LaTeX and Overleaf

GT 1000 · Lecture 7

Andrew J. Steinmetz

2026-10-09

Due dates

What	When	Points
Team Project Contract	Tonight, Oct. 9, 11:59 PM ET	50 (5%) · Team Project
Homework in LaTeX — Lastname-Firstname-LaTeX.pdf and .tex	Oct. 16, 11:59 PM ET	50 (5%) · Academic Planning
Online Profile	Oct. 23, 11:59 PM ET	75 (7.5%) · Career Readiness
Advising Meeting & Spring 2027 Plan	Oct. 30, 11:59 PM ET	60 (6%) · Academic Planning
Team Project Slides and Presentation	Slides Nov. 6; talk Nov. 6 or Nov. 13	100 + 100 (20%) · Team Project

Team Leader check-ins for the Team Project are also due Oct. 30. Remind teams that every member signs the contract before it is submitted tonight.

What is LaTeX, and why Overleaf?

• LaTeX is plain text with markup, compiled into a PDF.
• You write what you mean; LaTeX does the layout.
• Physicists use it for equations, numbering, cross-references, and bibliographies.
• Overleaf is LaTeX in your browser. Free with your GT email; nothing to install.

\section{Newton's second law}
The net force is $F = ma$, so
\begin{equation}
  a = \frac{F}{m}.
\end{equation}

1  Newton’s second law

The net force is \(F = ma\), so \[a = \frac{F}{m}. \tag{1}\]

Source: (The LaTeX Project, n.d.; Overleaf, n.d.-b)

The right column is source on top and output below. Point out that the section number and the equation number were not typed; LaTeX assigned them. Contrast with Word: what you see is what you get, versus what you mean is what you get. Journals (APS, arXiv), theses, and many grant proposals expect LaTeX. Overleaf also gives shared editing, version history, and templates (lab reports, CVs, theses). A local install (TeX Live or MiKTeX plus an editor) is an option later, but Overleaf is all they need for this course. Check before class that signing up with a GT email still links to Georgia Tech’s institutional Overleaf account.

Anatomy of a LaTeX document

\documentclass[12pt, letterpaper]{article}
\usepackage{amsmath}   % better math
\usepackage{graphicx}  % images
\title{PHYS 2211, HW 5, Problem 3}
\author{Your Name}
\date{\today}

\begin{document}
\maketitle
\section{Problem Statement}
A ball is launched at speed $v_0$ and
angle $\theta$ above level ground.
Find its \textbf{range} $R$.
\end{document}

• Preamble: class, packages, title.
• Body: what appears on the page.
• Commands start with \.
• {} holds arguments; [] holds options.
• Environments: \begin … \end.
• % starts a comment.

Source: (Oetiker et al. 2021)

The preamble is everything before \begin{document}. Blank lines separate paragraphs; extra spaces and single line breaks are ignored. LaTeX ignores everything after a % on that line.

Live demo: building a homework note

1. New Project → Blank Project
2. Title, author, \maketitle
3. Three \sections
4. A list: itemize

5. Equations: \label, \eqref
6. A figure with a \caption
7. Break it; read the error
8. Download PDF and source

Open Overleaf and follow along. By the end, you will have a starting point for the Homework in LaTeX assignment.

Source: (Overleaf, n.d.-b, n.d.-a)

Before class: build the finished demo project once, download it as a zip, and keep a PDF of it in case the Wi-Fi or Overleaf is down. Have a photo of a hand-drawn trajectory sketch ready to upload (trajectory.png).

Worked problem (PHYS 2211 style): a ball is launched from level ground with speed v0 at angle theta. Find its range R.

Step 4, list of given quantities:

\begin{itemize}
  \item $v_0$: launch speed (m/s)
  \item $\theta$: launch angle above the horizontal
  \item $g = 9.8~\text{m/s}^2$: gravitational acceleration
\end{itemize}

Step 5, the equation and a reference back to it:

The ball lands when $y = 0$, at $t = 2 v_0 \sin\theta / g$.
Multiplying by the horizontal speed $v_0 \cos\theta$ gives
\begin{equation}
  R = \frac{v_0^2 \sin 2\theta}{g}.
  \label{eq:range}
\end{equation}
Equation~\eqref{eq:range} is largest at $\theta = 45^\circ$.

Step 6, the figure:

\begin{figure}[h]
  \centering
  \includegraphics[width=0.5\textwidth]{trajectory.png}
  \caption{Trajectory of the ball.}
  \label{fig:traj}
\end{figure}

Step 7, three breaks: (1) type “100% of the time” in a sentence; there is no error, the rest of the line silently disappears. Fix with a backslash before the percent sign. (2) Type v_0 outside math and show “Missing $ inserted.” (3) Delete a closing brace and show how the log points to the line.

