Scalars




A scalar is a physical quantity that has magnitude but no direction. Symbols for physical quantities are usually chosen to be a single letter of the Latin or Greek alphabet, and are printed in italic type.

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Symbols and nomenclature

International recommendations for the use of symbols for quantities are set out in ISO/IEC 80000, the IUPAP red book and the IUPAC green book. For example, the recommended symbol for the physical quantity mass is m , and the recommended symbol for the quantity electric charge is Q .
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Numbers and elementary functions

Numerical quantities, even those denoted by letters, are usually printed in roman (upright) type, though sometimes in italic. Symbols for elementary functions (circular trigonometric, hyperbolic, logarithmic etc.), changes in a quantity like Δ in Δ y or operators like d in d x , are also recommended to be printed in roman type. Examples: Real numbers, such as 1 or √ 2 , e, the base of natural logarithms, i, the imaginary unit, π for the ratio of a circle's circumference to its diameter, 3.14159265358979323846264338327950288... δ x , Δ y , d z , representing differences (finite or otherwise) in the quantities x , y and z sin α , sinh γ , log x
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Physical quantity

A physical quantity is a property of a material or system that can be quantified by measurement. A physical quantity can be expressed as the combination of a numerical value and a unit. For example, the physical quantity mass can be quantified as n kg, where n is the numerical value and kg is the unit. A physical quantity possesses at least two characteristics in common, one is numerical magnitude and other is the unit in which it is measured.
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