# Representing math notation in all text format

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/representing-math-notation-in-all-text-format/95745>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [November 28, 2001, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/representing-math-notation-in-all-text-format/95745 "2001-11-28T18:02:36Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\
**Post date:** [November 28, 2001, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/representing-math-notation-in-all-text-format/95745/1 "2001-11-28T18:02:36Z")

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I know that you can represent exponents (and presumably all superscripts) using the caret key (^). How can you represent subscripts like “x-sub-i” or something like that? Where can I go to look up other math notation problems like this?

Thanks

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**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\
**Post date:** [November 28, 2001, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/representing-math-notation-in-all-text-format/95745/2 "2001-11-28T18:20:19Z")

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If you’re communicating with mathematicians, use LaTeX notation. It’s fairly well understood since almost all professional mathematicians use it to typeset their work. See the [TeX FAQ](http://www.tex.ac.uk/cgi-bin/texfaq2html) for pointers to tutorials.