Here is a good explanation of how to download and install LaTeX on your computer.
After you have LaTeX (either MiKTeX or MacTeX depending on whether you are using Windows or a Mac) and Texmaker installed, open Texmaker. Copy and paste the contents of the following block into a new blank document.
\documentclass[12pt]{article}
\usepackage{amsmath,amsfonts,amssymb}
\begin{document}
This is a LaTeX document. To include mathematical expressions in LaTeX, surround the expression
with dollar signs to use the inline math-mode. For example: $x^2+4x-5 = 0$.
If you want a formula to be displayed prominently on its own line, use backslashes followed by
square brackets to begin and end display-mode math:
\[\cos(x^2+1) = x.\]
Latex has commands for lots of mathematical symbols. You can look a lot of these commands up by
clicking on the symbol icons on the far left of Texmaker. We will re-use certain commands a lot,
like the quantifiers $\forall$ and $\exists$ and the inequality symbols $\ge$ and $\le$. You
won't have any trouble remembering those. To make fractions, try $\frac{1}{2}$. Notice that
display-mode fractions are larger:
\[\frac{x^2}{5}.\]
Curly brackets are a little tricky in LaTeX. To make the curly brackets needed to write a set
you need to use backslashes before the curly brackets, like in this example
$A = \{n \in \mathbb{Z} : n^2 \text{ is prime} \}$.
We'll cover other LaTeX symbols as they come up throughout the course.
\end{document}After you have pasted all of the text above, save the file with a name like demo.tex (all LaTeX files must end with .tex). To compile the document into pdf, click on the Quick Build arrow at the top of Texmaker. This should create and display a nice pdf file for you to look over.
At first LaTeX seems like a complicated way to create documents. I will give you templates for each homework assignment, and using those templates will make it much easier to get started. Don't hesitate to ask me if your LaTeX source won't compile. I know that it takes some practice to get used to catching mistakes. By the end of the semester, you will be much faster writing math with LaTeX than with Word, and it will look much nicer too.