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Four notations coexist. Leibniz fractions are the most explicit, primes the most compact, dots are physics shorthand for time derivatives, and D is the operator form. In LaTeX a prime is literally an apostrophe; \prime exists but is rarely needed.
All ways to write it
| Command | Use | Package | Copy |
|---|---|---|---|
\frac{dy}{dx} | Leibniz | none | |
\frac{d^2 y}{dx^2} | second derivative | none | |
f'(x) | Lagrange prime (just an apostrophe) | none | |
f''(x) | second derivative | none | |
\dot{x} | Newton dot, time derivative | none | |
\ddot{x} | second time derivative | none | |
D_x f | Euler operator | none |
Example
m\ddot{x} + c\dot{x} + kx = 0A damped oscillator in Newton notation.
Questions
Why does f^\prime look wrong?
The superscript position is already built into the apostrophe form. Write f' and LaTeX converts it to a correctly placed prime.
Related symbols
- Partial derivative ∂
\partial - Integral ∫
\int_{a}^{b} f(x)\,dx - Prime ′
f'
Using derivatives in Confluence
Confluence Cloud has no built-in LaTeX. With LaTeX Math for Confluence you add a math macro to any page, type \frac{dy}{dx} and it renders inline or as a block, with a live preview while you edit. Every command on this page renders there without extra packages.