Common Abbreviations and Mathematical Symbols | Research & Encyclopedia Articles

Common Abbreviations and Mathematical Symbols

= equals; double bond
≠ not equal to
≡ identically equal to; equivalent to; triple bond
∼ approximately
≈ approximately equal to
≅ congruent to; approximately equal to
∝ proportional to
< less than
> greater than
≪ much less than
≫ much greater than
≤ less than or equal to
≥ greater than or equal to
→ approaches, tends to; yields; is replaced by
⇒ implies; is replaced by
⇐ is implied by
⇓ mutually implies
⇔ if and only if
⇄ reversible reaction
&NA; perpendicular to
∥ parallel to
&NA; absolute value of
+ plus
− minus
/ divided by
× multiplied by
± plus or minus
√ radical
∫ integral
∑ summation
&NA; product
∂ partial derivative
° degree
°B degrees Baumé
°C degrees Celsius (centigrade)
°F degrees Fahrenheit
! factorial
″ second
′ minute
ε₀ electric constant
μ micro-
μ₀ magnetic constant
μA microampere
μA h microampere hour
μC microcoulomb
μF microfarad
μg microgram
μK microkelvin
μm micrometer
μm micron
μm Hg microns of mercury
μmol micromole
μs, μsec microsecond
μu microunit
μΩ microhm
σ Stefan-Boltzmann constant
Ω ohm
Ωcm ohm centimeter
Ωcm/(cm/cm³) ohm centimeter per centimeter per cubic centimeter

A ampere
&NA; angstrom
a atto-
A_s atmosphere, standard
abbr. abbreviate; abbreviation
abr. abridged; abridgment
Ac Actinium
ac alternating-current
aF attofarad
af audio-frequency
Ag silver
A h ampere hour
AIP American Institute of Physics
Al aluminum
alt altitude
Am americium
AM amplitude-modulation
A.M. ante meridiem
amend. amended; amendment
annot. annotated; annotation
antilog antilogarithm
app. appendix
approx approximate (in subscript)
Ar argon
arccos arccosine
arccot arccotangent
arccsc arccosecant
arc min arc minute
arcsec arcsecant
arcsin arcsine
arg argument
As arsenic
At astatine
At/m ampere turns per meter
atm atmosphere
at. ppm atomic parts per million
at. % atomic percent
atu atomic time unit
AU astronomical unit
a.u. atomic unit
Au gold
av average (in subscript)

b barn
B boron
Ba barium
bcc body-centered-cubic
B.C.E. before the common era
Be beryllium
Bi biot
Bi bismuth
Bk berkelium
bp boiling point
Bq becquerel
Br bromine
Btu, BTU British thermal unit

C carbon
c centi-
c. circa, about, approximately
C coulomb
c speed of light
Ca calcium
cal calorie
calc calculated (in subscript)
c.c. complex conjugate
CCD charge-coupled devices
Cd cadmium
cd candela
CD compact disc
Ce cerium
C.E. common era
CERN European Center for Nuclear Research
Cf californium
cf. confer, compare
cgs centimeter-gram-second (system)
Ci curie
Cl chlorine
C.L. confidence limits
c.m. center of mass
cm centimeter
Cm curium
cm³ cubic centimeter
Co cobalt
Co. Company
coeff coefficient (in subscript)
colog cologarithm
const constant
Corp. Corporation
cos cosine
cosh hyperbolic cosine
cot cotangent
coth hyperbolic cotangent
cp candlepower
cP centipoise
cp chemically pure
cpd contact potential difference
cpm counts per minute
cps cycles per second
Cr chromium
cS centistoke
Cs cesium
csc cosecant
csch hyperbolic cosecant
Cu copper
cu cubic
cw continuous-wave

D Debye
d deci-
da deka-
dB, dBm decibel
dc direct-current
deg degree
det determinant
dev deviation
diam diameter
dis/min disintegrations per minute
dis/s disintegrations per second
div divergence
DNA deoxyribose nucleic acid
DOE, DoE U.S. Department of Energy
Dy dysprosium
dyn dyne

