The first known recorded modern use of the degree symbol in mathematics is from 1657 where the usage seems to show that the symbol is a small raised zero, to match the prime symbol notation of sexagesimalsubdivisions of degree such as minute, second, and third, which originate as small raised Roman numerals.
Typography
In the case of degrees of angulararc, the degree symbol follows the number without any intervening space, e.g.. The addition of minute and second of arc follows the degree units, with intervening spaces between the sexagesimal degree subdivisions but no spaces between the numbers and units, for example. In the case of degrees of temperature, three scientific and engineering standards bodies prescribe printing temperatures with a space between the number and the degree symbol, e.g.. However, in many works with professional typesetting, including scientific works published by the University of Chicago Press or Oxford University Press, the degree symbol is printed with no spaces between the number, the symbol, and the Latin letters "C" or "F" representing Celsius or Fahrenheit, respectively, e.g.. This is also the practice of the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research, which operates the National Center for Atmospheric Research. Use of the degree symbol to refer to temperatures measured in kelvins was abolished in 1967 by the 13th General Conference on Weights and Measures. Therefore, the triple point of water, for instance, is written simply as 273.16 K. The name of the SI unit of temperature is now "kelvin", in lower case, and no longer "degrees Kelvin". In photography, the symbol is used to denote logarithmicfilm speed grades. In this usage, it follows the number without spacing as in 21° DIN, 5° ASA or ISO 100/21°.
Encoding
The degree sign is included in Unicode as. For use with Chinese characters there are also code points for and. The degree sign was missing from the basic 7-bit ASCII set of 1963, but in 1987 the ISO/IEC 8859 standard introduced it at position 0xB0 in all variants except Part 5, 6, 7 and 11. In 1991 the Unicode standard incorporated all of the ISO/IEC 8859 code points, including the degree sign.. The Windows Code Page 1252 was also an extension of ISO/IEC 8859-1 standard, so it had the degree sign at the same code point, 0xB0. The code point in the older DOS Code Page 437 was 0xF8 ; therefore, the Alt code used to enter the symbol directly from the keyboard is.
Lookalikes
Other characters with similar appearance but different meanings include:
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Keyboard entry
Some computer keyboard layouts, such as the QWERTY layout as used in Italy, the QWERTZ layout as used in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, and the AZERTY layout as used in France and Belgium, have the degree symbol available directly on a key. But the common keyboard layouts in English-speaking countries do not include the degree sign, which then has to be input some other way. The method of inputting depends on the operating system being used. On the Colemak keyboard layout, one can press + followed by to insert a degree sign. On Linux, one can press + twice to insert a degree sign.
Desktop OS
With Microsoft Windows, there are several ways to make the degree symbol:
One can type or
Note: "0176" is different from "176"; produces the light shade character. Note: The NumLock must be set first; on full size keyboards, the numeric keypad must be used; on laptops without a numerical keypad, the virtual numeric keypad must be used.
The Character Map tool also may be used to obtain a graphical menu of symbols.
In the classic Mac OS and macOSoperating systems, the degree symbol can be entered by typing. One can also use the Mac OS character palette, which is available in many programs by selecting Special Characters from the Edit Menu, or from the 'Input Menu' icon on the menu bar. In Linux operating systems such as Ubuntu, this symbol may be entered via the Compose key followed by,. Some keyboard layouts display this symbol upon pressing , and, in programs created by GTK+, one can enter Unicode characters in any text entry field by first pressing, regardless of keyboard layout. For the degree symbol, this is done by entering followed by a space. For Chrome OS, use the Unicode entry method then then space or return; with the UK extended layout, use.
Mobile OS
In iOS, the degree symbol is accessed by pressing and holding and dragging a finger to the degree symbol. This procedure is the same as entering diacritics on other characters. In Android, switch to numbers then symbols. The degrees symbol is found on the second row.
Software-specific
In Microsoft Office and similar programs, there is often also an Insert menu with an Insert Symbol or Symbol command that brings up a graphical palette of symbols to insert, including the degree symbol. As with the CharMap app, the table is arranged in unicode order. An easier way is to use or then. In LaTeX, the packages gensymb and textcomp provide the commands and \textdegree, respectively. In the absence of these packages one can write the degree symbol as ^ in math mode. In other words, it is written as the empty circle glyph as a superscript. In AutoCAD it is available as a shortcut string.
