In mathematics, physics, and chemistry, we can use the proportional symbol when the increment and decrement of one value depend on another. The proportional symbol shows the increment and decrement of both values will always occur in the same ratio. This property of the variables is called “proportionality”.

The proportional symbol may look complicated, but you can use it easily in LaTeX. To know how to write and use a proportional symbol, read this tutorial, where we will include and explain different ways to use the proportional symbol in LaTeX.

How To Write and Use a Proportional Symbol in LaTeX

There is a straightforward source code to display the proportional symbol in LaTeX. The following is a simple example:

Source Code

Output:

Let’s take another example to show that distance is proportional to speed. To write it in LaTeX, we can use the following source code:

Output:

For the variation in the proportional symbol, you can use the \amssymb usepackage. We can write the previous example with the \amssymb usepackage. However, it requires \varpropto rather than \propto.

Output:

If you need to explain that two values ​​are not proportional, you can use the not proportional symbol with the following source code:

Output:

You can use the not proportional symbol with \amssymb usepackage through the following source code:

Output:

You can use the proportional and approximate symbols to represent that one quantity is nearly proportional to another. To use these symbols together, you need amssymb usepackage and the following source code:

Output:

Conclusion

This article briefly showed information on the source code to write and use a proportional symbol in LaTeX. We have explained different proportional symbols so you can try correctly representing a specific statement of proportionality. Please be sure to use the correct package and source code. Otherwise, you may get an error while compiling your document in LaTeX.