Displaying sums in column format with LaTeX

Question

Due to my disability, I cannot write without the use of a computer. When working with numbers it is often helpful to write arithmetic problems in column format, e.g.

I have never been able to do this without assistance from an able-bodied person.

I recently began looking for a solution to this issue and found LaTeX. Is it possible to write a sum in column format in LaTeX, or is there some other more appropriate tool for this?

Note that I'm not interested in solving the sums with software, I just need to display them in a way which makes them easier for me to work with.

Answer 1

I use LaTeX regularly to write papers. It is a very powerful piece of software, but I'm not sure how useful it would be for your needs. Here is the minimum amount of code to write your example:

 \documentclass[]{article}   

 \begin{document}

 \begin{tabular}{r}
     5 \\ 
     + 12 \\ 
     \hline
     17
 \end{tabular}

 \end{document}

And the (cropped from A4/Letter) output:

There are some WYSIWYG editors for LaTeX such as LyX which might make it easier.

Answer 2

Another option is to use the multirow package:

\documentclass[]{article} 
\usepackage{multirow}


\begin{document}

\begin{tabular}{rr}
\multirow{2}{*}{+} & $5$ \\ 
           & $12$ \\ 
\cline{2-2}
    & 17
\end{tabular}

\end{document}

which produces: