Answer:
Usually \tfrac is used much more than \dfrac. Of course \frac should be used in almost every case but \tfrac is handy for coefficients, as shown by the code below.
\[
f(x) = \frac{1}{2} x^2 = \dfrac{1}{2} x^2 = \tfrac{1}{2} x^2
\]
enter image description here
$
f(x) = \frac{1}{2} x^2 = \
Step-by-step explanation: