Math Symbols

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The "math" contained within this blog ranges from the purely mathematical equation (e.g., takt time, average) to metrics (e.g., inventory turns, order fill) to pseudo-mathematical (e.g., change management, waste elimination effectiveness) to concept introduction (e.g., hypothesis tests) to data and math integrity considerations (e.g., gauge repeatability and reproducibility, measurement system validation). So, the reader is bound to run into formulas, symbols, and mathematical definitions.

We try to keep things as simple as possible. Nevertheless, the following table of mathematical symbols may serve as a handy reference.

Category	Symbol	Name	Definition	Example
Basic Math	=	equals sign	equality	7 = 4+3
	>	strict inequality	greater than	7>6
	<	strict inequality	less than	7<8
	≥	inequality	greater than or equal to	7≥6
	≤	inequality	less than or equal to	7≤8
	( )	parentheses	calculate expression inside first	3x(4+1) = 15
	[]	brackets	calculate expression inside first	[(3+2)x(2+5)]=35
	+	plus sign	addition	3+2=5
	-	minus sign	subtraction	5-2=3
	x	times sign	multiplication	3x5=15
	/	division slash	division	8/2=4
	¯	horizontal line	division/fraction	$Picture1$
	a^b	power	exponent	3²=9
	√	square root		√9=±3
Algebra	{ }	braces	set
	$Picture5$	floor brackets	rounds number to lower integer	$Picture6$
	$Picture2$	ceiling brackets	rounds number to upper integer	$Picture3$
		nearest integer	rounds positive number to nearest integer
	\|x\|	single vertical bar	absolute value	\|-3\|=3
	(a,b)	open interval
	∑	sigma	summation – sum of all values in a range or series	$sigma$
Probability and statistics	P(A)	probability function	probability of event A	P(A)=0.7
	P(A∩B)	probability of events intersection	probability of events A and B	P(A∩B)=0.7
	P(AUB)	probability of events union	probability of events A or B	P(AUB)=0.7
	P(A\|B)	conditional probability	probability of event A given event B occurred	P(A\|B)=0.5
	$Picture4$	overbar or bar	sample average	$Picture3$