TeXipedia

mathsf

Renders text in a sans-serif font style within mathematical contexts, providing a distinct, modern appearance for letters and numbers.

Overview

Particularly useful when typesetting mathematical content that needs visual distinction from standard math italics, especially for specialized notation and constants.

  • Common in computer science for algorithm names and complexity classes.
  • Used in physics and engineering to denote special functions or operators.
  • Preferred for representing matrices, transforms, and mathematical operators where upright sans-serif adds clarity.
  • Helps distinguish mathematical entities like probability spaces or statistical functions from variables.

Examples

Using sans-serif font for chemical element symbols in a chemical equation.

2Na+2H2O→2NaOH+H22\mathsf{Na} + 2\mathsf{H}_2\mathsf{O} \rightarrow 2\mathsf{NaOH} + \mathsf{H}_2 
2\mathsf{Na} + 2\mathsf{H}_2\mathsf{O} \rightarrow 2\mathsf{NaOH} + \mathsf{H}_2

Denoting a matrix using sans-serif capital letters.

Ax=By\mathsf{A}\mathbf{x} = \mathsf{B}\mathbf{y} 
\mathsf{A}\mathbf{x} = \mathsf{B}\mathbf{y}

Representing statistical variables and distributions with sans-serif notation.

X∼N(μ,σ2)\mathsf{X} \sim \mathsf{N}(\mu, \sigma^2) 
\mathsf{X} \sim \mathsf{N}(\mu, \sigma^2)