What ₈ means
₈ is a lowered digit that labels what follows.
Chemical notation has a separate history: in 1813, Swedish chemist Jöns Jacob Berzelius proposed symbols to show how elements combine, but put numbers above the line. The notation spread across Europe and North America in the 1830s. In plain text, ₈ keeps its lowered position; use subscript formatting for longer text or equations.
What it means when someone sends it to you
2 readingsAfter an element symbol
In chemistry, it counts eight atoms of that element.
After a variable or label
It marks item eight in a numbered sequence.
Don't confuse it with
1Questions people ask
1Why does ₈ show as a box on some devices?
Because that device's fonts have no glyph for it. The character is still correct and still copies correctly — the box is a missing glyph, not a broken character.
How to type ₈
Windows (Word)
Alt+XType 2088, then Alt+X to get ₈.
Windows
Win+Rrun charmap for the full table, or use the emoji picker's Ω symbols tab (Win + .).
macOS
Control+Command+SpaceOpen the character viewer and search “subscript eight”.
Linux
Ctrl+Shift+UType 2088, then Enter or Space.
HTML
₈CSS
\2088Microsoft Word
Open Insert > Symbol > More Symbols > Superscripts and Subscripts, then select ₈.
Codes and encoding1 code points
HTML decimal
₈
HTML hex
₈
CSS content
content: "\2088";
Each escape is closed by the next backslash; a trailing space is needed before a literal hex digit.
URL encoded
%E2%82%88
1
On screen
1
Code points
1
JS .length
3
UTF-8 bytes
A visible symbol can contain several code points. JS .length counts UTF-16 units; UTF-8 counts bytes.