Vertical Phantom \vphantom

When to use Vertical Phantom

Reserves only the vertical size of content. In source, start from the exact \vphantom command instead of imitating the rendered glyph with Unicode characters or manual spacing. This keeps the expression editable and gives the renderer enough structure to apply mathematical spacing correctly.

Syntax

\vphantom

The documented syntax belongs to Core LaTeX. Keep every required argument, brace pair, and environment boundary intact when moving the command between an editor, Markdown processor, notebook, or publishing system.

Example

\sqrt{\vphantom{b}a}

Rendered output

reserved height

Copy and compatibility checks

• Copy \vphantom exactly; changing its case or removing a leading backslash can turn it into plain text.
• Confirm that the destination loads Core LaTeX before relying on this command.
• Render the example once, then inspect grouping, limits, scripts, and spacing before publishing.