Mastering Exponents, Square Meters, Cubic Meters, and Subscripts in Word

In the process of using MS Word for your tasks, you undoubtedly encounter the need for special characters like exponents, square meters, cubic meters, or the simplicity of chemical formulas. These characters are not readily available on the keyboard, compelling you to combine multiple keys or utilize built-in features in Word. This article below guides you to overcome this challenge.

How to Write Exponents, Square Meters, and Cubic Meters in Word

For instance, typing 2 to the power of 8 resulting in 256 can be achieved as follows:

Enter the base number 2, then press the key combination Ctrl + Shift + =, or go to the Home tab -> click the arrow in the Font section -> in the appearing dialog, check Superscript -> press OK:

Move the mouse cursor to the superscript position, where you just need to type the exponent value, such as 8:

Next, if you want to go back to typing the equal sign, press the key combination Ctrl + Shift + = again or revisit the font dialog, uncheck in the Superscript section -> press OK:

Now, continue typing the characters. Similarly, type the square meter value:

To find the value of one cubic meter, perform a similar operation:

How to write chemical formulas, subscripts in Word

For example, here, input the chemical formula for Sulfuric Acid H2SO4$H_{2}S{O}_4$.

First, type the letter H to write the subscript, then press the shortcut Ctrl + equal sign or go to the Home -> click the dropdown arrow in the Font tab -> select the Subscript option in the dialog box -> click OK:

To position the subscript cursor, simply input the value for the hydrogen atom.

Next, if you want to return the cursor to the normal position to type the next atom of the acid, press the shortcut Ctrl + = once or go to the Font dialog box and uncheck in the section.

Move the cursor back to the correct position, and continue typing the atoms that make up the acid. Similarly, when typing the chemical formulas of benzene, ethyl alcohol yields the following result:

Additionally, you can use the superscript and subscript symbols directly on the Word toolbar:

Now you can effortlessly input superscripts, subscripts, and tackle problems involving square meters, exponents, cubic meters, or chemical formulas. Wishing you all the best in your endeavors!