Math as it is written
Typing / builds a fraction, ^ a power, \ a root. Sums, integrals, limits, matrices and cases come from a palette or from a quick insert on Cmd+K.
Math, with the working shown.
Write a problem the way you would on paper, in real fractions, roots, integrals and matrices. MathPad works it out down the page, in numbers with their units or in symbols, and writes out each step the way it is taught.
What it does
A notebook of real pages, worked out from the top down: a name defined on one line is known to every line below it.
Steps, not just answers
Solving, factoring, differentiating and integrating write out their working: which rule, on what, giving what. Open the steps under any result, as deep as you want them.
Numbers with units
SI and US units carried through every formula and checked. Results come in the units they were built from, kN·m or km/h, and convert when you type another unit after the equals sign.
Algebra and calculus in symbols
Simplify, expand, factor, partial fractions. Equations, inequalities and systems. Derivatives, integrals, limits, series, sums, and differential equations with their conditions.
Matrices
In numbers and in letters: determinant, inverse, row reduction, eigenvalues and eigenvectors, and Ax = b, each with its steps.
Numerical methods and programs
Roots, integrals and differential equations in numbers, statistics and curve fitting, and small programs with if, for and while.
Plots
Graphs, polar and parametric curves, points, surfaces and contours. Zeros, turning points and crossings marked, areas shaded, legends in typeset math.
Tables, sliders and pictures
Columns of data that are vectors, with a column worked out from the others. Sliders, check boxes and choices that set a variable, with everything below following as they move.
Math inside a sentence
Type $ in a line of text and write math there, worked out like any other. Number an equation and refer to it; the references follow the numbers.
Pages you can hand in
Letter, A4 and others, with margins, headers and page numbers. Export as PDF, LaTeX, Markdown, a web page or plain text.
No AI, no account
Every answer comes from the rules of algebra and calculus, worked on your computer; the only thing MathPad fetches is its own updates. The same question gives the same answer, and each step can be checked by hand.
A guide and fourteen examples
The guide is written into the app with samples that are live, and a welcome notebook teaches the typing in ten lines.
A tour
1
Type it, then ask
End a line with = for a number or -> for an answer in symbols. Cmd+Return lists what can be asked of the line: solve, simplify, differentiate, integrate, and the rest. The palette at the side has every template, symbol, function and unit.
2
Read the working
Here the eigenvalues of a matrix: subtract λ on the diagonal, take the determinant, multiply out, use the quadratic formula. Below it a differential equation is about to be solved with its starting conditions.
3
Keep the units
An engineering calculation reads like the hand calculation it replaces. Give the load in kN, the span in m and the section in mm; the second moment of area comes out in mm⁴ and the deflection in mm.
4
Draw it
A plot is a region like any other, and its traces are math. Set titles, ranges and marks from the panel, drag to pan, scroll to zoom, and read values off under the mouse.
5
Light or dark
The window follows your system's appearance, pages and panels alike.
What you type
A handful of keys does most of it. The rest is in the palette.
| Type | To get |
|---|---|
| : | A definition: r ≔ 2.5 |
| = at the end | The number: πr² = 19.635 |
| -> at the end | The answer in symbols: ¾ + ½ → 5⁄4 |
| / ^ \ _ | A fraction, a power, a root, a subscript |
| 5 m | Five metres: a unit follows a number and a space |
| v = km/h | The value of v in kilometres per hour |
| $ in text | Math inside the sentence |
| Cmd+Return | Ask: what can be done with this line |
| Cmd+K | Quick insert: any template, symbol or function by name |
| Ctrl+M | A matrix |
Examples to start from
The Examples menu opens ready-made notebooks. Open one and change its numbers to see what follows.
- Quadratic Equations Factoring, the formula and complex roots, each with its steps; then a cubic.
- Linear Systems Substitution and elimination step by step, then with matrices.
- Derivatives The rules one at a time, and a tangent line with its plot.
- Integrals Substitution, parts, partial fractions, the half-angle, and an area shaded.
- Limits and Series Limits, Taylor series and sums in closed form.
- Projectile Motion Numbers with units, and the path as a parametric plot.
- Beam Deflection An engineering calculation with units and conversions.
- Matrices Determinant, inverse, eigenvalues and solving Ax = b.
- Programming Loops and ifs: a factorial, Fibonacci, Newton's method.
- Numerical Methods Roots, integrals, and a differential equation in numbers against its exact solution.
- Statistics and Curve Fitting Mean and deviation of data, and the line that fits it.
- A Surface and Its Contours A function of two variables, drawn two ways.
- A Table of Measurements Data typed in a table, a column worked out from two others, and the line that fits it.
- A Slider Driving a Plot Sliders, a check box and a choice set a damped swing; the plot follows as they move.
What it doesn't do
A tool should say where it stops. MathPad says so in its guide, and here.
- Integration covers the methods of a calculus course. What it can't find in symbols is offered as a number; there is nothing beyond elementary functions.
- Equations of the fifth degree and up are solved in symbols only when they factor, and in numbers otherwise.
- Differential equations: the first-order kinds, linear ones with constant coefficients up to the fourth order, Cauchy–Euler, and linear systems of two. No series solutions or Laplace transforms.
- Whole numbers and fractions are exact at any size in symbols; number results work in 15-digit decimals.
- Results aren't saved in a notebook file: they are worked out again when it is opened.
- Chinese, Japanese and Korean input methods don't reach the page yet.
MathPad shows its working so that you can check it. For anything that matters, do.
Download
MathPad is being finished. It will run on macOS first, with Windows to follow.
The installer shows the licence terms and asks you to agree to them.