>In order to type the degree symbol, press and hold >down the Alt key while on the numeric key pad typing >0176. (The '0' is needed.)
Why not $^\circ$, or \usepackage{gensymb} \degree I like the output of these commands better than the Alt+0176 symbol. See also: http://anthony.liekens.net/index.php/LaTeX/DegreesNotation Vincent