School math notation - x for multiplication or a variable?

[Mark44]

Can we please please make that ##\vec F=q\vec v \times \vec B##?

Absolutely! The hyperphysics person isn't up to speed on math symbols like ##\times## versus letters ##x##.

 

[Eric Bretschneider]

Sadly is right. I always considered our cultural differences as an enrichment rather than a disadvantage. They make Europe interesting. In part it makes sense to find a common system, I mean, not that long ago we had one country - one mile.

I was trained as an engineer in the US in the 1980s. The biggest issue I had with metric units is that all your conversion factors are power of 10 - you just had to shift the decimal. This is surprisingly easy to do. With imperial units we had so many bizarre conversion factors that it was actually easier to get the correct answer. 30 years later and I still remember 6.72x10^-4 lb Cp/ft sec for calculating Reynolds numbers.

 

[Sherwood Botsford]

To a certain extent we all develop tricks to cope with possible ambiguity. It keeps getting worse in math, as math pirates symbols from multiple alphabets, and often from weird fonts.

My adaptations: I cross my sevens to make it clear that they aren't 1's. But I cross my z's so they are clearly not twos.
Instead of the italic x used in many texts, I use a script x from my handwriting in 2nd grade.

Being sloppy, a dot got lost or sometimes converted to a decimal point. I ended up using a tiny circle

Most of the time being adjacent is enough to determine multiplication.

In computing most languages use asterisk for multiplication, and double asterisk for exponents.

 

[symbolipoint]

So, to sum the things up, I got the following advices:

• abandon ##\times## and use ##\cdot## as soon as algebra is introduced
• use some special curved way to write ##\times## meaning ##x## ( "with slightly curved ends on the upper left to lower right line" )
• for the variable, just write curved ##x##, not cross
• for multiplication, make ##\times## sign very small

And... I got a confirmation that the usage of ##\times## sign for multiplication does cause problems. At least for some people.

I stopped using "x" of whatever form, for indicating the multiplication operation. This started upon beginning of study of Algebra 1, and continued onward. Less confusion when communicating in written form for yourself and other people. Like you said, the dot, raised to midlevel, will show multiplication, unless someone misreads this as a decimal point, which probably does happen. We also have parentheses to separate plain number factors from each other.

 

[Mister T]

When students start learning algebra they are taught that juxtaposition means multiplication, so there is no need for the cross or the raised dot. It's also common for a conscientious teacher to be aware of this difficulty and write ##x## for the letter instead of the cross used for multiplication. The cross continues to be used in scientific notation, but there its meaning is clear from the context.

I picked up this habit and it wasn't until grad school that I realized I could drop it and simply write x instead of ##x##.