Math Symbols in HTML

This page explains how to place various mathematical characters into HTML documents. An older version of this document is available here. The symbols have been grouped into the following categories:

Operation Symbols
Relation Symbols
Arrows and Brackets
Greek Symbols
Miscellaneous Symbols

Update (19 Mar 2007): Additional character entities

INTRODUCTION
There are several ways to add these symbols to your pages. I will omit consideration of symbols which appear on the keyboard unless, like &, they have a special HTML meaning. Of course, for any symbol, a .gif image can be created and the image displayed using the <img> tag. I will omit consideration of this strategy as well. In the tables below three codes will be given for displaying a character: the HTML numerical code, a code that can be placed between a FONT FACE tag, and a special HTML literal code (where available).

Well, how do you use this stuff? The following samples illustrate the use of each code method. To place a symbol in an HTML page or an email message (readable using a web browser) copy and paste the appropriate code into the file (or message) where you want the symbol.
HTML NUMERIC CODE example: to make a left curly bracket {, type &#123;.
FONT FACE TAG example: to write xÎA, type x<FONT FACE="Symbol">&#206;</FONT>A.
HTML LITERAL CODE example: to make a degree symbol °, type &deg;.

One more thing. To form superscripts or subscripts use the <SUP> or <SUB> tags.

SUPERSCRIPT example: to write 2À, type 2<SUP><FONT FACE="Symbol">&#192;</FONT></SUP>.
SUBSCRIPT example: to write x5, type x<SUB>5</SUB>.

WARNING: Sometimes the numeric code for a symbol is the same as used within FONT FACE tags, but sometimes it's different. For example, &#92; produces \ while <FONT FACE="Symbol">&#92;</FONT> produces \. Also, while the codes appear to have become "standard" it is possible that some browser will not support certain characters. This will most likely be a problem when using the FONT FACE method.

BROWSER TEST: To view symbols with numeric codes above 255 and perhaps some literal code symbols the browser character encoding must be set to unicode (UTF-8). If the following string of symbols cannot be read, the browser setting needs to be changed.
Upwards arrow (Numeric code: ↑, Literal code: ↑), intersection (Numeric code: ∩, Literal code: ∩)

Operation Symbols
NAME SYMBOL NUMERIC
CODE
FONT FACE="Symbol" Code LITERAL
CODE
For all
"
&#8704; <FONT FACE="Symbol">&#34;</FONT> &forall;
There exist
$
&#8707; <FONT FACE="Symbol">&#36;</FONT> &exist;
Not
Ø
&#172; <FONT FACE="Symbol">&#216;</FONT> &not;
And (meet)
Ù
&#8743; <FONT FACE="Symbol">&#217;</FONT> &and;
Or (join)
Ú
&#8744; <FONT FACE="Symbol">&#218;</FONT> &or;
Intersection
Ç
&#8745; <FONT FACE="Symbol">&#199;</FONT> &cap;
Union
È
&#8746; <FONT FACE="Symbol">&#200;</FONT> &cup;
Plus or minus
±
&#177; <FONT FACE="Symbol">&#177;</FONT> &plusmn;
Times
´
&#215; <FONT FACE="Symbol">&#180;</FONT> &times;
Partial derivative
&#8706; <FONT FACE="Symbol">&#182;</FONT> &part;
Solid dot
·
&#8729; <FONT FACE="Symbol">&#183;</FONT> None
Middle dot
·
&#183; <FONT FACE="Symbol">&#215;</FONT> &middot;
Circle times
Ä
&#8855; <FONT FACE="Symbol">&#196;</FONT> &otimes;
Circle plus
Å
&#8853; <FONT FACE="Symbol">&#197;</FONT> &oplus;
Division
¸
&#247; <FONT FACE="Symbol">&#184;</FONT> &divide;
Big product
Õ
&#8719; <FONT FACE="Symbol">&#213;</FONT> &prod;
Big sum
å
&#8721; <FONT FACE="Symbol">&#229;</FONT> &sum;
Square root
Ö
&#8730; <FONT FACE="Symbol">&#214;</FONT> &radic;
Integral
&#8747;
none
&int;

