# What is the right way to format a mathematical formula?

The question "Did Euler make the elementary mistake […]" sees something like a micro edit war centered around the formatting of the title. The original post used pseudo-math mode to represent the square root symbol:

Did Euler make the elementary mistake sqrt{-2} sqrt{-3} = sqrt{6}?

A subsequent edit by a new user (approved by two users with some experience on skeptics.SE) changed this to syntactically valid LaTex math mode:

Did Euler make the elementary mistake $\sqrt{-2} \sqrt{-3} = \sqrt{6}$?

Soon after, the title was changed again by another relatively new user by employing "Unicode instead of pseudo-TeX". The same two users who approved the previous edit also approved this edit:

Did Euler make the elementary mistake √-2 √-3 = √6?

Today, nine months later, the title was edited yet another time by a new user back to the LaTex math mode format. The user who approved this edit is the author of the original question.

Even though I can read math mode myself, I think its use is detrimental to the readability and accessibility of the site if valid alternatives like Unicode representations exist. But is there a consensus on this issue? Which way of formatting mathematical formulas is preferred on skeptics.SE?

• Note: Rolled back the change, and imposed a lock for 24 hours while this is considered.
– Oddthinking Mod
Mar 2 '21 at 16:15
• The editor who made that change has 4K rep on math.SE and 103 here, so they probably assumed (incorrectly) that LaTeX works here (too).
– Fizz
Mar 4 '21 at 2:00
• @Fizz That's a misconception I see at least four or five times a year on various SEs.
– fredsbend Mod
Mar 10 '21 at 5:44