The multiplication sign is the symbol × (multiplication sign is the preferred Unicode name for the codepoint represented by that glyph). The symbol is similar to the letter x but is a more symmetric cross, and has different uses. In mathematics, the symbol ×, pronounced times or multiplication sign, is primarily used to denote the
- multiplication of two numbers (except in computer languages, where the asterisk (*) is usually used instead)
- cross product of two vectors
- Cartesian product of two sets
- multiplication and the sign function, as an APL function symbol
The × symbol for multiplication was introduced by William Oughtred in 1631.[1] In biology, the multiplication sign is used in a botanical hybrid name, where it is pronounced cross. The × symbol is U+00D7 in Unicode. It is represented by × and × in HTML, and by \times in TeX. This symbol shows up in a slightly larger size in Unicode, as "vector or cross product", at U+2A2F; this larger glyph is designed to represent a vector cross product.
References
- ^ Florian Cajori (1919). A History of Mathematics. Macmillan.
External links
- http://www.eki.ee/letter/chardata.cgi?ucode=00D7
- http://www.fileformat.info/info/unicode/char/00d7/index.htm (the general multiplication sign)
- http://www.fileformat.info/info/unicode/char/2a2f/index.htm (the cross product sign)
