Math & Notation Translator: Symbols to Words
Don’t let Greek letters and subscripts lock you out of a paper. This prompt turns opaque equations into plain English β with symbol definitions, explanations, and worked examples.
What to Include When Asking AI to Explain Equations
You’re reading a paper that looks promising β until you hit a wall of subscripts, summation signs, and Greek letters. The abstract made sense. The introduction was clear. Then the methods section arrived and suddenly you’re staring at notation that might as well be hieroglyphs.
This is where most non-specialist readers abandon a paper. But you don’t have to. The key to using AI to explain equations in words is giving it enough context to translate accurately.
Always include the abstract. It anchors the AI in the paper’s domain and research question. A sigma (Ο) means something different in statistics, physics, and computer science. The abstract tells AI which interpretation to use.
Copy equations exactly. Subscripts, superscripts, and special characters all matter. If you can’t copy-paste from the PDF, describe the layout: “x subscript i, superscript 2” or use standard text conventions like x_i^2.
Specify your level. Add a line like “Explain this as if I have an undergraduate understanding of statistics.” This calibrates the explanation to your actual knowledge.
The Paper Map Prompt is your ideal first step β it gives you the overall structure before you dive into equations. Once you know what each section does, you can focus your notation translation efforts on the equations that matter most.
For the complete research paper reading toolkit, explore the Read Research Papers pillar or return to the AI for Reading hub.
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