TeXipedia

sf

Enables Sans Serif font style for text, commonly used for modern-looking headings and technical content.

Overview

Provides a clean, contemporary typeface option that removes the decorative serifs from characters, making text appear more geometric and minimalist.

  • Popular in technical documentation, presentations, and modern academic works.
  • Often chosen for improved readability on digital displays and projectors.
  • Particularly effective for short text elements like headers, figure captions, and technical labels.
  • Represents one of LaTeX's fundamental font-switching commands from the legacy font selection system.

Examples

Using sans-serif font for a mathematical variable name in an equation.

Let Vtotal=πr2h be the volume\text{Let } V_{\sf total} = \pi r^2h \text{ be the volume} 
\text{Let } V_{\sf total} = \pi r^2h \text{ be the volume}

Displaying a physical unit in sans-serif font within an equation.

T=298.15KT = 298.15 \text{\sf K} 
T = 298.15 \text{\sf K}

Using sans-serif for a matrix label in mathematical notation.

Aref=(1001)\mathbf{A}_{\sf ref} = \begin{pmatrix} 1 & 0 \\ 0 & 1 \end{pmatrix} 
\mathbf{A}_{\sf ref} = \begin{pmatrix} 1 & 0 \\ 0 & 1 \end{pmatrix}