superscript¶
Superscript role displays its text as superscript (with a raised baseline using smaller text). Superscript is used in e.g., math equations.
Superscript syntax¶
Superscript syntax itself is simple: :sup:`text as subscript`.
1The E = mc\ :sup:`2` explains everything.
The E = mc2 explains everything.
Note
See bellow the meaning of awkward \space.
No inline element nesting¶
The annoying reStructuredText limitation is you can’t nest inline element into another, e.g. superscript into strong emphasis, etc. Unfortunately, there is no workaround.
Some examples of inline markup nesting that don’t work:
1*You can't have **bold** inside italic.*
2
3**A |substitution| inside bold.**
4
5*A :subscript:`subscripts` inside italic.*
6
7``Or, *italic* within literals.``
8
9:ref:`link with ``literal`` inside`
You can’t have **bold* inside italic.*
A |substitution| inside bold.
A :subscript:`subscripts` inside italic.
Or, *italic* within literals.
link with ``literal` inside`
Requires whitespace or punctuation around¶
The inline literal requires whitespace or punctuation around (as all inline-level elements). Without the delimiter, reStructuredText will not recognize markup properly from a surrounding text.
The following examples miss a delimiter at the beginning. It will even not cause any warning and prints The E = mc:sup:2 explains everything..
1The E = mc:sup:`2` explains everything.
Fortunately, two inline elements without no whitespace/punctuation in-between are possible with escaping mechanism using backslash-escaped whitespace (backslash is \). Backslash-escaped whitespace will be removed from the output document.
Previous example fixed:
1The E = mc\ :sup:`2` explains everything.
The E = mc2 explains everything.
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