Re: Chemical notation
- To: mathgroup@smc.vnet.net
- Subject: [mg12292] Re: Chemical notation
- From: "P.J. Hinton" <paulh@wolfram.com>
- Date: Thu, 7 May 1998 18:51:28 -0400
- Organization: Wolfram Research, Inc.
- References: <6imhlr$gv1@smc.vnet.net>
On 5 May 1998, Nicolas Martignoni wrote:
> I would like to typeset a chemical element notation, with Z and A
> numbers, like the following:
>
> 214
> Po
> 84
>
> Is there a way to do this in Mathematica 3.0.x ?
This requires a little trickery. There is a SubsuperscriptBox construct
that can align the atomic and mass numbers as you wish, but you have to
use an empty string as the "anchor" for the sub and superscripts.
Evaluating the following expression will demonstrate an example of how
you might create this effect.:
RowBox[{
RowBox[{
SubsuperscriptBox[""," 84", "214"]}],
"Po"}] // DisplayForm
Here is an example which uses the ChemicalFormula style inline within a
Text cell. The ChemicalFormula contains some option settings which
distinguish it from typical typeset math cells. Since this is an
inline cell, it will use the setting for Default Inline Format Tyle
under the Cell menu, which is TraditionalForm, meaning that the text
will be set in whatever font is used by the style sheet for
TraditionalForm (in this case -- Times).
Cell[TextData[{
"The decay of the isotope ",
Cell[BoxData[
FormBox[
RowBox[{
SubsuperscriptBox["",
RowBox[{" ", "84"}], "214"], "Po"}], ChemicalFormula]]] }],
"Text"]
Try pasting this cell in a notebook which uses one of the following
style sheets:
ArticleClassic ArticleModern
Classic Report
Textbook TutorialBook
When the front end asks you whether the cell expression should be
interpreted, click "Yes."
And as an added bonus, here is an expression that generates a button to
speed the entry of the box:
DisplayForm[
ButtonBox[StyleBox[RowBox[{SubsuperscriptBox["",
"\[Placeholder]","\[Placeholder]"],
"\[SelectionPlaceholder]"}],"ChemicalFormula"],
Active\[Rule]True]]
Paste the above in an Input cell and evaluate it to make the button.
Here are the instructions for using the button.
1) Enter the element name "Po."
2) Select the element name text with your mouse.
3) Click on the button.
4) Enter the subscript number.
5) Hit the Tab key.
6) Enter the superscript number.
7) Hit Ctrl-Space twice to escape the math editor.
8) Continue typing the text.
Hope that helps.
--
P.J. Hinton
Mathematica Programming Group paulh@wolfram.com Wolfram
Research, Inc. http://www.wolfram.com/~paulh/
Disclaimer: Opinions expressed herein are those of the author alone.