÷ | |
---|---|
Division sign | |
In Unicode | U+00F7 ÷ DIVISION SIGN (÷, ÷) |
Different from | |
Different from | U+2052 ⁒
COMMERCIAL MINUS SIGN U+002B + PLUS SIGN U+2020 † DAGGER U+034B ͋ COMBINING HOMOTHETIC ABOVE |
Related | |
See also | U+00D7 × MULTIPLICATION SIGN |
The division sign (÷) is a mathematical symbol consisting of a short horizontal line with a dot above and another dot below, used in Anglophone countries to indicate the operation of division. This usage, though widespread in some countries, is not universal and the symbol has a different meaning in other countries. Its use to denote division is not recommended in the ISO 80000-2 standard for mathematical notation. [1]
The obelus, a historical glyph consisting of a horizontal line with (or without) one or more dots, was first used as a symbol for division in 1659, in the algebra book Teutsche Algebra by Johann Rahn, although previous writers had used the same symbol for subtraction. [2] Some near-contemporaries believed that John Pell, who edited the book, may have been responsible for this use of the symbol. [2] Other symbols for division include the slash or solidus /, the colon :, and the fraction bar (the horizontal bar in a vertical fraction). [3] [4] The ISO 80000-2 standard for mathematical notation recommends only the solidus / or "fraction bar" for division, or the "colon" : for ratios; it says that the ÷ sign "should not be used" for division. [1]
In Italy, Poland and Russia, the ÷ sign was sometimes used to denote a range of values, and in Scandinavian countries it was used as a negation sign. [5]
The same symbol has been used to represent subtraction in north-eastern Europe: the Unicode Consortium has allocated a separate code point, U+2052 ⁒ COMMERCIAL MINUS SIGN for this usage uniquely; [6] [7] the exact form of the symbol displayed is typeface (font) dependent.
The symbol was assigned to
code point 0xF7 in
ISO 8859-1, as the "division sign". This encoding was transferred to
Unicode as U+00F7.
[8] In
HTML, it can be
encoded as ÷
or ÷
(at
HTML level 3.2), or as ÷
.
Unicode provides various division symbols: [9]
Code Point | Name | Symbol |
---|---|---|
U+00F7 | Division Sign | ÷ |
U+27CC | Long Division | ⟌ |
U+2215 | Division Slash | ∕ |
U+2A38 | Circled Division Sign | ⨸ |
U+2797 | Heavy Division Sign | ➗ |
U+2298 | Circled Division Slash | ⊘ |
U+22C7 | Division Times | ⋇ |
U+29BC | Circled Anticlockwise-Rotated | ⦼ |
In Microsoft Windows, this division sign is produced with Alt+0247 (or 246 with no zero) on the number pad, or by pressing Alt Gr+⇧ Shift++ when an appropriate keyboard layout is in use. In classic Mac OS and macOS, it is produced with ⌥ Option+/.
On UNIX-based systems using Screen or X with a Compose key enabled, it can be produced by composing : (colon) and - ( hyphen/minus). It may also be produced using its Unicode code-point (F7), by pressing Control+⇧ Shift+u f7space.
In
LaTeX, the division sign is obtained by the command \div
.
In ChromeOS (with International/Extended keyboard setting), the division sign is obtained by pressing AltGr+⇧ Shift++. Otherwise, the Unix-style methods may be used.
The dictionary definition of division sign at Wiktionary