Typing CO_2 easily

Question

I'm writing my dissertation and that involves typing a lot of $\mathrm{CO_2}$ . I'd like to make a macro for it that's a lot easier to type, but if I put \newcommand{\co2}{\mathrm{CO_2}}, for example, it gives me the error that \mathrm can only be used in math mode. But using \newcommand{\co2}{$\mathrm{CO_2}$} doesn't work either.

Is there a way for me to make a macro that makes typing CO_2 easier, even if it doesn't use \mathrm?

Have you tried \newcommand{\cotwo}{\mathrm{CO_2}} see https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/44545/newcommand-gives-errors-in-math-mode-with-or-without-arguments also https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/393855/macro-shortcut-for-mathrm-command — , Mar 20 '19 at 02:48
For anyone new to latex reading this question: There are two separate issues here. One is that \mathrm can only be used in math mode. The second one is that you can't (usually) have digits in macro names. — sgf, Mar 20 '19 at 15:35
Oh I did not realize you couldn't have digits in macro names! Cool, thanks! — Hayley, Mar 21 '19 at 00:36
About the digits: \def\co2{CO$_2$} The level of \co2 in London is .... — Fran, Apr 08 '19 at 09:15

score 68 · Answer 1 · answered Mar 20 '19 at 03:23

68

You want easy?

\documentclass{article}  
\usepackage{chemformula}
\begin{document}
\ch{CO2}
\end{document}

answered Mar 20 '19 at 03:23

John Kormylo

79,712
3
50
120

23

For completeness, you might mention also mhchem – egreg Mar 20 '19 at 09:04
ChemFormula is part of the excellent ChemMacros suite by clemens. If you continue writing documents in the field of chemistry, I’d highly recommend spending some time skimming the documentation. – Dustin Wheeler Mar 27 '19 at 12:53
3

Also worth mentioning that chemformula (and I believe mhchem) are robust with respect to math mode (i.e., no need to modify the code inside vs. outside math environments. – Dustin Wheeler Mar 27 '19 at 12:59

N. Virgo · Answer 2 · 2019-03-21T09:25:01.430

I would use the mhchem package. It makes a lot of chemistry things easier, including reactions as well as formulas.

Put the line

\usepackage{mhchem}

in the header section of your document, and then CO2 is just \ce{CO2}. You can use that in math mode or text mode, it works either way. Here are some examples of other formulae from the package documentation, to give an idea of what you can do. (Note from the very first example how easy it is to write a simple reaction.)

(Note also that, as mentioned in John Kormylo's answer, there is also a package chemformula. It seems to be very similar, and allows you to do the same things in very similar ways. It is a more recent package, but I have no experience with it.)

score 21 · Accepted Answer · answered Mar 20 '19 at 13:13

21

I'm not sure if this is a question about how to use \co2 as a macro name or just a question about how to subscript in text mode. If you use \coo, the macro

\newcommand{\coo}{\ensuremath{\mathrm{CO_2}}}

works fine in both text and math mode. If you're only planning to use the macro in text mode, CO\textsubscript{2} works.

\documentclass{article}

\newcommand{\coo}{\ensuremath{\mathrm{CO_2}}}
\newcommand{\cooo}{CO\textsubscript{2}}

\begin{document}

With ensuremath: Text \coo\ and math $\coo$ both look fine.

With textsubscript: Text \cooo\ is fine, but math $\cooo$ isn't.

\end{document}

Don't forget the trainling \ and space after the call in text mode.

answered Mar 20 '19 at 13:13

Sandy G

42,558

1

Or use \coo{} in text mode, which avoids worries about the space getting eaten by something. – David Richerby Mar 20 '19 at 20:35
6

Especially when using macros, I think that using xspace is really convenient. You put an \xspace at the end of your macro and it will decide if a space is necessary or not. – Ian Mar 21 '19 at 07:23

score 3 · Answer 4 · answered Mar 25 '19 at 23:30

3

Using isotope package with the macro \cotwo you can write easily and quickly CO_2:

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{isotope}
\newcommand{\cotwo}{$\isotope{CO}_2$}

\begin{document}

\cotwo

\end{document}

answered Mar 25 '19 at 23:30

Sebastiano

54,118

Typing CO_2 easily

4 Answers4

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