The International Organization for Standardization (ISO), International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC), and the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics (IUPAP) have jointly developed a set of recommended symbols for physical and chemical quantities. Consistent use of these recommended symbols helps assure unambiguous scientific communication. The list below is reprinted from Ref. 1 with permission from IUPAC; this list includes updates from the Third Edition of Ref. 1. Full details may be found in the following references.
The value of a physical quantity is expressed as the product of a numerical value and a unit, e.g.:
The symbol for a physical quantity is always given in italic (sloping) type, while symbols for units are given in roman type. Column headings in tables and axis labels on graphs may conveniently be written as the physical quantity symbol divided by the unit symbol, e.g.:
The values in the table or graph axis are then pure numbers. Subscripts to symbols for physical quantities should be italic if the subscript refers to another physical quantity or to a number, e.g.:
Subscripts that have other meanings should be in roman type:
The following tables give the recommended symbols for the major classes of physical and chemical quantities. The expression in the Definition column is given as an aid in identifying the quantity but is not necessarily the complete or unique definition. The "SI unit" gives one (not necessarily unique) expression for the coherent SI unit for the quantity. Other equivalent unit expressions, including those that involve SI prefixes, may be used.
Name | Symbol | Definition | SI unit |
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Space and Time | |||
Cartesian space coordinates | x, y, z | m | |
spherical polar coordinates | r, θ, φ | m, 1, 1 | |
generalized coordinate | q, qi | (varies) | |
position vector | r | r = xi + yj + zk | m |
length | l | m | |
special symbols: | |||
height | h | ||
breadth | b | ||
thickness | d, δ | ||
distance | d | ||
radius | r | ||
diameter | d | ||
path length | s | ||
length of arc | s | ||
area | A, As, S | m2 | |
volume | V, (v) | m3 | |
plane angle | α, β, γ, θ, φ… | α = s/r | rad, 1 |
solid angle | ω, Ω | ω = A/r2 | sr, 1 |
time | t | s |
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