Chemical formulas & sub/superscript problems

[dragonfire707]

For a document for my science course, I need to create tables dealing with polyatomic ions and their chemical formulas, along with other things. But some of these - like the formula for a phosphate ion, for example - have the element name (PO) and then two numbers, one superscripted and the other subscripted, right on top of each other. Is there a way to do that on any Office program? Help would be greatly appreciated...

Well, that sounded really confusing. An email dealing with this would be helpful if you wouldn't mind dropping a line...

 

[Mike Williams [MVP]]

For a document for my science course, I need to create tables dealing
with polyatomic ions and their chemical formulas, along with other
things. But some of these - like the formula for a phosphate ion,
for example - have the element name (PO) and then two numbers, one
superscripted and the other subscripted, right on top of each other.
Is there a way to do that on any Office program? Help would be
greatly appreciated...

From the help file (under "superscript" or "subscript") :
Make text superscript or subscript
Show All
Hide All
1.. Select the text you want to format as superscript (superscript:
Describes text that is slightly higher than other text on a line, such as a
footnote reference mark.) or subscript (subscript: Describes text that is
slightly lower than other text on a line. Subscripts are often used in
scientific formulas.).
2.. On the Format menu, click Font, and then click the Font tab.
3.. Select the Superscript or Subscript check box.

Well, that sounded really confusing. An email dealing with this
would be helpful if you wouldn't mind dropping a line...

--

Mike Williams - Office MVP
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[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

Mike's reply addresses creating superscripts and subscripts, which is easy
enough. To have both in a single character position, however, the easiest
approach is to use the Equation Editor. Equation Editor objects are inserted
In Line with Text in recent versions of Word and are indistinguishable from
ordinary text provided you've got the styles defined correctly.

EE is not installed by default, but you can check to see whether you have
Microsoft Equation 3.0 in the list at Insert | Object. If not, you will need
to install it. Go to Control Panel | Add/Remove Programs, select Microsoft
Office, and click the Change button. In the first page, select "Add or
Remove Features." On the next page, expand "Office Tools." Select Equation
Editor and set it to "Run from My Computer." Click the Update button, and
insert the Office CD
when prompted.

To facilitate inserting equations, open Tools | Customize and select the
Commands tab. Find the Equation Editor command in the Insert category and
drag it to a toolbar.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
Word MVP FAQ site: http://www.mvps.org/word
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so
all may benefit.

For a document for my science course, I need to create tables dealing with

polyatomic ions and their chemical formulas, along with other things. But
some of these - like the formula for a phosphate ion, for example - have the
element name (PO) and then two numbers, one superscripted and the other
subscripted, right on top of each other. Is there a way to do that on any
Office program? Help would be greatly appreciated...

Well, that sounded really confusing. An email dealing with this would be

helpful if you wouldn't mind dropping a line...

 

[Bob Mathews]

There are two templates in Equation Editor that place both a
subscript and a superscript on a base. One of the templates
places the scripts after the base, and the other places the
scripts before the base. The template you need for ions is on the
"Subscript and superscript templates" palette, which is the third
one from the left on the second row. Once you click the palette
icon, the palette drops down to reveal 15 different templates.
The one you need is the third one from the left on the second
row. Click this template, fill in the slots (pressing the Tab key
to move from one slot to the other, and again after you finish
the second one), then fill in the base (PO, in your example).

One more note -- Equation Editor's default setting is to render
variables in an italic font. This isn't what you want for
Chemistry, of course, but you can change that behavior in the
Style menu by clicking Define. Uncheck "Italic" next to
"Variable".

MathType (the professional version of Equation Editor) gives you
more capability in several ways, but there are two particular
features that may be of particular use to you. One, you can save
common equations, formulas, ions, reactions, etc. to the toolbar
so you don't have to construct them each time. Two, when
constructing reactions, Equation Editor gives you six arrow
templates for that purpose, but MathType lets you choose from 27.
Some of the arrows notably missing from Equation Editor are
arrows with text slots both above & below the arrow (for initial
conditions, catalysts, etc.), and arrows representing equilibrium
reactions. There is a free 30-day trial of MathType available at
the link in my signature.

Bob Mathews (e-mail address removed)
Director of Training 830-990-9699
http://www.dessci.com/free.asp?free=news
FREE fully-functional 30-day evaluation of MathType 5
Design Science, Inc. -- "How Science Communicates"
MathType, WebEQ, MathPlayer, MathFlow, Equation Editor, TeXaide

 

[Guest]

Hi,

You might also like to try using ADVANCE fields. For
example, type the following into a Word document:
A{ADVANCE \u 5}3{ADVANCE \l 4}{ADVANCE \d 10}6{ADVANCE \u
5}B
where the braces (ie {}) for each of the four fields are
entered as pairs via Ctrl-F9. Format the 3 and 6 at about
2/3 your standard point size, then select the lot and
press F9 to update. What you should see is A36B with the 3
raised and the 6 lowered.

What each ADVANCE field in turn is doing is:
1. Raising the following text by 5pt
2. Moving the following text left by 10pt
3. Lowering the following text by 5pt
4. Raising the following text by 5pt (which restores the
original positioning)

Cheers

-----Original Message-----
For a document for my science course, I need to create

tables dealing with polyatomic ions and their chemical
formulas, along with other things. But some of these -
like the formula for a phosphate ion, for example - have
the element name (PO) and then two numbers, one
superscripted and the other subscripted, right on top of
each other. Is there a way to do that on any Office
program? Help would be greatly appreciated...

Well, that sounded really confusing. An email dealing

with this would be helpful if you wouldn't mind dropping a
line...