Mainly used for academic purposes, LaTeX is free software that enables the processing of scientific, educational, and technical documents effortlessly. Many users can use simple commands to insert functions, symbols, and etc. Hence, LaTeX allows you to use many mathematical and technical symbols. Knowing the syntax of commands like the degree symbol in Latex can help you get the best out of the software.
In this tutorial, we will explain the way to use the degree symbol in LaTeX.
How to Write and Use a Degree Symbol in LaTeX
LaTeX uses various packages to store mathematical and technical symbols collectively. It means you can use \degree because it is a source code for the degree symbol.
First, you have to enable the gensymb package containing all the generic characters in LaTeX to be used in text or mathematical formulae. Therefore, before using the degree command, you need to add the code \usepackage{gensymb} to enable the generic symbol package in your document.
For instance, let’s explain the information related to the temperature in the city, so we can use the degree command in LaTex as follows:
\usepackage{gensymb}
In this source code, the document class command indicates the type of document you are creating. The use package command prompts the document processor to use the symbols in the specified package.
Now, add the information you want and use the \degree command with the value of the temperature:
The temperature in London is 37\degree{}C today.
Finally, compile the source code to turn it into adequately formatted text.
Alternatives of Degree Command in LaTeX
In case the degree command does not work, you can use an alternative: the textdegree command. However, please remember to use the textcomp package instead of gensymb for using the textdegree command without any errors. So here is a simple source code for the \textdegree command:
\usepackage{textcomp}
\begin{document}
The temperature in London is 37\textdegree{}C today.
Now, compile the source code to get the following result:
As you can see from the results from \degree and \textdegree, both commands provide the exact same results.
Wrapping Up
The user-friendliness and usability of LaTeX preside over other document processing applications. According to user reviews, it is also completely free and has high reliability and stability. LaTeX is one of the oldest applications, so you can update it to the latest version with your desired features as often as you want. It has a wide variety of scientific and technical commands, inclusive of simple characters and parametric variables.
This tutorial comprehensively explains how to use the degree symbol in LaTeX. We have also added an alternative for inserting a degree symbol while using the textcomp package for the document. It may help you to combine other symbols that support the textcomp package.
