LaTeX Questions Answered
51 How do I create a long division equation in LaTeX?
Long division requires a LaTeX extension. To load the extension, use the \require
command to load the \enclose
extension that allows you to access MathML elements, including long division \longdiv
. An extension only needs to be loaded once, then it would be available for the entire book in Pressbooks.
For the first time, write \require{enclose}5\enclose{longdiv}{25}
. It looks like:
[latex]\require{enclose}5\enclose{longdiv}{25}[/latex]
After that, write as divisor\enclose{longdiv}{dividend}.
Using the same example 20 ÷ 5, write 5\enclose{longdiv}{20}
. It looks like:
[latex]5\enclose{longdiv}{20}[/latex]
If you need to include the quotient and the process of long division, combine with the \begin{array}
or \begin{align}
command (for more information, see How do I create an array using LaTeX?)
[latex]\begin{array}{r}\text{quotient}\\ \text{divisor}\enclose{longdiv}{\text{dividend}}\end{array}[/latex]
The process of 20 ÷ 5 = 4 with the remainder of 0 would be written as \begin{array}{r}4\\ 5\enclose{longdiv}{20}\\20\\ \hline 0\end{array}
.
[latex]\begin{array}{r}4\\ 5\enclose{longdiv}{20}\\-20\,\\ \hline0\,\end{array}[/latex]
Here is an example of a long division question solved that has a remainder:
[latex]\begin{array}{l}\hspace{0.7cm}32\text{ R}3\\8 \enclose{longdiv}{259}\\\hspace{0.1cm}-24\\\hline\hspace{0.8cm}19\\\hspace{0.4cm}-16\\\hline\hspace{1cm}3\end{array}[/latex]