Everything about Superscript totally explained
This article is about the terms 'subscript' and 'superscript' as used in typography. "SuperScript" can also refer to a commercially available Reverse transcriptase.
A
subscript or
superscript is a
number,
figure,
symbol, or indicator that appears smaller than the normal line of type and is set slightly below or above it – subscripts appear at or below the
baseline, while superscripts are above. Subscripts and superscripts are perhaps best known for their use in
formulas, mathematical
expressions, and descriptions of
chemical compounds or
isotopes, but have many other uses as well.
In professional
typography, subscript and superscript characters are not simply ordinary characters reduced in size; to keep them visually similar to the rest of the font, typeface designers make them slightly heavier than a reduced-size character would be. Likewise, the amount that sub- or superscripted text is moved from the original
baseline varies by typeface and by use.
Uses
A single typeface may contain sub- and super-script glyphs at different positions for different uses. The four most common positions are listed here. Because each position is used in different contexts, not all alphanumerics may be available in all positions. For example, subscript letters on the baseline are quite rare, and many typefaces only provide a limited number of superscripted letters. Despite these differences, all reduced-sized glyphs go by the same generic name of subscript and superscript. Note that the terms
subscript and
superscript are synonymous with the terms
inferior letter (or
number) and
superior letter (or
number), respectively.
Subscripts which are dropped below the baseline
Perhaps the most familiar example of subscripts is in
chemical formulas. For example, the formula for
glucose is
C6H12O6, meaning that it's a molecule with 6
carbon atoms, 12
hydrogen atoms and six
oxygen atoms.
A subscript can also distinguish between different versions of a
subatomic particle. Thus electron, muon, and tau
neutrinos are denoted and . A particle may be distinguished by multiple subscripts, such as for the
triple bottom omega particle.
Similarly, subscripts are also used frequently in mathematics to define different versions of the same variable; for example, in an equation
x0 and
xf may indicate the initial and final value of
x, while
vrocket and
vobserver would stand for the velocities of a rocket and an observer.
Also in mathematics and computing, subscript can be used to represent the
radix, or base, of a written number, especially where multiple bases are used alongside each other. For example, comparing values in
hexadecimal,
denary, and
octal one might write C
hex = 12
dec = 14
oct.
Subscripted numbers dropped below the baseline are also used for the
denominators of stacked
fractions, like this:
.
Unicode
Unicode defines subscript and superscript characters in several areas. Note, however, that fonts which include these characters may align them quite differently: subscripts may be at or below the
baseline, while superscripts may stop at the
cap line or extend above it. The same font may even align letters and numbers in different ways. Because of these inconsistencies, these glyphs may not be suitable for some purposes (see
Uses, above).
Unicode includes subscript and superscript characters in the following blocks:
