Chemical formulas in text
Write chemical formulas and reaction equations inside ordinary text, with subscripts, state symbols and arrows set the way chemistry is printed.
When to use it
Use it whenever an explanation names a substance or a reaction: the formula of water, the state of a product, the equation for burning hydrogen. The notation sits inside your sentence, so students read it in context, and it is typeset correctly: numbers inside a formula become subscripts and the arrow is a proper reaction arrow.
This is notation for reading. If students should write or balance a formula themselves, use a Chemistry exercise instead.
Adding a formula or equation
Click the pencil on a Text item and place the cursor where the formula should go.
In the text toolbar, click + (Insert) and choose Insert chemical formula.
Type the formula into Chemical formula, for example H2O. The preview below shows how it will look, with the 2 as a subscript.
Add what you need from the suggestions under the field: Common elements, Common ions, Charge and state (Solid, Liquid, Gas, Aqueous solution and charges) and Arrows (such as Reaction arrow).
Click Add, or press Enter.
An equation is written in one go, for example 2H2 + O2 -> 2H2O; typing -> gives the same reaction arrow as the button. If something cannot be read, such as a symbol that is not an element, a message under the field says what is wrong.
To change a formula, open the text with the pencil and click the formula. The panel opens with its current content; click Update to save the change.
What students see
Students see the formulas and equations typeset inside the text, exactly where you placed them. There is nothing for them to answer.
Tips
Type numbers as ordinary digits: H2SO4 appears as H₂SO₄. A number in front of a formula, as in 2H2O, stays full size as the coefficient.
Add state symbols only where they matter to the point you are making. They are in the suggestions, or you can type them, for example (l) or (aq).
When you paste text that already contains formulas written with subscript characters, such as H₂O copied from another document, they are converted to chemical notation automatically. A notice tells you how many were converted and offers Undo.