How do you print superscript in Python?

Question

I am aware of the \xb function in python, but it does not seem to work for me. I am aware that I may need to download a third party module to accomplish this, if so, which one would be best?

I am currently writing a binomial expansion solver, to try and use skills which I am teaching myself. The problem arises when I attempt to display the user input-ed expansion to the use for confirmation. Currently I am having to print the expression like so:

var1 = input("Enter a: ")
var2 = input("Enter b: ")
exponent = input("Enter n: ")

a = int(var1)
b = int(var2)
n = int(exponent)

expression = ('(%(1)dx%(2)d)^%(3)d') %\
{'1' : a, '2' : b, '3' : n}

print(expression)

confirmation = input(str("Is this correctt? Y/N "))

This prints (2x4)^5, whereas I'd prefer the index to be printed as superscript. How can this be done?

Solution 1

You could use sympy module that does necessary formatting for you. It supports many formats such as ascii, unicode, latex, mathml, etc:

from sympy import pretty_print as pp, latex
from sympy.abc import a, b, n

expr = (a*b)**n
pp(expr) # default
pp(expr, use_unicode=True)
print(latex(expr))
print(expr.evalf(subs=dict(a=2,b=4,n=5)))

Output

     n
(a*b) 
     n
(a⋅b) 
$\left(a b\right)^{n}$
32768.0000000000

Solution 2

You need to use a 'format' type thing. Use {}\u00b2".format(area))" and the{}becomes a²`. Here is an example:

print("The area of your rectangle is {}cm\u00b2".format(area))

The end of the code will print cm². You can change the large 2 at the end to other numbers for a different result. I do not know how to do a lower subscript though.

Solution 3

In Python 3.6+ (mentioned only because the example uses f-strings that are not available in previous versions) named Unicode characters provide an easy to write, easy to read way to do this. Here is a list.

Example:

f'\N{GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA}={density:.2f} t/m\N{SUPERSCRIPT THREE}'

yields something like

γ=1.20 t/m³

Solution 4

For those looking for a practical (but a bit imperfect) UTF-8-based solution, implemented using a simple character translation table:

import string

superscript_map = {
    "0": "⁰", "1": "¹", "2": "²", "3": "³", "4": "⁴", "5": "⁵", "6": "⁶",
    "7": "⁷", "8": "⁸", "9": "⁹", "a": "ᵃ", "b": "ᵇ", "c": "ᶜ", "d": "ᵈ",
    "e": "ᵉ", "f": "ᶠ", "g": "ᵍ", "h": "ʰ", "i": "ᶦ", "j": "ʲ", "k": "ᵏ",
    "l": "ˡ", "m": "ᵐ", "n": "ⁿ", "o": "ᵒ", "p": "ᵖ", "q": "۹", "r": "ʳ",
    "s": "ˢ", "t": "ᵗ", "u": "ᵘ", "v": "ᵛ", "w": "ʷ", "x": "ˣ", "y": "ʸ",
    "z": "ᶻ", "A": "ᴬ", "B": "ᴮ", "C": "ᶜ", "D": "ᴰ", "E": "ᴱ", "F": "ᶠ",
    "G": "ᴳ", "H": "ᴴ", "I": "ᴵ", "J": "ᴶ", "K": "ᴷ", "L": "ᴸ", "M": "ᴹ",
    "N": "ᴺ", "O": "ᴼ", "P": "ᴾ", "Q": "Q", "R": "ᴿ", "S": "ˢ", "T": "ᵀ",
    "U": "ᵁ", "V": "ⱽ", "W": "ᵂ", "X": "ˣ", "Y": "ʸ", "Z": "ᶻ", "+": "⁺",
    "-": "⁻", "=": "⁼", "(": "⁽", ")": "⁾"}

trans = str.maketrans(
    ''.join(superscript_map.keys()),
    ''.join(superscript_map.values()))

'The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog'.translate(trans)
# ᵀʰᵉ ۹ᵘᶦᶜᵏ ᵇʳᵒʷⁿ ᶠᵒˣ ʲᵘᵐᵖˢ ᵒᵛᵉʳ ᵗʰᵉ ˡᵃᶻʸ ᵈᵒᵍ

