In Geometry, line segments are textually symbolised with a horizontal line over point labels. As an example, on a triangle with the corners labelled "a," "b" and "c," you would represent the line segment from points "a" to "b" as "ab" with a horizontal line over both letters. In Microsoft Word, you can write these line symbols using the included equation editor. This equation editor lets you enter various equations or symbols and keep them inline with your text.

Click the location in your Microsoft Word document where you want the line segment symbol to appear. Do not type anything yet.

  • In Geometry, line segments are textually symbolised with a horizontal line over point labels.
  • Click the location in your Microsoft Word document where you want the line segment symbol to appear.

Click the top "Insert" tab.

Click "Equation" in the "Symbols" group to open the "Design" tab.

Click "Accent" in the "Structures" group and click the "Bar" icon. This icon displays a dotted square with a horizontal line over it. When you hover your mouse pointer over the icon, a tooltip pops up displaying, "Bar."

Click the dotted square that appears in the equation editor within your document, and type the two end points for your line segment, such as "ab". You should now see "ab" with a horizontal line over it.

  • Click "Equation" in the "Symbols" group to open the "Design" tab.
  • Click the dotted square that appears in the equation editor within your document, and type the two end points for your line segment, such as "ab".

Click anywhere in your document to return to normal view. The line segment symbol appears just like any other text in your document.