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2/4/2018 Special Symbols – The Physics Hypertextbook

Special Symbols

The Greek alphabet (with variants)

symbol unicode decimal value


english name uppercase lowercase uppercase lowercase

alpha Α α 0913 0945

beta Β β, ϐ 0914 0946, 0976

gamma Γ γ 0915 0947

delta Δ, ∆ δ 0916, 8710 0948

epsilon Ε ε, ϵ 0917 0949, 1013

zeta Ζ ζ 0918 0950

eta Η η 0919 0951

theta Θ, ϴ θ, ϑ 0920, 1012 0952, 0977

iota Ι ι 0921 0953

kappa Κ κ, ϰ 0922 0954, 1008

lambda Λ λ 0923 0955

mu Μ µ, µ 0924 0956, 0181

nu Ν ν 0925 0957

xi Ξ ξ 0926 0958

omicron Ο ο 0927 0959

pi Π, ∏ π, ϖ 0928 0960, 0982

rho Ρ ρ, ϱ 0929 0961, 1009

sigma Σ, ∑ σ, ς* 0931, 8721 0963, 0962*

tau Τ τ 0932 0964

upsilon Υ υ 0933, 0978 0965

phi Φ φ, ϕ 0934 0966, 0981

chi Χ χ 0935 0967

psi Ψ ψ 0936 0968

omega Ω, Ω ω 0937, 8486 0969

* There are two variants of lowercase sigma. The second is used only at the
end of Greek words and (to the best of my knowledge) never as a symbol
by itself.

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Mathematics

symbol unicode name

+ 0043 plus, add, positive

− 8722 minus, subtract, negative

± 0177 plus and minus, uncertainty, error

· 0183 dot product, scalar product

× 0215 cross product, vector product

÷, /, ⁄ 0247, 0047, 8725 divided by

= 0061 equal to

≈ 8776 approximately equal to

∝ 8733 proportional to

≠ 8800 not equal to, inequality

~ 0127 on the order of (tilde)

< 0060 less than

> 0062 greater than

≤ 8804 less than or equal to

≥ 8805 greater than or equal to

…, ⋯, ⋮ 8230, 8943, 8942 and so on (ellipsis)

∴ 8756 therefore

̂ 0770* unit vector, hat (circumflex)

̅ 0773* mean, average, antiparticle (overline)

ℵ 8501 transfinite number (alef)

∂ 8706 partial differential, d partial

Δ, ∆ 0916, 8710 increment, change (delta)

∇ 8711 del, nabla

Σ, ∑ 0931, 8721 summation (sigma)

√, ⎷ 8730, 9143 square root, radical

∛ 8731 cube root

∞ 8734 infinity

∥ 8741 parallel

⊥ 8869 perpendicular (up tack)

∫ 8747 integral

∬ 8748 double integral

∭ 8749 triple integral

∮ 8750 contour integral

∯ 8751 surface integral

∰ 8752 volume integral

⟨ 10216 left mathematical angle bracket, bra

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2/4/2018 Special Symbols – The Physics Hypertextbook

⟩ 10217 right mathematical angle bracket, ket

* These combining diacritical marks are characters that modify


other characters.

Variables, Constants, Units

symbol unicode name

ℰ 8496 efficiency, emf (script capital e)

ƒ 0402 frequency, friction, function (long f, f with hook)

ℐ 8464 impulse (script capital i)

ℓ 8467 length (script small l)

ℎ 8462 planck's constant

ℏ 8463 reduced planck's constant (h bar)

° 0176 degree

℃ 8451 degree celsius

℉ 8457 degree fahrenheit

K 8490 kelvin

Ω 8486 ohm (omega)

℧ 8487 inverse ohm, mho (inverted omega)

Å 8491 ångstrom (capital a with ring above)

Astronomy

symbol unicode name symbol unicode name

☉ 9737 sun ♈ 9800 aries

☿ 9791 mercury ♉ 9801 taurus

♀ 9792 venus ♊ 9802 gemini

♁ 9793 earth ♋ 9803 cancer

☽, ☾ 9789, 9790 moon ♌ 9804 leo

♂ 9794 mars ♍ 9805 virgo

♃ 9795 jupiter ♎ 9806 libra

♄ 9796 saturn ♏ 9807 scorpius

⛢, ♅ 9954, 9797 uranus ♐ 9808 sagittarius

♆ 9798 neptune ♑ 9809 capricorn

♇, 9799, no code pluto ♒ 9810 aquarius

⚳ 9907 ceres ♓ 9811 pisces

Music

symbol unicode name

♭ 9837 flat, semitone lower

♮ 9838 natural, no semitone adjustment

♯ 9839 sharp, semitone higher

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2/4/2018 Special Symbols – The Physics Hypertextbook
Plastics (resin identification codes)

symbol unicode name

♳ 9843 polyethylene terephthalate (PET or PETE)

♴ 9844 high density polyethylene (HDPE)

♵ 9845 polyvinyl chloride (PVC or V)

♶ 9846 low density polyethylene (LDPE)

♷ 9847 polypropylene (PP)

♸ 9848 polystyrene (PS)

♹ 9849 other (O)

The Physics Hypertextbook


©1998–2018 Glenn Elert
Author, Illustrator, Webmaster

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