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1698 (perhaps deriving from a much earlier use of middle dot to separate juxtaposed numbers) division slash (a.k.a. solidus ) 1718 (deriving from horizontal fraction bar, invented by Abu Bakr al-Hassar in the 12th century)
Latin and Greek letters are used in mathematics, science, engineering, and other areas where mathematical notation is used as symbols for constants, special functions, and also conventionally for variables representing certain quantities.
the unit of volume the litre (often avoided due to confusion with the number 1 and uppercase letter I) the length of a side of a rectangle or a cuboid (e.g. V = lwh; A = lw) the last term of a sequence or series (e.g. S n = n(a+l)/2) the orbital angular momentum quantum number [21] ℒ represents:
Greek letters (e.g. θ, β) are commonly used to denote unknown parameters (population parameters). [3]A tilde (~) denotes "has the probability distribution of". Placing a hat, or caret (also known as a circumflex), over a true parameter denotes an estimator of it, e.g., ^ is an estimator for .
Here thus in the history of equations the first letters of the alphabet became indicatively known as coefficients, while the last letters as unknown terms (an incerti ordinis). In algebraic geometry , again, a similar rule was to be observed: the last letters of the alphabet came to denote the variable or current coordinates .
In mathematics, a variable (from Latin variabilis, "changeable") is a symbol, typically a letter, that refers to an unspecified mathematical object. [1] [2] [3] One says colloquially that the variable represents or denotes the object, and that any valid candidate for the object is the value of the variable. The values a variable can take are ...
1. Denotes the ratio of two quantities. 2. In some countries, may denote division. 3. In set-builder notation, it is used as a separator meaning "such that"; see { : }. / 1. Denotes division and is read as divided by or over. Often replaced by a horizontal bar. For example, 3 / 2 or . 2.
In addition to Arabic notation, mathematics also makes use of Greek letters to denote a wide variety of mathematical objects and variables. On some occasions, certain Hebrew letters are also used (such as in the context of infinite cardinals). Some mathematical notations are mostly diagrammatic, and so are almost entirely script independent.