E east
e electronic charge
E exa-
e, exp exponential
e/at. electrons per atom
e b electron barn
e/cm³ electrons per cubic centimeter
ed. (pl., eds.) editor
e.g. exempli gratia, for example
el elastic (in subscript)
emf, EMF electromotive force
emu electromagnetic unit
Eng. England
EPA U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Eq. (pl., Eqs.) equation
Er erbium
EREN Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Network
erf error function
erfc error function (complement of)
Es einsteinium
e.s.d. estimated standard deviation
esu electrostatic unit
et al. et alii, and others
etc. et cetera, and so forth
e.u. electron unit
eu entropy unit
Eu europium
eV electron volt
expt experimental (in subscript)

F farad
F Faraday constant
f femto-
F fermi
F fluorine
fc foot-candle
fcc face-centered-cubic
Fe iron
FERC Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (U.S.)
fF femtofarad
Fig. (pl., Figs.) figure
fL foot-lambert
fm femtometer
Fm fermium
FM frequency-modulation
f. (pl., ff.) following
fpm fissions per minute
Fr francium
Fr franklin
fs femtosecond
ft foot
ft lb foot-pound
ft lbf foot-pound-force
f.u. formula units

g acceleration of free fall
G gauss
G giga-
g gram
G gravitational constant
Ga gallium
Gal gal (unit of gravitational force)
gal gallon
g-at. gram-atom
g.at. wt gram-atomic-weight
Gc/s gigacycles per second
Gd gadolinium
Ge germanium
GeV giga-electron-volt
GHz gigahertz
Gi gilbert
grad gradient
GV gigavolt
Gy gray

h hecto-
H henry
h hour
H hydrogen
h Planck constant
H.c. Hermitian conjugate
hcp hexagonal-close-packed
He helium
Hf hafnium
hf high-frequency
hfs hyperfine structure
hg hectogram
Hg mercury
Ho holmium
hp horsepower
Hz hertz

I iodine
IAEA International Atomic Energy Agency
ICT International Critical Tables
i.d. inside diameter
i.e. id est, that is
IEA International Energy Agency
IEEE Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
if intermediate frequency
Im imaginary part
in. inch
In indium
Inc. Incorporated
inel inelastic (in subscript)
ir, IR infrared
Ir iridium

J joule
Jy jansky

k, k_b Boltzmann's constant
K degrees Kelvin
K kayser
k kilo-
K potassium
kA kiloamperes
kbar kilobar
kbyte kilobyte
kcal kilocalorie
kc/s kilocycles per second
kdyn kilodyne
keV kilo-electron-volt
kG kilogauss
kg kilogram
kgf kilogram force
kg m kilogram meter
kHz kilohertz
kJ kilojoule
kK kilodegrees Kelvin
km kilometer
kMc/s kilomegacycles per second
kn knot
kOe kilo-oersted
kpc kiloparsec
Kr krypton
ks, ksec kilosecond
kt kiloton
kV kilovolt
kV A kilovolt ampere
kW kilowatt
kWh kilowatt hour
kΩ kilohm

L lambert
L langmuir
l, L liter
La lanthanum
LA longitudinal-acoustic
lab laboratory (in subscript)
lat latitude
lb pound
lbf pound-force
lbm pound-mass
LED light emitting diode
Li lithium
lim limit
lm lumen
lm/W lumens per watt
ln natural logarithm (base e)
LO longitudinal-optic
log logarithm
Lr lawrencium
LU Lorentz unit
Lu lutetium
lx lux
ly, lyr light-year

