Delta

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Delta (uppercase/lowercase Δ δ), is a letter of the Greek alphabet, used to represent the "d" sound in Ancient and Modern Greek. In the system of Greek numerals, it has a value of 4. Letters that came from it include the Roman D and Cyrillic Д.

Delta.svg
Greek alphabet
Αα Alpha Νν Nu
Ββ Beta Ξξ Xi
Γγ Gamma Οο Omicron
Δδ Delta Ππ Pi
Εε Epsilon Ρρ Rho
Ζζ Zeta Σσς Sigma
Ηη Eta Ττ Tau
Θθ Theta Υυ Upsilon
Ιι Iota Φφ Phi
Κκ Kappa Χχ Chi
Λλ Lambda Ψψ Psi
Μμ Mu Ωω Omega
Other letters
Ϝϝ Digamma Ⱶⱶ Heta
Ϻϻ San Ϙϙ Koppa
Ϡϡ Sampi Ϛϛ Stigma
Ϸϸ Sho

In mathematics, the upper-case letter Δ can be used as symbol to represent "change" in a variable (e.g., [math]\displaystyle{ \Delta x }[/math]). It can also be used to represent discriminant—a key algebraic expression used to determine the number of roots a polynomial has. The lower-case letter [math]\displaystyle{ \delta }[/math], on the other hand, is often used to denote small quantities in proofs involving limit, a key concept on calculus is based on.[1]

In molecular chemistry, the lower case Greek letter δ is used to represent a partial charge. This is always less than the unit charge associated with an ion, but has no real fixed value.

A river delta is so named because its shape approximates the upper-case letter delta.

Related pages

References

  1. "Compendium of Mathematical Symbols". Math Vault. 2020-03-01. Retrieved 2020-08-18.