Subscript within a fraction

Question

I am trying to use subscripts within a fraction. Using them each on their own works fine, like this:

\documentclass{article}

\usepackage{fixltx2e}
\usepackage{hyperref}
\usepackage{amsmath}

\begin{document}

\texorpdfstring{n\textsubscript{subscript}} \\ \\

\( \frac{n}{2} \) \\ \\ 

\end{document}

I get the desired result:

However, when I combine them into

\( \frac{\texorpdfstring{n\textsubscript{subscript}} }{2} \)

I get the following error:

/Users/niklas/workspace/udemy_tex/my_ownfile/test.tex:15: Extra }, or forgotten \endgroup.
\frac  #1#2->{\begingroup #1\endgroup \@@over #2}

l.15 ...pdfstring{n\textsubscript{subscript}} }{2}

How can this be done?

Why do you want to use \texorpdfstring? In math mode you should consider just switchin to n_{\text{subscript}}. — TeXnician, Feb 14 '17 at 08:01
Possible duplicate of How to use `\texorpdfstring`. Characters disappear — TeXnician, Feb 14 '17 at 08:16
I agree the referenced possible duplicate does solve the problem; however, as TeXnician rightly points out, the real problem is not erroneous use of \texorpdfstring, but rather that a different method which does not involve \texordpdfstring, but the simpler $ \frac{n_{\text{subscript}}}{2} $ should be preferred. — NiklasR, Feb 14 '17 at 08:24
I'm voting to close this question as off-topic because it has been solved in the comments. — ebosi, Feb 14 '17 at 09:19

TeXnician · Accepted Answer · 2017-02-14T08:32:02.840

You're using \texorpdfstring the wrong way (as stated here), since \texorpdfstring expects a second argument (else the "or" would be senseless). So trying with:

\(\frac{\texorpdfstring{n\textsubscript{subscript}}{nsub}}{2}\)

would also work.

$fractions$

Update: Of course you should avoid using such complex mechanisms if you just want to have a subscript in math. LaTeX's own $n_{\text{subscript}}$ is just sufficient.

Subscript within a fraction

1 Answers1