Is this the symbol for "proportional to"??

[Tonia]

Is this the symbol for "proportional to"? Otherwise incorrectly known as "open alpha"?? I am trying to figure out what this symbol is--it looks like a "fish". The symbol is on Problem 9, on Page 2:
http://sprott.physics.wisc.edu/phys103/exam1f00.pdf

 

[mmm4444bot]

That symbol is called alpha, and it is a lower-case letter in the Greek alphabet.

Greek letters are often used as symbols to represent angle measurements (Ф, θ, α, β, λ). :cool:

 

[Otis]

\(\displaystyle \propto\) is the symbol read as "proportional to".

(It looks like an infinity symbol with part of the right end cut off.)


\(\displaystyle \alpha\) is the Greek letter "alpha".


When some people write alpha, their handwriting tends toward the first symbol above. We need to use context. :cool: