List of common physics notations
This is a list of common physical constants and variables, and their notations. Note that bold text indicates that the quantity is a vector.
Latin characters
Symbol | Meaning | SI unit of measure |
---|---|---|
magnetic vector potential | tesla meter (T⋅m) | |
area | square meters (m2) | |
amplitude | meter | |
atomic mass number | unitless | |
acceleration | meters per second squared (m/s2) | |
magnetic flux density also called the magnetic field density or magnetic induction |
tesla (T), or equivalently, weber per square meter (Wb/m2) | |
capacitance | farad (F) | |
heat capacity | joule per kelvin (J⋅K−1) | |
constant of integration | varied depending on context | |
speed of light (in vacuum) | 299,792,458 meter per second (m/s) | |
speed of sound | 340.29 meter per second (m/s) | |
specific heat capacity | joule per kilogram per kelvin (J⋅kg−1⋅K−1) | |
viscous damping coefficient | kilogram per second (kg/s) | |
electric displacement field also called the electric flux density |
coulomb per square meter (C/m2) | |
density | kilograms per cubic meter (kg/m3) | |
distance | meter (m) | |
direction | unitless | |
impact parameter | meter (m) | |
diameter | meter (m) | |
differential (e.g. ) | ||
differential vector element of surface area A, with infinitesimally small magnitude and direction normal to surface S | square meter (m2) | |
differential element of volume V enclosed by surface S | cubic meter (m3) | |
electric field | newton per coulomb (N⋅C−1), or equivalently, volt per meter (V⋅m−1) | |
energy | joule (J) | |
Young's Modulus | pascal (Pa) or newton per square meter (N/m2) | |
eccentricity | unitless | |
2.71828... (base of the natural logarithm) | unitless | |
electron | unitless | |
elementary charge | coulomb (C) | |
force | newton (N) | |
Faraday constant | coulombs per mole (C⋅mol−1) | |
frequency | hertz (Hz) | |
function | ||
friction | newton (N) | |
electrical conductance | siemens (S) | |
gravitational constant | newton meter squared per kilogram squared (N⋅m2/kg2) | |
acceleration due to gravity | meters per second squared (m/s2), or equivalently, newtons per kilogram (N/kg) | |
magnetic field strength | ampere per meter (A/m) | |
Hamiltonian | joule (J) | |
height | meter (m) | |
Planck constant | joule second (J⋅s) | |
reduced Planck constant | joule second (J⋅s) | |
action | joule second (J⋅s) | |
intensity | watt per square meter (W/m2) | |
sound intensity | watt per square meter (W/m2) | |
electric current | ampere (A) | |
moment of inertia | kilogram meter squared (kg⋅m2) | |
intensity | watt per square meter (W/m2) | |
imaginary unit | unitless | |
Cartesian x-axis basis unit vector | unitless | |
current density | ampere per square meter (A/m2) | |
impulse | kilogram meter per second (kg⋅m/s) | |
jerk | meters per second cubed (m/s3) | |
imaginary unit (electrical) | unitless | |
Cartesian y-axis basis unit vector | unitless | |
kinetic energy | joule (J) | |
Boltzmann constant | joule per kelvin (J/K) | |
wavenumber, wave vector | radians per meter (m−1) | |
stiffness | newtons per meter (N⋅m−1) | |
Cartesian z-axis basis unit vector | unitless | |
inductance | henry (H) | |
luminosity | watt (W) | |
angular momentum | newton meter second (N⋅m⋅s or kg⋅m2⋅s−1) | |
Lagrangian | joule (J) | |
length | meter (m) | |
ℓ | azimuthal quantum number | unitless |
magnetization | amperes per meter (A/m) | |
moment of force often simply called moment or torque |
newton meter (N⋅m) | |
mass | kilogram (kg) | |
normal vector | unit varies depending on context | |
atomic number | unitless | |
refractive index | unitless | |
principal quantum number | unitless | |
amount of substance | mole | |
power | watt (W) | |
probability | unitless | |
momentum | kilogram meter per second (kg⋅m/s) | |
pressure | pascal (Pa) | |
electric charge | coulomb (C) | |
Heat | joule (J) | |
electric charge | coulomb (C) | |
electrical resistance | ohm (Ω) | |
Ricci tensor | reciprocal square meter (m−2) | |
radiancy | meter per second | |
gas constant | joule per mole per kelvin (J⋅mol−1⋅K−1) | |