As a bonus, here is the subscript counterpart:

subscript_map = {
    "0": "₀", "1": "₁", "2": "₂", "3": "₃", "4": "₄", "5": "₅", "6": "₆",
    "7": "₇", "8": "₈", "9": "₉", "a": "ₐ", "b": "♭", "c": "꜀", "d": "ᑯ",
    "e": "ₑ", "f": "բ", "g": "₉", "h": "ₕ", "i": "ᵢ", "j": "ⱼ", "k": "ₖ",
    "l": "ₗ", "m": "ₘ", "n": "ₙ", "o": "ₒ", "p": "ₚ", "q": "૧", "r": "ᵣ",
    "s": "ₛ", "t": "ₜ", "u": "ᵤ", "v": "ᵥ", "w": "w", "x": "ₓ", "y": "ᵧ",
    "z": "₂", "A": "ₐ", "B": "₈", "C": "C", "D": "D", "E": "ₑ", "F": "բ",
    "G": "G", "H": "ₕ", "I": "ᵢ", "J": "ⱼ", "K": "ₖ", "L": "ₗ", "M": "ₘ",
    "N": "ₙ", "O": "ₒ", "P": "ₚ", "Q": "Q", "R": "ᵣ", "S": "ₛ", "T": "ₜ",
    "U": "ᵤ", "V": "ᵥ", "W": "w", "X": "ₓ", "Y": "ᵧ", "Z": "Z", "+": "₊",
    "-": "₋", "=": "₌", "(": "₍", ")": "₎"}


sub_trans = str.maketrans(
    ''.join(subscript_map.keys()),
    ''.join(subscript_map.values()))

'The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog'.translate(sub_trans)
# 'ₜₕₑ ૧ᵤᵢ꜀ₖ ♭ᵣₒwₙ բₒₓ ⱼᵤₘₚₛ ₒᵥₑᵣ ₜₕₑ ₗₐ₂ᵧ ᑯₒ₉'

Again, not perfect, but workable.

Solution 5

You're using input(), so I imagine this is console-based. To that end, you have two options, as previously discussed here. One is to use a bit of formatting trickery to display the exponents on the line above the actual expansion. The other is to use these nifty characters, assuming your console supports Unicode:

⁰¹²³⁴⁵⁶⁷⁸⁹

You're probably going to have to increase the font size by quite a bit for them to be legible, but it's certainly a viable option assuming proper support. Aside from that, though, you mentioned this is a personal learning experience; why not combine it with another and learn the simpler aspects of Pygame? It's very straightforward, text manipulation and keyboard events couldn't be simpler, and it's never a wrong step to branch out.

View more solutions

Comments

[Kage93]

Thanks for the reply, but no, I intend to write the barebones of the program without a GUI then once I am satisfied that everything works, I will create a GUI for it. I plan on using tkinter for my GUI, would it be possible using tkinter then? If not, which module would be suitable?

[skrx]

This actually works since Python 3.3.

[jake77]

No, it doesn't: since 3.6

[skrx]

Not the f-strings, the \N{name} escape sequence.

[Jongware]

This must be for some single platform only. Windows? If it is: you can only find those characters in fonts that support them (and I'd then advise using Arial MS Unicode). But since OP wants to create a console based program, those same characters must also be available in the console font.

[TheSHETTY-Paradise]

I use Ubuntu 18.04 and it works here, I'm unaware of windows

[Eduardo Pignatelli]

> You can change the large 2 at the end to other numbers for a different result. This is not true. While \u00b3 returns ³, \u00b4 returns ´, \u00b5 returns µ.

[Daniel]

The number superscripts are written at different heights. For example 0 is higher than 1 (at least when using ipycanvas)

[norok2]

@Daniel The numbers are actually supported by UTF-8. So, if there is a rendering issue, it is likely to be with the fonts. Perhaps you could try different fonts.

[norok2]

I see them in line here in the normal text: ⁰¹²³⁴⁵⁶⁷⁸⁹ but not in the code: ⁰¹²³⁴⁵⁶⁷⁸⁹ where 123 seems slightly larger than the others.

[Zanoldor]

Lovely. Thanks @norck2

[Daniel]

@norok2, strangely, I don't see the normal text symbols you posted in line (1, 2 and 3 are a bit lower). Probably a font issue as you said.

[frakman1]

How do I make both subscript and superscript text appear in the same spot? i.e. one character directly above the other.

[norok2]

@frakman1 UTF-8 was not really designed for this. While some fonts may support this via OpenType using the unicode private area, you should really look into another option. See also en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subscript_and_superscript

[frakman1]

@norok2. Thanks. I just thought this would be a common use-case for scientific formulas and chemistry elements

[Tomerikoo]

This seems like a good way but is there a way to use variables with this? i.e. if I have power = 5 how can I make it print γ=5.00 t/m⁵?

[Admin]

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[Yunnosch]

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