voronoi tessellations, which are the topic of one of the REU projects,
        are also known as:
        * Thiessen polygons, for geographers;
        * Dirichlet tiles;
        * Meijering regions, for crystallographers.
        They have been "reinvented" many times.
      

3) Write a paragraph that uses math symbols and formulas, both as part of the text, and as separate, displayed math. For example:

        An identity is a statement that is true for any angle theta, such as
 
          sin^2(theta) + cos^2(theta) = 1

        whereas, in most cases, an equation which we may symbolize as 
        f(theta)=0 is only true for a few selected values of theta.  For 
        instance, the equation

          tan(alpha) = 1

        is only true for special alpha values

          alpha = pi/4, 5pi/4, ...
      
(You should try to get a real Greek theta and alpha, of course!)

4) Figure out how to typeset the following (meaningless) formula:

        sqrt ( x^12 + 1 )
       --------------------    = Integral ( from -12 to lambda+1 ) tan(x) dx
         y   + y
          1     23
      
Again, use a real lambda! Try to put space between tan(x) and dx. And try to make the tan in tan(x) come out in a proper font.

5) Set up the following table:

         -------------------------------------------------------
         | Angle | Degrees |   Cosine     |  Comment
         -------------------------------------------------------
         |       |     o   |              |
         |  0    |    0    |    1.0       |  Looks like 3 o'clock.
         -------------------------------------------------------
         |       |     o   |              |
         | pi/4  |   45    |  sqrt(2)/2   |  The sine is the same.
         -------------------------------------------------------
         |       |     o   |              |
         | pi    |   90    |    0.0       |  Noon.
         -------------------------------------------------------
      

6) Use MATLAB to create a graph of

        y = sin ( ( x - 1 ) * ( x - 3 ) )
      
from 0 <= x <= 6. Save the graph as an EPS file, and then include it in your document using a FIGURE.

Back to REU 2001 homepage.


Last revised on 10 July 2001.