radius vector (position) | meter (m) | |
radius or distance | meter (m) | |
surface area | m2 | |
entropy | joule per kelvin (J/K) | |
action | joule second (J⋅s) | |
displacement | meter (m) | |
arc length | meter (m) | |
period | second (s) | |
temperature | kelvin (K) or Celsius (C) | |
time | second (s) | |
four-velocity | meter per second (m/s) | |
potential energy | joule (J) | |
internal energy | joule (J) | |
relativistic mass | kilogram (kg) | |
energy density | joule per cubic meter (J/m3) or joule per kilogram (J/kg) depending on the context | |
voltage also called electric potential difference |
volt (V) | |
volume | cubic meter (m3) | |
shear force | ||
velocity | meter per second (m/s) | |
mechanical work | joule (J) | |
width | meter (m) | |
position vector | meter (m) | |
displacement | meter (m) | |
a generic unknown | varied depending on context | |
electrical impedance | ohm (Ω) |
Greek characters
Symbol | Name | Meaning | SI unit of measure |
---|---|---|---|
alpha | alpha particle | ||
angular acceleration | radian per second squared (rad/s2) | ||
fine-structure constant | unitless | ||
beta | velocity in terms of the speed of light c | unitless | |
beta particle | |||
gamma | Lorentz factor | unitless | |
photon | |||
gamma ray | |||
shear strain | |||
heat capacity ratio | unitless | ||
delta | change in a variable (e.g. ) | unitless | |
Laplace operator | per square meter (m−2) | ||
displacement (usually small) | meter (m) | ||
Dirac delta function | |||
epsilon | permittivity | farad per meter (F/m) | |
strain | unitless | ||
epsilon nought | vacuum permittivity constant | farad per meter (F/m) | |
zeta | damping ratio | unitless | |
eta | energy efficiency | unitless | |
coefficient of viscosity also called simply viscosity |
pascal second (Pa⋅s) | ||
jerk | meter per second cubed (m/s3) | ||
theta | angular displacement | radian (rad) | |
kappa | torsion coefficient also called torsion constant |
newton meter per radian (N⋅m/rad) | |
lambda | cosmological constant | per second squared (s−2) | |
wavelength | meter (m) | ||
linear charge density | coulomb per meter (C/m) | ||
eigenvalue | non-zero vector | ||
mu | magnetic moment | ampere square meter (A⋅m2) | |
coefficient of friction | unitless | ||
dynamic viscosity | pascal second (Pa⋅s) | ||
permeability (electromagnetism) | henry per meter (H/m) | ||
reduced mass | kilogram (kg) | ||
gravitational parameter | |||
mu nought | vacuum permeability constant or magnetic constant | henry per meter (H/m) | |
nu | frequency | hertz (Hz) | |
kinematic viscosity | meters squared per second (m2/s) | ||
neutrino | |||
pi | 3.14159... (irrational number) | unitless | |
rho | mass density usually simply called density |
kilogram per cubic meter (kg/m3) | |
volume charge density | coulomb per cubic meter (C/m3) | ||
resistivity | ohm meter (Ω⋅m) | ||
sigma | summation operator | ||
sigma | area charge density | coulomb per square meter (C/m2) | |
electrical conductivity | siemens per meter (S/m) | ||
normal stress | pascal (Pa) | ||
scattering cross section | barn (10^-28 m^2) | ||
tau | torque | newton meter (N⋅m) | |
shear stress | pascal (Pa) | ||
time constant | second (s) | ||
6.28318... (2π) | unitless | ||
phi | field strength | unit varies depending on context | |
magnetic flux | weber (Wb) | ||
electric potential | volt (V) | ||
Higgs field work function | |||
psi | wave function | m−3/2 | |
omega | electric resistance | ohm | |
angular frequency | radian per second (rad/s) | ||
Other characters
Symbol | Name | Meaning | SI unit of measure |
---|---|---|---|
nabla dot | the divergence operator often pronounced "del dot" |
per meter (m−1) | |
nabla cross | the curl operator often pronounced "del cross" |
per meter (m−1) | |
nabla | delta (differential operator) | ||
"der", "dow", "die", "partial" or simply "d" | partial derivative (e.g. ) | ||
D'Alembert operator | |||
angle brackets | average
sometimes over Maxwell–Boltzmann distribution |
||
Dirac notation | |||
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See also
References
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