Greek Letters in Science and Mathematics Quiz

Answer: Pi

When rounded to two decimal places, pi = 3.14, but can also be approximated as 22/7. The lower case of the letter is generally used to indicate the presence of the constant pi. Pi is also important in finding the volumes of spheres and cylinders.

Answer: Theta

Theta is used to indicate an unknown angle. It is commonly used in trigonometry in corroboration with sine, cosine and tangent. For example, if the angle between the hypotenuse and the adjacent is unknown whilst the magnitude of the adjacent side is 10 and the magnitude of the opposite side is 15, it is possible to work out the missing angle - theta.

The equation to do this is derived from the mnemonic,'SOH CAH TOA'. In this example we have values for the opposite and adjacent and we can therefore deduce that we need to use the trigonometric function tangent or 'tan'.

The equation would be Tan (theta) = O/A. If you input the numbers 15/10 into a calculator and inverse tangent you get: (theta) = Tan^-1 15/10. A calculator will then work out the missing angle to a relative degree of accuracy.

Answer: Delta

Delta is depicted as a triangle and it is therefore used in geography to describe a land formation in the mouth of a river which is triangular in shape. The deltoid area of the body is also so named due to a triangle formation. The example given in the question is about changes in energy released or absorbed.

As I have already stated, delta means "change in", so delta can be positive or negative. The status of delta can therefore be used to illustrate exothermic and endothermic chemical reactions.

Answer: Sigma

Sigma, in its capital state, can be found in spreadsheets and when clicked will total a column or row of data. Standard deviation is the quantification of a spread or range of values from the arithmetic mean. It is also mathematically defined as the square root of the variance.

Answer: Lambda

Lambda is the Greek letter that indicates wavelength. Wavelength is interlinked with frequency and wavespeed with a general formula (which can be rearranged) of: wavespeed = frequency x wavelength. Frequency which is measured in Hertz (named after Heinrich Hertz after he demonstrated the existence of electromagnetic [EM] waves). The scientist tragically died aged just 36.

Answer: Alpha

A helium nucleus has a mass number of 4 and an atomic number of 2. So, (purely an example) if element X with a mass number of 224 and an atomic number of 98 undergoes alpha decay a new element will be formed. The new element would be: Y with a reduced mass number of 220 and a reduced atomic number of 96. Beta decay is where a high speed electron is expelled from a nucleus of an atom due to a neutron splitting up into one proton (with a positive charge) and one electron (with a negative charge). During beta decay the mass number of a radioactive element would remain the same, though its atomic number would increase by 1 as electrons have a charge of (-1). Gamma radiation is defined as an electromagnetic wave which doesn't alter the mass number or the atomic number of an atom.

Answer: False

Epsilon is used to notate strain and for those interested, stress is notated by a lower case sigma. Stress and strain can be interlinked and used to form Young's Modulus. Young's Modulus is defined as being: tensile stress / tensile strain. This can therefore be written in shorthand as sigma / epsilon.

Answer: Mu

An example of the use of the letter mu is in a measurement called the micron or micrometre. A micron is 1 millionth of a metre and is a measurement indeterminable to the naked human eye. There are units smaller than a micrometre including a nanometre and a picometre.

Answer: Xi

A random variable is a variable where each of the values are completely random and do not follow a pattern. Where this occurs, a probability distribution can be assigned.

Answer: Rho

The Greek letter rho can also denote resistivity in electronics. Resistivity is a quantification of how a material resists a flow of electrons or current.
Resistivity is given the SI (systeme internationale) unit notation of Ohm metres. The Ohm (named after Georg Ohm) is itself denoted by a Greek letter - omega.

I hope you enjoyed the quiz and found it interesting. Thanks for playing!