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The Most Common Uses of All the Greek

Letters in Science, Maths and Engineering


Engineering
April 27, 2017
Kathleen Villaluz

If there is one language engineers can speak indirectly (way indirectly), it would be the
ancient language of Greek. Why? Simply because Greek letters are a daily part of an
engineers life and it comes out of their mouth like its part of their normal grammar.
Engineers use Greek letters as an alternative for numbers or to describe an objects
characteristic. So, lets go through all of the 24 Greek letters and what they mean in the world
of science, maths, and engineering.

[Image Source: Pixabay]


Just a warning though, if you belong to an engineering branch that is not civil or structural
then you may have other uses for these alphabets. Please feel free to tell us what you use these
letters for in the comments section. Moreover, lowercase and uppercase symbols are selected
as they are the typical format when used in a technical context.

You can consider this as a mini handbook of all the Greek letters which you are most
welcome to use to impress your engineering friends, family, or perhaps your crush. Without
any further delays, here are the Greek letters in geek dialect.

Alpha ()
First up, the lowercase Alpha is often used to represent the alpha rays or alpha particles in
physics. It has many other uses in sciences and engineering but this lowercase is usually
applied in nuclear physics.

Beta ()
In physics, the lowercase Beta is used to denote a beta particle or more commonly known as a
beta ray which is a high-energy and high-speed electron.

Gamma ()
You guessed it, another radiation letter Gamma radiation. This is one of the most common
uses of this lowercase alphabet and the uppercase is used to annotate a boundary limit when
doing a 2D finite element analysis.

Delta ()
Used in many engineering fields and in physics, the uppercase Delta usually denotes the
difference between any types of measurement. For example, if you want to find out what the
difference between length 1 and length 2, you would write it out as L. The interesting thing
about this Greek alphabet is that the lowercase can denote two kinds of mathematical
functions. They are known as the Dirac and Kronecker Delta functions. I wont go into this, I
just wanted to say Dirac and Kronecker.

Epsilon ()
Maybe Im being biased here because I belong to the structural branch of engineering but I
often use the lowercase Epsilon to denote a materials strain. And to follow up from the
uppercase Delta, the basic material strain is calculated using the following formula.

= L/L

Zeta ()
In engineering dynamics, Zeta represents the damping ratio of an oscillating system. It can
also be used for other mathematical and physics applications.

Eta ()
The lowercase Eta has many physics and astronomical applications like for representing
conformal time in cosmology.

Theta ()
I would assume that everyone who is reading this would be familiar with this Greek letter as
we all would have done basic trigonometry in high school. You know, when you have a
triangle and youre asked to find the missing length using Pythagorass Theorem. This letter
comes in when you have to annotate a triangles missing angle you call it Theta!

Iota ()
If you like matrices you would know that uppercase Iota is used as the identity matrix.
However, I find that that the lowercase is rarely used in engineering or maybe Ive just never
used an equation before with lowercase Iota. Let us know if you have.

Kappa ()
Einsteins constant of gravitation is symbolized as the lowercase Kappa and in Cosmology,
the curvature of the universe is denoted by small Kappa.

Lambda ()
Another letter you may be familiar with. Lambda is often used as the symbol for wavelength
in both science and engineering. But my favorite use of the lowercase Lambda is its
denotation of an eigenvalue in linear algebra. The Eigenvalue problem is such a simple yet
powerful calculation you can do in vibration problems.

Mu ()
Now, Mu can mean a variety of things in physics and engineering. Usually, Mu is used to
express micro in terms of measurement. So, if you want to say micrometer you would write
it as m.

Nu ()
In the world of structural and mechanical engineering, Nu embodies the Poissons ratio,
which is the ratio of how much a material reduces in width and increase in length when it is
stretched out.

Xi ()
Another greek letter that is an engineering dynamics hero the lowercase Xi. Instead of
writing out the full damping ratio, it can be simplified by using this lowercase alphabet. It
helps when you have a really long equation.

Omicron ()
This Greek letter tends to have a more astronomical use as it represents the fifteenth star in a
constellation group.

Pi ()
Perhaps the most iconic and well-known Greek letter out there is this infinite number called Pi
or 3.145296 and so on. Pi is vastly used in geometry as it is the ratio of a circles
circumference and diameter. Regardless of a circles size, the circumference to diameter ratio
always equals to Pi.

Rho ()
This one confused me a lot when I was a young high school student. It basically looks like a
lowercase P and the variance of how people write it is insane. Is it P, is it Rho, is it a fancy F,
who knows. Rho is the Greek letter used to stand for density.

Sigma ()
If there is one Greek letter that would describe an engineers life it would be the lowercase
Sigma which stands for stress in most engineering branches. Bearing stress, thermal stress,
elastic stress, vonMises stress, and any other types of stress engineers can think about is
commonly denoted as Sigma. The uppercase Sigma, however, is mostly popular for denoting
the sum of any values.

Tau ()
More stress! Tau is typically used to denote a specific type of stress called shear stress. Lets
not get into the stress talk again.

Upsilon (Y)
Uppercase Upsilon is often used in astrophysics and represents the mass-to-light ratio.

Phi ()
When dealing with circular objects like pipes, Phi is commonly used to denote its diameter.

Chi ()
Chi lowercase is commonly used in structural analysis to represent the reduction factor of
buckling loads.

Psi ()
Psi is often used in physics to denote wave functions in quantum mechanics and is even used
to represent the planet Neptune!

Omega ()
Save the best for last. This is by far my favorite Greek letter as it stands for frequency in the
world of structural dynamics. This basic dynamics formula will get you far in structural
dynamics and earthquake engineering should you come face to face with such demons.

2 = k/m

Of course, the uppercase is also used to denote Ohm in electrical engineering I wouldnt
miss it out.

There you go, a quick rundown of the science, mathematics, and engineering importance of
all the 24 Greek letters. Let us know if weve missed a significant use of any of these
alphabets through the comments section.

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