A dot derivative is denoted by a dot or more than one dot on a letter in mathematics.
| Symbol | Dot derivative |
|---|---|
| Type of symbol | Dot |
| Package (requirement) | No |
| Argument | Yes |
| Latex command | \dot{v} |
| Example | \dot{v} → v̇ |
Use \dot command
It is very easy to write in LaTeX, you need to use \dot{v} command for a single dot and \ddot{v} command for double dot on the letter. And these are the default commands of LaTeX.
\documentclass{article}
\begin{document}
\[ \dot{v} \]
\[ \ddot{v} \]
\[ \dot{v} + v =\cos(\dot{v}) \]
\[ \ddot{v} + v =\cos(\dot{v}) \]
\end{document}Output :

Use amsmath package
You will also need the amsmath package if you want to use more dots on the letter, you can use the \dddot{v} and \ddddot{v} commands included in this package.
If you look at the latex commands, you will understand that as many dots as “d” has been used.
\documentclass{article}
\begin{document}
\[ \dddot{v} \]
\[ \ddddot{v} \]
\[ \dddot{v} + v =\cos(\dot{v}) \]
\[ \ddddot{v} + v =\cos(\dot{v}) \]
\end{document}Output :

Dot notation for derivative of a vector
To denote the vector dot derivative you need to use \vec{v} as an argument in the \dot{arg} command like \dot{\vec{v}}.
\vec{arg} command is used to denote vectors in latex and it’s a default command of latex.
You can also use the \vv{arg} command in the esvect package instead of the \vec{arg} command.
This will make the arrow symbol at the top of the letter look more professional and you can use any one of the optional arguments a, b, c … h with the esvect package to print the arrow as you like. Like \usepackage[b]{esvect}, that’s why I recommend it.
\documentclass{article}
\usepackage[c]{esvect}
\begin{document}
% Use \vec{•} command
\[ \vec{v}, \dot{\vec{v}}, \ddot{\vec{v}}, \dot{\vec{r}} \]
\[ \vec{r}=\frac{1}{2}\dot{\vec{v}}t^2 + \vec{v}t \]
% Use esvect package's \vv{•} command
\[ \texttt{Output using esvect package} \downarrow \]
\[ \vv{v}, \dot{\vv{v}}, \ddot{\vv{v}}, \dot{\vv{r}} \]
\[ \vv{r}=\frac{1}{2}\dot{\vv{v}}t^2 + \vv{v}t \]
\end{document}Output :
