Greek Alphabet

Pronunciation: /grik ˈælfəˌbɛt/ Explain

The Greek alphabet is often used in mathematics. The Greek letters can be used as variables, or represent concepts or constants. The conventional use of some of the letters is given.


Name
Upper
Case
Lower
Case

Conventional Use
AlphaΑα
BetaΒβ
GammaΓγ Gamma is used to represent the gamma function, a generalization of factorial.
DeltaΔδ Δ is used to represent the concept of change. 'Δx' (read delta-x) means the change in x
EpsilonΕε ε is used to represent a very small positive quantity.
ZetaΖζ
\bgcolor{f8f7f0}{\zeta\left(x\right)\;\equiv\;\frac{1}{\Gamma\left(x\right)}\int_0^{\infty}\frac{u^{x-1}}{e^u-1}du}
EtaΗη
\bgcolor{f8f7f0}{\eta\left(s\right)\;\equiv\;\sum_{k=1}^{\infty}\frac{\left(-1\right)^{k-1}}{k^s}}\bgcolor{f8f7f0}{=\;\left(1-2^{1-s}\right)}\zeta\left(s\right)
ThetaΘθθ is used as a variable to represent the measure of an angle.
IotaΙιblank space
KappaΚκ
(x^2+y^2)y^2=x^2
LambdaΛλblank space
MuΜμblank space
NuΝν
\bgcolor{f8f7f0}{\nu\left(x\right)\;\equiv\;\int_0^{\infty}\frac{x^t}{\gamma\left(t+1\right)}}, \bgcolor{f8f7f0}{\nu\left(x,\;\alpha\right)\;\equiv\;\int_0^{\infty}\frac{x^{\alpha+t}}{\gamma\left(\alpha+t+1\right)}}
XiΞξ
\bgcolor{f8f7f0}{\xi\left(z\right)\;\equiv\;\frac{1}{2}z\left(z-1\right)\frac{\Gamma\left(\frac{1}{2}z\right)}{\pi^\frac{z}{2}}\zeta\left(z\right)}
OmicronΟοblank space
PiΠππ is constant defined as the ratio of the circumference of a circle to the diameter. Its value is approximately 3.14159.
RhoΡρblank space
SigmaΣσΣ is an operator used to indicate repeated addition.
TauΤτ
UpsilonΥυblank space
PhiΦφGolden section
ChiΧχ
PsiΨψblank space
OmegaΩω

References

  1. McAdams, David E.. All Math Words Dictionary, Greek letters. 2nd Classroom edition 20150108-4799968. pg 88. Life is a Story Problem LLC. January 8, 2015. Buy the book
  2. greek alphabet. merriam-webster.com. Encyclopedia Britannica. Merriam-Webster. Last Accessed 7/11/2018. http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/greek alphabet. Buy the book
  3. Auden, H. W. and Taylor, Allan E. A Minimum of Greek. pp 2-3. www.archive.org. Morang & Co., Limited. 1906. Last Accessed 7/11/2018. http://www.archive.org/stream/minimumofgreekha00audeuoft#page/1/mode/1up. Buy the book
  4. Timothy M. Hagle. Basic Math for Social Scientists: Concepts. pg vii. Sage Publications, Inc. June 29, 1995. Last Accessed 7/11/2018. Buy the book
  5. Greek letters used in mathematics, science, and engineering. en.wikipedia.org. Wikipedia Encyclopedia. Last Accessed 7/11/2018. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek_letters_used_in_mathematics,_science,_and_engineering.
  6. Sophocles, E. A.. History of the Greek Alphabet. www.archive.org. B. B. Mussey and Company. 1848. Last Accessed 7/11/2018. http://www.archive.org/stream/historyofgreekal00sophrich#page/n5/mode/2up. Buy the book

Cite this article as:

McAdams, David E. Greek Alphabet. 4/21/2019. All Math Words Encyclopedia. Life is a Story Problem LLC. http://www.allmathwords.org/en/g/greekalphabet.html.

Image Credits

Revision History

4/21/2019: Updated equations and expressions to new format. (McAdams, David E.)
12/21/2018: Reviewed and corrected IPA pronunication. (McAdams, David E.)
8/7/2018: Changed vocabulary links to WORDLINK format. (McAdams, David E.)
7/10/2018: Removed broken links, updated license, implemented new markup, implemented new Geogebra protocol. (McAdams, David E.)
2/8/2010: Added "References". (McAdams, David E.)
12/15/2008: Added more entries into the list. (McAdams, David E.)
11/25/2008: Corrected appearance of lower case alpha. (McAdams, David E.)
6/7/2008: Corrected spelling. (McAdams, David E.)
2/18/2008: Corrected grammatical errors. (McAdams, David E.)
9/4/2007: Initial version. (McAdams, David E.)

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