# I can't seem to get superscript to show up, like I squared should be I^2

In my answer here I have tried to get P = I^2 * R to show the 2 in super script, several different ways, like P = I^{2} * R as mentioned here.

How is it done?

This site supports the LaTeX syntax and rendering through the MathJax engine.

You can use the normal LaTeX syntax, but you have to enclose the formulas in  tags for centered formulas, \\$ tags for inline formulas.

There is a sandbox here, where you can find several examples.

<sub> and <sup> tags would do the job too

I2Rload is produced by I<sup>2</sup>R<sub>load</sub>

• +1 I didn't know those were supported here. – Olin Lathrop Jan 11 '13 at 17:30

In the case of superscript-2, you can also use the native HTML "&sup2;" construct, like

P = I² R

• +1 Makes sense, I didn't think about it. I'm new to things like LaTeX and am trying to learn to make my answers better, etc. One unrelated question for you, I've seen a good amount of comments from you like this, 'You "wanna"? We speak English here.' I just wanted to ask if you were ever an English teacher or anything? I understand why you do it, and it seems like it's when an OP uses bad grammar/punctuation, etc. I was just interested to know, thanks. (I almost ended this with my thx shorthand.) – Garrett Fogerlie Jan 8 '13 at 21:29
• @Garrett: Sloppy text is annoying to read and generally devalues the whole site. Foreigners get some slack, but there is no excuse for not following a few basic rules of the language or just being lazy. For example, even those new to English can capitalize the first letter of a sentence. Stuff like "wanna" and "thx" is just being lazy at the expense of everyone else here. I don't want to let people get away with that. Letting it derail their question, downvoting, and even closing bad cases are all ways we can insist on a little respect from those that come here for free help. – Olin Lathrop Jan 9 '13 at 16:55