M Mach
M mega-
m meter
m milli-
m molal (concentration)
M molar (concentration)
m_e electronic rest mass
m_n neutron rest mass
m_p proton rest mass
MA megaamperes
mA milliampere
ma maximum
mb millibarn
mCi millicurie
Mc/s megacycles per second
Md mendelevium
MeV mega-electron-volt; million electron volt
Mg magnesium
mg milligram
mH millihenry
mho reciprocal ohm
MHz megahertz
min minimum
min minute
mK millidegrees Kelvin; millikelvin
mks meter-kilogram-second (system)
mksa meter-kilogram-second ampere
mksc meter-kilogram-second coulomb
ml milliliter
mm millimeter
mmf magnetomotive force
mm Hg millimeters of mercury
Mn manganese
MO molecular orbital
Mo molybdenum
MOE magneto-optic effect
mol mole
mol %, mole % mole percent
mp melting point
Mpc megaparsec
mpg miles per gallon
mph miles per hour
MPM mole percent metal
Mrad megarad
ms, msec millisecond
mt metric tonne
Mt million metric tonnes
mu milliunit
MV megavolt; million volt
mV millivolt
MW megawatt
MWe megawatts of electric power
Mx maxwell
mμm millimicron
MΩ megaohm

n nano-
N newton
N nitrogen
N normal (concentration)
N north
N, N_A Avogadro constant
Na sodium
NASA National Aeronautics and Space Administration
nb nanobarn
Nb niobium
Nd neodymium
N.D. not determined
NDT nondestructive testing
Ne neon
n/f neutrons per fission
Ni nickel
N_L Loschmidt's constant
nm nanometer
No nobelium
No. number
NOx, NO_x oxides of nitrogen
Np neper
Np neptunium
NRC Nuclear Regulatory Commission (U.S.)
ns, nsec nanosecond
n/s neutrons per second
n/s cm² neutrons per second per square centimeter
NSF National Science Foundation (U.S.)
ns/m nanoseconds per meter

O oxygen
o() of order less than
O() of the order of
obs observed (in subscript)
o.d. outside diameter
Oe oersted
ohm^-1 mho
Os osmium
oz ounce

P peta-
P phosphorus
p pico-
P poise
Pa pascal
Pa protactinium
Pb lead
pc parsec
Pd palladium
PD potential difference
pe probable error
pF picofarad
pl. plural
P.M. post meridiem
Pm promethium
Po polonium
ppb parts per billion
p. (pl., pp.) page
ppm parts per million
Pr praseodymium
psi pounds per square inch
psi (absolute) pounds per square inch absolute
psi (gauge) pounds per square inch gauge
Pt platinum
Pu plutonium

Q, quad quadrillion Btus

R roentgen
Ra radium
rad radian
Rb rubidium
Re real part
Re rhenium
rev. revised
rf radio frequency
Rh rhodium
r.l. radiation length
rms root-mean-square
Rn radon
RNA ribonucleic acid
RPA random-phase approximation
rpm revolutions per minute
rps, rev/s revolutions per second
Ru ruthenium
Ry rydberg

s, sec second
S siemens
S south
S stoke
S sulfur
Sb antimony
Sc scandium
sccm standard cubic centimeter per minute
Se selenium
sec secant
sech hyperbolic secant
sgn signum function
Si silicon
SI Systäme International
sin sine
sinh hyperbolic sine
SLAC Stanford Linear Accelerator Center
Sm samarium
Sn tin
sq square
sr steradian
Sr strontium
STP standard temperature and pressure
Suppl. Supplement
Sv sievert

T tera-
T tesla
t tonne
Ta tantalum
TA transverse-acoustic
tan tangent
tanh hyperbolic tangent
Tb terbium
Tc technetium
Td townsend
Te tellurium
TE transverse-electric
TEM transverse-electromagnetic
TeV tera-electron-volt
Th thorium
theor theory, theoretical (in subscript)
THz tetrahertz
Ti titanium
Tl thallium
Tm thulium
TM transverse-magnetic
TO transverse-optic
tot total (in subscript)
TP temperature-pressure
tr, Tr trace
trans. translator, translators; translated by; translation

u atomic mass unit
U uranium
uhf ultrahigh-frequency
uv, UV ultraviolet

V vanadium
V volt
Vdc Volts direct current
vol. (pl., vols.) volume
vol % volume percent
vs. versus

W tungsten
W watt
W West
Wb weber
Wb/m² webers per square meter
wt % weight percent
W.u. Weisskopf unit

Xe xenon
Y yttrium
Yb ytterbium
yr year

Zn zinc
Zr zirconium