insert equation inline within a table in numbers

I am trying to insert a LaTeX (Numbers) equation into a table inline with the text of a particular cell. What happens is that the equation just gets inserted into the center of the cell with its size determined by the size of the cell, with no relation whatsoever to the text. If I try to first write the text and insert the equation inline (either as a text box or copy-pasted from Pages), and then cut-paste the text+eqn into the cell then the equation just disappears. Any help?