Superscript Five

Superscript Five at U+2075 is a raised digit 5 used when a true superscript numeral is needed as text rather than as formatting. It belongs to the Superscripts and Subscripts block and is categorized as a number, so it has a numeric meaning while appearing above the baseline. Its most common role is in mathematical and scientific writing for powers, exponents, and indexed notation, as in x⁵ for “x to the fifth power” or m⁵ in a dimensional expression. It also appears in plain-text chemistry, physics, and engineering notes where rich text formatting is unavailable or inconvenient. In publishing and reference material, it can mark footnote or endnote numbers when the marker must remain a single character, such as a sentence followed by ⁵. It is also used in phonetics, annotations, and compact labels that need a raised 5 without relying on word-processor superscript styling. The main practical caution is that this character is not the same as an ordinary digit 5 with visual superscript formatting applied. Searching, sorting, and data validation may treat ⁵ differently from 5, which matters in spreadsheets, databases, and copied mathematical text.