Display equation and equation number not in correct position after copy and paste

Issue

You've got a document with several numbered equations, which you have inserted with the Right-numbered button on the MathType 7 tab in Word. You need to insert a new one, and it's nearly identical to the previous one. So you copy equation (2.2) and paste it, and after refreshing the numbers, your two equations look like this:

Reason

Equation numbers are formatted, and the numbers and equations are both positioned with style named MTDisplayEquation. The specifications of this style's formatting are determined when you insert the first display equation into the document, whether the equation is numbered or not. Display equations are centred with a tab set halfway between left and right margins. Right-justified equation numbers are positioned at the right margin with a right-justified tab. Depending on how you copy the equation and the number, it will probably not have these tabs associated with it. (For more detailed information about the MTDisplayEquation style, please see our other TechNote on that subject).

Solution

The equations in this example provide a great example of why you might want to copy and paste an equation. It would help if you had an equation that's very close to an existing equation, so it's easier to modify a current equation than to create a new one and run the risk of making a typo. Doing it correctly depends on selecting, copying, and pasting the equation and number.

IF you select only the equation and the number, like this…

…then, it will paste the same as in the example above.

At this point, notice something other than the obvious. Notice on the ruler in this screenshot there is two tabs. There is a centre tab for positioning the equation, and there is a right-justified tab for setting the equation number. The tabs are part of the MTDisplayEquation style. The misalignment occurs because copying just the equation and the number doesn't copy the style associated with that line. Word sees this as a paragraph like any other, and thus it pastes as Normal style, which does not include the tabs.

BUT there's a better way!

We don't recommend copying an equation from a Word document and pasting it into a Word document. Whether it's the same document or a different one doesn't matter. We don't recommend it. Sure it's an easy process, but doing this will eventually cause problems. By adding just another step or two to the process, you can ensure no future issues.

Here are our two equations now:

Tip: The equations are centred now, which is typical for display equations, but if you want the two script-H characters aligned, click inside the line containing equation (2.3) and move the centre-justified tab to the left a bit. Doing so won't affect the position of the numbers, and it won't affect other numbered equations.

We hope this has been helpful. As always, please let us know if you have questions about this or if you have additional techniques that work. We'd love to hear from you.