About Superscript & Subscript

Convert letters/digits to ˢᵘᵖᵉʳ or ₛᵤᵦ script — CO₂, H₂O, x². Part of the DevTools Surf developer suite. Browse more tools in the Text / String collection.

Use Cases

• Scientists writing chemical formulas like H₂O and CO₂ in plain text
• Mathematicians expressing exponents like x² without LaTeX rendering
• Students formatting footnote references as superscript numbers
• Developers embedding mathematical notation in code comments

Tips

• Type chemical formulas like CO2 and get proper subscript CO₂ output
• Mathematical expressions like x2 become x² with superscript digits
• Not all letters have unicode super/subscript variants — check output carefully

Fun Facts

• Unicode superscript digits (U+2070-U+2079) were among the earliest additions to Unicode 1.0 (1991), driven by the need to represent mathematical exponents in plain text.
• The superscript letters available in Unicode are incomplete — only a, e, h, i, j, k, l, m, n, o, p, r, s, t, u, v, w, x, y have official superscript forms.
• Subscript notation for chemical formulas was standardized by Jons Jacob Berzelius in 1814 — before that, chemists used alchemical symbols and varying notation systems.

FAQ

Which characters are available?

Digits 0–9 fully covered in both. Letters: full lowercase for most, partial uppercase (some letters like q and f have no superscript in Unicode). The tool warns about gaps.

Why not use HTML <sup>/<sub>?

Unicode works in plain-text contexts where HTML doesn't — Twitter, terminals, emails. For web pages, use <sup>/<sub> for proper typography and better rendering control.

Can I write H₂O with this?

Yes — capital H, subscript 2, capital O. Useful for chemistry notation in plain-text docs.

What about math notation?

Simple cases (x², H₂O) yes. Complex expressions (fractions, integrals) need LaTeX or MathJax. Unicode covers the inline common stuff only.