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Subscript

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An example of subscripts
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A subscript is a number, figure, or indicator that appears below the normal line of type, typically used in a formula, mathematical expression, or description of a chemical compound. Probably the most famous example of a subscript is the number 2 in the formula for the molecule of water: H2O. Subscripts is also used frequently in mathematics to define starting or final positions; for example, in an equation the following x0 and xf are used to indicate the current and final value of x.

Typographically, subscripts are set using a lower baseline and a smaller size than the other text. For example, to set H2O correctly, the 2 should be about 2/3 the size of the H and the O. This is done automatically in many text editing and word processing programs.

  • In HTML and Wiki syntax, subscript text is produced by putting it inside the tags <sub> and </sub>.
  • Unicode defines subscript characters such as (shown with normal characters in the same font) 0 ₀, 1 ₁, 2 ₂, 3 ₃, 4 ₄, 5 ₅, 6 ₆, 7 ₇, 8 ₈, 9 ₉, + ₊, - ₋, = ₌, ( ₍, or ) ₎ (&#8320 to &#8334).
  • In TeX's math mode (as used in MediaWiki), subscripts are typeset with the underscore _: $X_{ab}$ produces .

See also