Interpretation section (say it, maybe type it): units are (m/s)^2 / (m/s^2) = m; R = 0 at theta = 0 and at 90 degrees; v0 = 10 m/s at 45 degrees gives about 10.2 m, which is reasonable for a thrown ball.

Writing math

You type	You get
x^2, v_0, x_{\max}	\(x^2\), \(v_0\), \(x_{\max}\)
\frac{a}{b}, \sqrt{2gh}	\(\frac{a}{b}\), \(\sqrt{2gh}\)
\theta, \omega, \Delta E	\(\theta\), \(\omega\), \(\Delta E\)
\vec{F}, \hat{x}	\(\vec{F}\), \(\hat{x}\)
\int_0^T v\,dt	\(\int_0^T v\,dt\)
\approx, \pm, \times	\(\approx\), \(\pm\), \(\times\)
9.8~\text{m/s}^2	\(9.8~\text{m/s}^2\)

Inline, inside a sentence: $...$

Displayed and numbered:

\begin{equation}
  R = \frac{v_0^2 \sin 2\theta}{g}
  \label{eq:range}
\end{equation}

Refer back: Eq.~\eqref{eq:range} gives “Eq. (1)”, and the number updates itself.

Use equation* or \[...\] for unnumbered equations.

Source: (Overleaf, n.d.-c) · Can’t find a symbol? Draw it in Detexify (Kirsch, n.d.).

, equation*, and all need

. Detexify lets you draw a symbol and gives you the command.

When it won’t compile

Message	Usual cause	Fix
Undefined control sequence	Typo in a command, or a missing package	Check spelling; add the \usepackage
Missing $ inserted	^, _, or Greek outside math	Wrap it in $...$
Runaway argument	A { with no matching }	Find and close the brace
Text vanishes after %	% starts a comment	Write \% (also \&, \$, \#, \_)
File not found	Image not uploaded, or the name differs	Match the file name exactly

Recompile often. Fix the first error first; the log gives you the line number.

Overleaf’s log panel links each error to its line in the editor. Errors often cascade: one missing brace can produce ten messages, and fixing the first one clears the rest.

Writing up a solution

• Write for a reader who has not seen the assignment.
• Define every symbol the first time it appears, with units.
• Put words between equations. Equations are part of sentences and take punctuation.
• Check your answer, units, size, and limiting cases.
• Give every figure a caption and refer to it in text.

Less effective

\(y = v_0 \sin\theta \, t - \tfrac{1}{2} g t^2 = 0\)
\(t = 2 v_0 \sin\theta / g\)
\(R = v_0^2 \sin 2\theta / g\)

More effective

The ball lands when its height returns to zero, \(v_0 \sin\theta \, t - \tfrac{1}{2} g t^2 = 0\), so its flight time is \(t = 2 v_0 \sin\theta / g\). Multiplying by its horizontal speed \(v_0 \cos\theta\) gives the range \[R = \frac{v_0^2 \sin 2\theta}{g}. \tag{1}\] At \(\theta = 0\) the range is zero, as expected, and it is largest at \(\theta = 45^\circ\).

These are the habits behind the Problem Statement, Solution, and Interpretation sections of the assignment. For the homework, the problem comes from any technical course they are taking this semester. The solution must be their own work and follow that course’s collaboration policy. Upload both the PDF and the .tex to Canvas.

References

Kirsch, Daniel. n.d. “Detexify: LaTeX Handwritten Symbol Recognition.” Accessed October 9, 2026. https://detexify.kirelabs.org/classify.html.

Oetiker, Tobias, Hubert Partl, Irene Hyna, and Elisabeth Schlegl. 2021. The Not So Short Introduction to LaTeX2e. Version 6.4. https://ctan.org/pkg/lshort-english.

Overleaf. n.d.-a. “Inserting Images.” Accessed October 9, 2026. https://www.overleaf.com/learn/latex/Inserting_Images.

Overleaf. n.d.-b. “Learn LaTeX in 30 Minutes.” Accessed October 9, 2026. https://www.overleaf.com/learn/latex/Learn_LaTeX_in_30_minutes.

Overleaf. n.d.-c. “Mathematical Expressions.” Accessed October 9, 2026. https://www.overleaf.com/learn/latex/Mathematical_expressions.

The LaTeX Project. n.d. “LaTeX: A Document Preparation System.” Accessed October 9, 2026. https://www.latex-project.org/.