this post was submitted on 24 Oct 2025
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Unicode isn't meant to replace all typesetting like LaTeX. For example, I can't make proper horizontal fractions (as opposed to slashed like ⅝ or ⁹⁄₁₆) that are normal in my part of the world because that would be too much scope creep. Even the TeX logo is not really doable (Markdown with ASCII: ^T^~E~^X^, Unicode ᵀᴇˣ).
An imperfect solution is adding
̅ U+0305 COMBINING OVERLINEabove everything. For example, it does not sit at consistent height (√4̅a̅c̅) and Windows renders it incorrectly (centered to the right edge of the character, not its center).This is how I'd render the numerator using Unicode only:
𝑏² ± √4̅𝑎̅𝑐̅
A correct Markdown interpreter can improve the look ogf the superscript:
𝑏^2^ ± √4̅𝑎̅𝑐̅
So they had to use something "fancier" like TeX so they must've known about suoerscriots and the like
Nope, it looks like a basic vector graphics editor, think Inkscape, PowerPoint or whatever is built into their animation/effects software. They just used straight horizontal lines for the fraction and the bar of the square root.