Mathematical Typesetting

How to Number Equations in LaTeX

Numbered equations are essential for academic papers, allowing you to reference them later in your text.

Numbered Equation

Use the equation environment for automatic numbering:

\begin{equation}
  E = mc^2
\end{equation}

Unnumbered Equation

Add an asterisk to suppress the number:

\begin{equation*}
  a^2 + b^2 = c^2
\end{equation*}

% Or use \[ ... \]:
\[ F = ma \]

Label and Reference

Add labels to reference equations in text:

\begin{equation}
  E = mc^2 \label{eq:einstein}
\end{equation}

As shown in Equation~\ref{eq:einstein}...
% Or use \eqref for parentheses: (\eqref{eq:einstein})

Custom Numbering

Change the equation counter:

\setcounter{equation}{0}  % reset to 0
\renewcommand{\theequation}{\Alph{section}.\arabic{equation}}  % A.1, A.2...

💡 Tips

•Use \eqref{label} instead of \ref{label} for automatic parentheses
•Label names should be descriptive: eq:energy, eq:force, etc.
•Add ~ before \ref to prevent line breaks

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