Equation notepad

A math notepad (maths notepad in the UK) lets you type sums the way they look on paper, with real fractions, powers and square roots, and keeps your working together. Our Equation Notepad works each line out as a number as you type, so you can check a calculation step by step without a separate calculator.

It opens empty. Type an expression, press Enter to keep it, and click any kept line to change it.

Try it

Equation Notepad

Write and evaluate equations with LaTeX rendering

Open the calculatorGo to its page

How to use the equation notepad

1. Type an expression in the box at the bottom. Typing / makes a stacked fraction and ^ makes a power, so the maths looks the way it does on paper.
2. Watch the value appear beside the line.
3. Press Enter, or the add button, to keep the line on the page. Up to eight lines show at once.
4. Click a kept line to change it, or remove it with its delete button.

Your kept lines are saved to your history. On the Educator plan, the page can also be printed with all your working.

What you can type

Angles are in radians

Trigonometric functions use radians, not degrees. sin(30) gives −0.98803162, the sine of 30 radians. For 30°, type sin(pi/6), which gives 0.5, or convert first: degrees × π ÷ 180.

Worked example: checking a fraction sum

Work out ¾ + ⅛ by hand: write both over 8, 6/8 + 1/8 = 7/8. Type 3/4 + 1/8 and the notepad gives 0.875, which is 7 ÷ 8, so the working is right. Keep it, then type 7/8 on the next line to see the two match.

Check yourself:

What the notepad does not do

• No variables or algebra. A line must work out to a number. x^2 on its own has no value until x is known, so it shows nothing.
• No assignments. Typing x = 3 is not supported, so one line cannot feed the next.
• No solving. It does not solve equations. For that, use the Factoring Calculator or the Simultaneous Equations Calculator.
• Decimal answers. Results are numbers, not exact fractions or surds: √2 shows as 1.4142136.

Common mistakes

• Using degrees. Convert to radians, or use π in the angle.
• Expecting x to have a value. Put the number in place of x.
• Missing brackets. Type (1 + 2)/3 if the whole sum is on top of the fraction.

Practise number skills in a short timed paper

Fractions, powers and roots come up in Pre-Algebra & Algebra 1 practice, and in GCSE Maths Foundation in the UK. Each daily paper is a short timed paper of 8 questions worth 25 to 35 marks, and the papers mix topics. For plotting an equation instead, use the Graph Calculator.

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