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 May 9th, 2016, 09:32 PM #1 Senior Member     Joined: Nov 2010 From: Indonesia Posts: 2,001 Thanks: 132 Math Focus: Trigonometry [ASK] Greek Letter Notations What is the difference between $\displaystyle \epsilon$ and $\displaystyle \varepsilon$, $\displaystyle \theta$ and $\displaystyle \vartheta$, $\displaystyle \pi$ and $\displaystyle \varpi$, $\displaystyle \rho$ and $\displaystyle \varrho$, as well as $\displaystyle \phi$ and $\displaystyle \varphi$? And I am asking about their use in math. Also, is Golden Ratio $\displaystyle \phi$ or $\displaystyle \varphi$?
 May 9th, 2016, 10:08 PM #2 Senior Member   Joined: Feb 2016 From: Australia Posts: 1,765 Thanks: 623 Math Focus: Yet to find out. What do you mean what is the difference. They're just symbols. You can use them to express whatever you like... Although by convention, certain symbols are consistently used to express certain things.. Which I know you already know.
May 9th, 2016, 11:14 PM   #3
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Quote:
 Originally Posted by Monox D. I-Fly Also, is Golden Ratio $\displaystyle \phi$ or $\displaystyle \varphi$?
I think $\varphi$ is usually used.

 May 9th, 2016, 11:18 PM #4 Math Team   Joined: Nov 2014 From: Australia Posts: 689 Thanks: 244 As far as I can glean from a quick wikipedia search, the second glyphs are cursive script and the first are print. If you want to know what the various different symbols are commonly used for, wikipedia also has a nice list. I've only ever seen $\varphi$ used for the golden ratio.
May 11th, 2016, 08:28 PM   #5
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Quote:
 Originally Posted by Joppy What do you mean what is the difference. They're just symbols. You can use them to express whatever you like... Although by convention, certain symbols are consistently used to express certain things.. Which I know you already know.
Really? Can I express the area of a circle by $\displaystyle \varpi r^2$?

Quote:
 Originally Posted by v8archie I think $\varphi$ is usually used.
Guess so...

Quote:
 Originally Posted by Azzajazz As far as I can glean from a quick wikipedia search, the second glyphs are cursive script and the first are print. If you want to know what the various different symbols are commonly used for, wikipedia also has a nice list.
Wait... So, ancient Greek people wrote pi as $\displaystyle \varpi$?

May 11th, 2016, 08:54 PM   #6
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Quote:
 Originally Posted by Monox D. I-Fly Really? Can I express the area of a circle by $\displaystyle \varpi r^2$?
Sure, but define $\displaystyle \varpi$ and $\displaystyle r^2$

Quote:
 Wait... So, ancient Greek people wrote pi as $\displaystyle \varpi$?
Ancient Greek people? Most of the greek alphabet is still used in the modern greek language.

May 11th, 2016, 09:06 PM   #7
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Quote:
 Originally Posted by Joppy Ancient Greek people? Most of the greek alphabet is still used in the modern greek language.
But... Azzajazz said that $\displaystyle \pi$ is a print script.

 May 11th, 2016, 09:48 PM #8 Math Team   Joined: Nov 2014 From: Australia Posts: 689 Thanks: 244 It's like the difference between a normal p and the cursive p shown below.
 May 11th, 2016, 10:30 PM #9 Senior Member   Joined: Feb 2016 From: Australia Posts: 1,765 Thanks: 623 Math Focus: Yet to find out. A convenient list is on Microsoft word in the equation editor. @Monox, if you have Word, create an equation, then click on the list of symbols in the tool-bar. It categorises them nicely. Eg, Greek UpperCase, Lowecase, scripts, etc.

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