Appendix B. Glossary of Key Symbols and Notation

Lumen Learning

Appendix B. Glossary of Key Symbols and Notation

Lumen Learning

In this glossary, key symbols and notation are briefly defined.

Symbol	Definition
$\overline{\text{any symbol}}\\$	average (indicated by a bar over a symbol—e.g., $\overline{v}\\$ is average velocity)
°C	Celsius degree
°F	Fahrenheit degree
//	parallel
⊥	perpendicular
$\propto\\$	proportional to
±	plus or minus
0	zero as a subscript denotes an initial value
α	alpha rays
α	angular acceleration
α	temperature coefficient(s) of resistivity
β	beta rays
β	sound level
β	volume coefficient of expansion
β⁻	electron emitted in nuclear beta decay
β⁺	positron decay
γ	gamma rays
γ	surface tension
$\displaystyle\gamma=\frac{1}{\sqrt{1-\frac{v^2}{c^2}}}\\$	a constant used in relativity
Δ	change in whatever quantity follows
δ	uncertainty in whatever quantity follows
ΔE	change in energy between the initial and final orbits of an electron in an atom
ΔE	uncertainty in energy
Δm	difference in mass between initial and final products
ΔN	number of decays that occur
Δp	change in momentum
Δp	uncertainty in momentum
ΔPE_g	change in gravitational potential energy
Δθ	rotation angle
Δs	distance traveled along a circular path
Δt	uncertainty in time
Δt₀	proper time as measured by an observer at rest relative to the process
ΔV	potential difference
Δx	uncertainty in position
ε₀	permittivity of free space
η	viscosity
θ	angle between the force vector and the displacement vector
θ	angle between two lines
θ	contact angle
θ	direction of the resultant
θ_b	Brewster’s angle
θ_c	critical angle
κ	dielectric constant
λ	decay constant of a nuclide
λ	wavelength
λ_n	wavelength in a medium
μ₀	permeability of free space
μ_k	coefficient of kinetic friction
μ_s	coefficient of static friction
v_e	electron neutrino
π⁺	positive pion
π⁻	negative pion
π⁰	neutral pion
ρ	density
ρ_c	critical density, the density needed to just halt universal expansion
ρ_fl	fluid density
$\overline{\rho}_{\text{obj}}\\$	average density of an object
$\displaystyle\frac{\rho}{\rho_{\text{w}}}\\$	specific gravity
τ	characteristic time constant for a resistance and inductance (RL) or resistance and capacitance (RC) circuit
τ	characteristic time for a resistor and capacitor (RC) circuit
τ	torque
Υ	upsilon meson
Φ	magnetic flux
ϕ	phase angle
Ω	ohm (unit)
ω	angular velocity
A	ampere (current unit)
A	area
A	cross-sectional area
A	total number of nucleons
a	acceleration
a_B	Bohr radius
a_c	centripetal acceleration
a_t	tangential acceleration
AC	alternating current
AM	amplitude modulation
atm	atmosphere
B	baryon number
B	blue quark color
$\overline{B}\\$	antiblue (yellow) antiquark color
b	quark flavor bottom or beauty
B	bulk modulus
B	magnetic field strength
B_int	electron’s intrinsic magnetic field
B_orb	orbital magnetic field
BE	binding energy of a nucleus—it is the energy required to completely disassemble it into separate protons and neutrons
$\displaystyle\frac{\text{BE}}{A}\\$	binding energy per nucleon
Bq	becquerel—one decay per second
C	capacitance (amount of charge stored per volt)
C	coulomb (a fundamental SI unit of charge)
C_p	total capacitance in parallel
C_s	total capacitance in series
CG	center of gravity
CM	center of mass
c	quark flavor charm
c	specific heat
c	speed of light
Cal	kilocalorie
cal	calorie
COP_hp	heat pump’s coefficient of performance
COP_ref	coefficient of performance for refrigerators and air conditioners
cosθ	cosine
cotθ	cotangent
cscθ	cosecant
D	diffusion constant
d	displacement
d	quark flavor down
dB	decibel
d_i	distance of an image from the center of a lens
d_o	distance of an object from the center of a lens
DC	direct current
E	electric field strength
ε	emf (voltage) or Hall electromotive force
emf	electromotive force
E	energy of a single photon
E	nuclear reaction energy
E	relativistic total energy
E	total energy
E₀	ground state energy for hydrogen
E₀	rest energy
EC	electron capture
E_cap	energy stored in a capacitor
Eff	efficiency—the useful work output divided by the energy input
Eff_C	Carnot efficiency
E_in	energy consumed (food digested in humans)
E_ind	energy stored in an inductor
E_out	energy output
e	emissivity of an object
e⁺	antielectron or positron
eV	electron volt
F	farad (unit of capacitance, a coulomb per volt)
F	focal point of a lens
F	force
F	magnitude of a force
F	restoring force
F_B	buoyant force
F_c	centripetal force
F_i	force input
F_net	net force
F_o	force output
FM	frequency modulation
f	focal length
f	frequency
f₀	resonant frequency of a resistance, inductance, and capacitance (RLC) series circuit
f₀	threshold frequency for a particular material (photoelectric effect)
f₁	fundamental
f₂	first overtone
f₃	second overtone
f_B	beat frequency
f_k	magnitude of kinetic friction
f_s	magnitude of static friction
G	gravitational constant
G	green quark color
$\overline{G}\\$	antigreen (magenta) antiquark color
g	acceleration due to gravity
g	gluons (carrier particles for strong nuclear force)
h	change in vertical position
h	height above some reference point
h	maximum height of a projectile
h	Planck’s constant
hf	photon energy
h_i	height of the image
h_o	height of the object
I	electric current
I	intensity
I	intensity of a transmitted wave
I	moment of inertia (also called rotational inertia)
I₀	intensity of a polarized wave before passing through a filter
