I'm trying to typeset `$\frac{x^*}{2}$`, but I can't find a (simple) way to make the alignment look nice. So far, I've tried the following:

```
\documentclass{article}
\begin{document}

\begin{equation}
\frac{x^*}{2} \qquad \frac{x^*}{2\phantom{{}^*}}
\end{equation}

\end{document}

```

With the following output:

![alignment issues](https://i.stack.imgur.com/xaL0R.png)

In the left one, it looks odd because the `x` is very off-center, and in the right example the fraction bar is extended way more to the right than what's really necessary.

Is there a nicer (and still simple enough) way to typeset this fraction?
['https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/100326', 'https://tex.stackexchange.com', 'https://tex.stackexchange.com/users/223/']
How about using `\mathrlap` from the [`mathtools`](http://www.ctan.org/pkg/mathtools)-package?

```
\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{mathtools}
\begin{document}

\begin{equation}
\frac{x^*}{2} \qquad \frac{x^*}{2\phantom{{}^*}} \qquad \frac{x^{\mathrlap{*}}}{2}
\end{equation}

\end{document}

```

This inserts the asterisk without adding additional space and thus keeping the fraction line as long as in the first example:
![Screenshot](https://i.stack.imgur.com/RY9HZ.png)
Aligning things that should not be aligned is a bad idea. Very similar example to yours is adding `\phantom{-}` in front of `0` and `1` in matricis comprising only `0`, `1` and `-1`. You align the numbers, but you lose the visual distinction between `1` and `-1`.

Here, it is a bit different but still valid: I, as a reader, would really get the impression that there's a missing symbol after `2`, just because the whole denominator is not centered, whereas I expect it to be centered.

Conclusion: Two options are correct: `\frac{x^*}{2}` and `x^*/2`.