# Question mark over equals sign [duplicate]

I'd like to have output an equals sign that has a small question mark over the top of it. (I'm proving an equation, but it is not obvious until the final step that the equation is true.)

Do I need to create a special symbol myself (via a macro, etc.), or is there already one defined?

## marked as duplicate by egreg, Stefan Kottwitz♦Mar 15 '13 at 17:38

\stackrel{?}{=}. Some more characters.
• On point. Nothing more, nothing less. I define \newcommand{\?}{\stackrel{?}{=}} to make things go faster. – Jimi Oke Jan 20 '11 at 4:52
• @jimi- it gave an error, ! Missing $inserted. <inserted text>$ l.5 \? – Aku Jan 20 '11 at 15:36
• @Aku: It has to be used within the math environment for it to work and that's where I assumed you were working, anyway ;) If you typed $l.5 \?, then I think you're simply missing the closing $ symbol! Otherwise, it should work fine. – Jimi Oke Jan 20 '11 at 17:47
• Note that the linked question mentions \overset from amsmath which is preferable over \stackrel according to Philippe Goutet. Care to edit your reply? (I googled for "question mark over equals sign" and hence don't think the question should be closed as duplicate ;-) ) – krlmlr Apr 10 '12 at 14:32