I_ave	average intensity for a continuous sinusoidal electromagnetic wave
I_rms	average current
J	joule
$\displaystyle\frac{\text{J}}{\Psi}\\$	Joules/psi meson
K	kelvin
k	Boltzmann constant
k	force constant of a spring
K_α	x rays created when an electron falls into an n = 1 shell vacancy from the n = 3 shell
K_β	x rays created when an electron falls into an n = 2 shell vacancy from the n = 3 shell
kcal	kilocalorie
KE	translational kinetic energy
KE + PE	mechanical energy
KE_e	kinetic energy of an ejected electron
KE_rel	relativistic kinetic energy
KE_rot	rotational kinetic energy
$\overline{\text{KE}}\\$	thermal energy
kg	kilogram (a fundamental SI unit of mass)
L	angular momentum
L	liter
L	magnitude of angular momentum
L	self-inductance
ℓ	angular momentum quantum number
L_α	x rays created when an electron falls into an n = 2 shell from the n = 3 shell
L_e	electron total family number
L_μ	muon family total number
L_τ	tau family total number
L_f	heat of fusion
L_f and L_v	latent heat coefficients
L_orb	orbital angular momentum
L_s	heat of sublimation
L_v	heat of vaporization
L_z	z-component of the angular momentum
M	angular magnification
M	mutual inductance
m	indicates metastable state
m	magnification
m	mass
m	mass of an object as measured by a person at rest relative to the object
m	meter (a fundamental SI unit of length)
m	order of interference
m	overall magnification (product of the individual magnifications)
$m\left({^{A}\text{X}}\right)\\$	atomic mass of a nuclide
MA	mechanical advantage
m_e	magnification of the eyepiece
m_e	mass of the electron
m_ℓ	angular momentum projection quantum number
m_n	mass of a neutron
m_o	magnification of the objective lens
mol	mole
m_p	mass of a proton
m_s	spin projection quantum number
N	magnitude of the normal force
N	newton
N	normal force
N	number of neutrons
n	index of refraction
n	number of free charges per unit volume
N_A	Avogadro’s number
N_r	Reynolds number
N · m	newton-meter (work-energy unit)
N · m	newtons times meters (SI unit of torque)
OE	other energy
P	power
P	power of a lens
P	pressure
p	momentum
p	momentum magnitude
p	relativistic momentum
p_tot	total momentum
p_tot	total momentum some time later
P_abs	absolute pressure
P_atm	atmospheric pressure
P_atm	standard atmospheric pressure
PE	potential energy
PE_el	elastic potential energy
PE_elec	electric potential energy
PE_s	potential energy of a spring
P_g	gauge pressure
P_in	power consumption or input
P_out	useful power output going into useful work or a desired, form of energy
Q	latent heat
Q	net heat transferred into a system
Q	flow rate—volume per unit time flowing past a point
+Q	positive charge
−Q	negative charge
q	electron charge
q_p	charge of a proton
q	test charge
QF	quality factor
R	activity, the rate of decay
R	radius of curvature of a spherical mirror
R	red quark color
$\overline{R}\\$	antired (cyan) quark color
R	resistance
R	resultant or total displacement
R	Rydberg constant
R	universal gas constant
r	distance from pivot point to the point where a force is applied
r	internal resistance
r⊥	perpendicular lever arm
r	radius of a nucleus
r	radius of curvature
r	resistivity
r or rad	radiation dose unit
rem	roentgen equivalent man
rad	radian
RBE	relative biological effectiveness
RC	resistor and capacitor circuit
rms	root mean square
r_n	radius of the nth H-atom orbit
R_p	total resistance of a parallel connection
R_s	total resistance of a series connection
R_s	Schwarzschild radius
S	entropy
S	intrinsic spin (intrinsic angular momentum)
S	magnitude of the intrinsic (internal) spin angular momentum
S	shear modulus
S	strangeness quantum number
s	quark flavor strange
s	second (fundamental SI unit of time)
s	spin quantum number
s	total displacement
secθ	secant
sinθ	sine
s_z	z-component of spin angular momentum
T	period—time to complete one oscillation
T	temperature
T_c	critical temperature—temperature below which a material becomes a superconductor
T	tension
T	tesla (magnetic field strength B)
t	quark flavor top or truth
t	time
t_1/2	half-life—the time in which half of the original nuclei decay
tanθ	tangent
U	internal energy
u	quark flavor up
u	unified atomic mass unit
u	velocity of an object relative to an observer
u′	velocity relative to another observer
V	electric potential
V	terminal voltage
V	volt (unit)
V	volume
v	relative velocity between two observers
v	speed of light in a material
v	velocity
$\overline{\mathbf{v}}\\$	average fluid velocity
V_B − V_A	change in potential
v_d	drift velocity
V_p	transformer input voltage
V_rms	rms voltage
V_s	transformer output voltage
v_tot	total velocity
v_w	propagation speed of sound or other wave
v_w	wave velocity
W	work
W	net work done by a system
W	watt
w	weight
w_fl	weight of the fluid displaced by an object
W_c	total work done by all conservative forces
W_nc	total work done by all nonconservative forces
W_out	useful work output
X	amplitude
X	symbol for an element
$^A_Z\text{X}_N\\$	notation for a particular nuclide
x	deformation or displacement from equilibrium
x	displacement of a spring from its undeformed position
x	horizontal axis
X_C	capacitive reactance
X_L	inductive reactance
x_rms	root mean square diffusion distance
y	vertical axis
Y	elastic modulus or Young’s modulus
Z	atomic number (number of protons in a nucleus)
Z	impedance

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