/Proposal: Chemistry
Most SE sites use MathJax for mathematical formatting. Will we need it? Also, does anyone know of a simple mathjax-like chemistry formula renderer (that way we can avoid too many <sup>/<sub>s) that we can use.
Another idea would be to write a short bunch of chem macros that will work in mathjax. Stuff like a by-default-\rm-style, and some other stuff. These can be loaded by simply inserting them in a hidden div enclosed in $....$.
The MathJax 2.0 changelog mentions the following item:
New mhchem chemistry extension (adds \ce, \cf, and \cee macros)
So there seems to be some support for chemical equations in MathJax, and integrating that would certainly be useful.
The ChemDoodle Web Components are available under the GPL license and look like a nice way to integrate an editor for structure formulas.
MathJax is probably a good idea, considering that any kind of physical chemistry question will inevitably have to be explained in mathematical terms to some extent.
