Mathematical Symbols

Basic math symbols

Symbol	Symbol Name	Meaning/Definition	Example
=	equals sign	equality	5 = 2+3
≠	not equal sign	inequality	5 ≠ 4
>	strict inequality	greater than	5 > 4
<	strict inequality	less than	4 < 5
≥	inequality	greater than or equal to	5 ≥ 4
≤	inequality	less than or equal to	4 ≤ 5
( )	parentheses	calculate expression inside first	2 × (3+5) = 16
[ ]	brackets	calculate expression inside first	[(1+2)*(1+5)] = 18
+	plus sign	addition	1 + 1 = 2
−	minus sign	subtraction	2 − 1 = 1
±	plus - minus	both plus and minus operations	3 ± 5 = 8 and -2
∓	minus - plus	both minus and plus operations	3 ∓ 5 = -2 and 8
*	asterisk	multiplication	2 * 3 = 6
×	times sign	multiplication	2 × 3 = 6
∙	multiplication dot	multiplication	2 ∙ 3 = 6
÷	division sign / obelus	division	6 ÷ 2 = 3
/	division slash	division	6 / 2 = 3
–	horizontal line	division / fraction	$\frac{6}{2}$=3
mod	modulo	remainder calculation	7 mod 2 = 1
.	period	decimal point, decimal separator	2.56 = 2+56/100
$a^b$	power	exponent	$2^3$ = 8
a^b	caret	exponent	2 ^ 3 = 8
$\sqrt{a}$	square root	$\sqrt{a}$ · $\sqrt{a}$ = a	$\sqrt{9}$ = ±3
$\sqrt[3]{a}$	cube root	$\sqrt[3]{a}$ · $\sqrt[3]{a}$ · $\sqrt[3]{a}$ = a	$\sqrt[3]{8}$ = 2
$\sqrt[4]{a}$	fourth root	$\sqrt[4]{a}$ · $\sqrt[4]{a}$ · $\sqrt[4]{a}$ · $\sqrt[4]{a}$ = a	$\sqrt[4]{16}$ = ±2
$\sqrt[n]{a}$	n-th root (radical)		for n=3,$\sqrt[n]{8}$ = 2
%	percent	1% = 1/100	10% × 30 = 3
‰	per-mille	1‰ = 1/1000 = 0.1%	10‰ × 30 = 0.3
ppm	per-million	1ppm = 1/1000000	10ppm × 30 = 0.0003
ppb	per-billion	1ppb = 1/1000000000	10ppb × 30 = 3×$10^{-7}$
ppt	per-trillion	1ppt = $10^{-12}$	10ppt × 30 = 3×$10^{-10}$

Algebra symbols

Symbol	Symbol Name	Meaning/Definition	Example
x!	exclamation mark	factorial	4! = 123*4 = 24
$| x |$	single vertical bar	absolute value	$| -5 |$ = 5
f (x)	function of x	maps values of x to f(x)	f (x) = 3x+5
(f∘g)	function composition	(f ∘g) (x) = f (g(x))	f (x)=3x, g(x)=x-1 ⇒(f ∘g)(x)=3(x-1)
∆	delta	change / difference	∆t = $t_1$ - $t_0$
∆	discriminant	Δ = $b^2$ - 4ac
$\sum$	sigma	summation - sum of all values in range of series	$\sum x_i= x_1+x_2+...+x_n$
$\prod$	capital pi	product - product of all values in range of series	$\prod x_i=x_1 ∙ x_2 ∙ ... ∙ x_n$

http://rapidtables.com/math/symbols/Basic_Math_Symbols.htm