Scientific Note Cheatsheet

This is just a cheatsheet of cool obsidian formatting and whatnot that I like to write down

For a more comprehensive list just use the obsidian formatting guide

although i think putting this stuff in the metadata is usually preferred

Maybe a little foreword on the topic before we dive in.

Lesser Known Obsidian Shorthands

Syntax	Description
`[[Link]]`	Internal links
`![[Link]]`	Embed files
`![[Link\#^id]]`	Block references
`^id`	Defining a block
“	Comments
`~~Text~~`	Strikethroughs
Text`	Highlights
```	Code blocks
`- [ ]`	Incomplete task
`- [x]`	Completed task
`> [!note]`	Callouts
(see link)	Tables

Desmos Embeds

do something like this

Code Embeddings and Matplotlib Graphing

You can use the obsidian codeblocks to make runnable scripts within your notes. I like to use this with python and matplotlib to make graphs when desmos cannot.

One caveat is that you have to import your libraries with micropip. This would look something like the following.

import micropip
await micropip.install("matplotlib")
await micropip.install("numpy")
 
import numpy as np
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
from mpl_toolkits.mplot3d import Axes3D
from matplotlib import cm
 
# Create figure and 3D axis
fig = plt.figure()
ax = fig.add_subplot(111, projection='3d')
 
# Define the grid for the plane
x = np.linspace(-5, 5, 30)
y = np.linspace(-5, 5, 30)
x, y = np.meshgrid(x, y)
z = 0.5 * x + 0.2 * y  # Equation of a plane: z = 0.5x + 0.2y
 
# Plot the plane
ax.plot_surface(x, y, z, cmap=cm.viridis, alpha=0.6)
 
# Define a point on the plane
point = np.array([2, 1, 0.5 * 2 + 0.2 * 1])  # (x, y, z) = (2, 1, 1.2)
 
# Plot the point
ax.scatter(point[0], point[1], point[2], color='r', s=100)
 
# Define a direction vector
direction = np.array([1, 1, 0.5 * 1 + 0.2 * 1])  # Vector with slope matching the plane
 
# Normalize the direction for plotting an arrow
direction_normalized = direction / np.linalg.norm(direction)
 
# Plot the direction as an arrow from the point
ax.quiver(point[0], point[1], point[2], direction_normalized[0], direction_normalized[1], direction_normalized[2], color='b', length=2, arrow_length_ratio=0.2)
 
# add a projection at the bottom of the graph of where the direction vector is pointing
ax.plot([point[0], point[0] + direction_normalized[0]], [point[1], point[1] + direction_normalized[1]], [0, 0], color='b', linestyle='--')
 
# Set labels
ax.set_xlabel('X axis')
ax.set_ylabel('Y axis')
ax.set_zlabel('Z axis')
ax.set_title('3D Plane with Point and Direction')
 
# Show plot
plt.show()

Mermaid Diagrams

Obsidian has some built in diagram tooling with some help from Mermaid

Here are some example diagrams you can make with mermaid.

Flow Chart

flowchart TD

A[Christmas] -->|Get money| B(Go shopping)

B --> C{Let me think}

C -->|One| D[Laptop]

C -->|Two| E[iPhone]

C -->|Three| F[fa:fa-car Car]

UML Class Diagram

classDiagram

Animal <|-- Duck

Animal <|-- Fish

Animal <|-- Zebra

Animal : +int age

Animal : +String gender

Animal: +isMammal()

Animal: +mate()

class Duck{

+String beakColor

+swim()

+quack()

}

class Fish{

-int sizeInFeet

-canEat()

}

class Zebra{

+bool is_wild

+run()

}

Git Diagram

gitGraph

commit

commit

branch develop

checkout develop

commit

commit

checkout main

merge develop

commit

commit

Mermaid also supports charts, but not nearly to the extent that the Charts Subsection - Charts View Plugin supports.

Embedding Math

Obsidian has some builtin math stuff that allow you to embed latex/mathjax within your notes.

There is inline math, defined by whatever lates is in between two dollar symbols$$

$f (x) = 2 x^{2} + \frac{2}{4}$ is an example of inline math

There are also math blocks, which center themselves on your notebook similar to how latex does it.

$L = \int_{2}^{4} sin (x) d x$

Math blocks and inline support all sorts of latex formatting, including color, etc.

Obsidian Links

Im going to stick to wikilinks unless im reference a url or whatnot

You can link notes together in obsidian using the [[Note Title]] syntax. This will create a link to the note with the title Note Title.

You can take this further by defining a certain header to jump to, but also define a label for the link.

[[Note Title#header-title|Label]]

You can embed notes in your own note by putting an exclamation mark in front of the link.

![[Note Title]]

This can also be used to embed images and other files.

Non Wikilinks

you can use the []() syntax to put normal links and such. This works, but has some wierd behavior. Use this for url links, and you can use for embedding some websites

Website Specific Embeds

Along with using iframes to embed websites, we can also use a “player” for some specific cites:

along the form of

![]()

where you put the link inside the ()

it will come out like this:

This works for youtube, but also twitter/x:

Callouts

A variety of callouts can be used to highlight important information in your notes.

Obsidian defines a callout as a blockquote with a special class. You can use the following classes to define different callouts.

> [!Callout Name] Title

> content

Standard Callouts

These callouts have standard use cases and titles, but you can overide the title yourself if you want.

Info

Warning

Tip

Success

Question

Quote

Example

Note

Important

Abstract

Failure

Alert

Graph View