Why no degree symbol on keyboards?

Joined
Apr 27, 2010
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Suburban Washington DC
When someone writes a temperature in degrees, they may use an asterisk, as in 25*F. Why isn't there a proper small circle symbol on keyboards instead of the asterisk? That there isn't room on the keyboard, isn't an excuse. There are many symbols that get used even less that ARE on the keyboard like ~ ` | ^ and before the internet, # or @.
 
I use a number of those symbols, maybe not daily but enough that I would be sad to see go. But I agree, degree would be nice.

If you have a number pad you could hold down alt and type 248 on the number pad.
 
Depends on the computer and maybe the keyboard. It's possible for a keyboard maker to put one on, but there are only so many keys.

On an Apple keyboard there are weird ways to do it, like the option-0 combo, which produces this: º. Or hold down a key where a bunch of options come up, like holding down on an o and getting different characters with an umlaut like ü ö ä.
 
If you're on a Mac, Option+ 0, º . One of the many Mac things I love, and there are a lot of what I'd consider logical keyboard shortcuts to symbols, like opt E if you want to accent something or option Z for the Ω...
 
°
It's there. Next to the upper left '1/!'. I almost always use it for temperatures and angles.
Nope. And yes it needs a cleaning,

IMG_2865.JPG
 
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