Relation Symbols
NAME SYMBOL NUMERIC
CODE
FONT FACE="Symbol" Code LITERAL
CODE
Contains the element
'
&#8717; <FONT FACE="Symbol">&#39;</FONT> None
Is a member of
Î
&#8712; <FONT FACE="Symbol">&#206;</FONT> &isin;
Is not a member of
Ï
&#8713; <FONT FACE="Symbol">&#207;</FONT> &notin;
Less than
<
&#60;
None
&lt;
Greater than
>
&#62;
None
&gt;
Isomorphism
@
&#8773; <FONT FACE="Symbol">&#64;</FONT> &cong;
Perpendicular
^
&#8869; <FONT FACE="Symbol">&#94;</FONT> &perp;
Vertical bar
|
&#124; <FONT FACE="Symbol">&#124;</FONT> None
Vertical line
½
None <FONT FACE="Symbol">&#189;</FONT> None
Less than or equal
£
&#8804; <FONT FACE="Symbol">&#163;</FONT> &le;
Greater than or equal
³
&#8805; <FONT FACE="Symbol">&#179;</FONT> &ge;
Not equal to
¹
&#8800; <FONT FACE="Symbol">&#185;</FONT> &ne;
Equivalent to
º
&#8801; <FONT FACE="Symbol">&#186;</FONT> &equiv;
Approximately
»
&#8776; <FONT FACE="Symbol">&#187;</FONT> &asymp;
Similar to
~
&#8764; <FONT FACE="Symbol">&#126;</FONT> &sim;
Empty set
Æ
&#8709; <FONT FACE="Symbol">&#198;</FONT> &empty;
Contains properly
É
&#8835; <FONT FACE="Symbol">&#201;</FONT> &sup;
Contains
Ê
&#8839; <FONT FACE="Symbol">&#202;</FONT> &supe;
Not included in
Ë
&#8836; <FONT FACE="Symbol">&#203;</FONT> &nsub;
Proper subset of
Ì
&#8834; <FONT FACE="Symbol">&#204;</FONT> &sub;
Subset of
Í
&#8838; <FONT FACE="Symbol">&#205;</FONT> &sube;

Arrows and Brackets
NAME SYMBOL NUMERIC
CODE
FONT FACE="Symbol" Code LITERAL
CODE
Left brace
[
&#91; <FONT FACE="Symbol">&#91;</FONT> None
Right brace
]
&#93; <FONT FACE="Symbol">&#93;</FONT> None
Left angle bracket
<
None <FONT FACE="Symbol">&#60;</FONT> None
Right angle bracket
>
None <FONT FACE="Symbol">&#62;</FONT> None
Left curley bracket
{
&#123; <FONT FACE="Symbol">&#123;</FONT> None
Right curley bracket
}
&#125; <FONT FACE="Symbol">&#125;</FONT> None
Double arrow
«
&#8596; <FONT FACE="Symbol">&#171;</FONT> &harr;
Left arrow
¬
&#8592; <FONT FACE="Symbol">&#172;</FONT> &larr;
Up arrow
&#8593; <FONT FACE="Symbol">&#173;</FONT> &uarr;
Right arrow
®
&#8594; <FONT FACE="Symbol">&#174;</FONT> &rarr;
Down arrow
¯
&#8595; <FONT FACE="Symbol">&#175;</FONT> &darr;
Double big arrow
Û
&#8660; <FONT FACE="Symbol">&#219;</FONT> &hArr;
Double left arrow
Ü
&#8656; <FONT FACE="Symbol">&#220;</FONT> &lArr;
Double up arrow
Ý
&#8657; <FONT FACE="Symbol">&#221;</FONT> &uArr;
Double right arrow
Þ
&#8658; <FONT FACE="Symbol">&#222;</FONT> &rArr;
Double down arrow
ß
&#8659; <FONT FACE="Symbol">&#223;</FONT> &dArr;
Ellipsis
¼
&#8230; <FONT FACE="Symbol">&#188;</FONT> &hellip;
Left angle quote
«
&#171;
None
&laquo;
Right angle quote
»
&#187;
None
&raquo;

Greek Symbols
NOTE: Only the lower case letters are displayed. To obtain upper case use the equivalent upper case character.
NAME SYMBOL NUMERIC
CODE
FONT FACE="Symbol" Code LITERAL
CODE
alpha
a
&#945; <FONT FACE="Symbol">a</FONT> &alpha;
beta
b
&#946; <FONT FACE="Symbol">b</FONT> &beta;
gamma
g
&#947; <FONT FACE="Symbol">g</FONT> &gamma;
delta
d
&#948; <FONT FACE="Symbol">d</FONT> &delta;
epsilon
e
&#949; <FONT FACE="Symbol">e</FONT> &epsilon;
zeta
z
&#950; <FONT FACE="Symbol">z</FONT> &zeta;
eta
h
&#951; <FONT FACE="Symbol">h</FONT> &eta;
theta
q
&#952; <FONT FACE="Symbol">q</FONT> &theta;
iota
i
&#953; <FONT FACE="Symbol">i</FONT> &iota;
kappa
k
&#954; <FONT FACE="Symbol">k</FONT> &kappa;
lambda
l
&#955; <FONT FACE="Symbol">l</FONT> &lambda;
mu
m
&#956; <FONT FACE="Symbol">m</FONT> &mu;
nu
n
&#957; <FONT FACE="Symbol">n</FONT> &nu;
xi
x
&#958; <FONT FACE="Symbol">x</FONT> &xi;
omicron
o
&#959; <FONT FACE="Symbol">o</FONT> &omicron;
pi
p
&#960; <FONT FACE="Symbol">p</FONT> &pi;
rho
r
&#961; <FONT FACE="Symbol">r</FONT> &rho;
sigma
s
&#963; <FONT FACE="Symbol">s</FONT> &sigma;
tau
t
&#964; <FONT FACE="Symbol">t</FONT> &tau;
upsilon
u
&#965; <FONT FACE="Symbol">u</FONT> &upsilon;
phi
j
&#966; <FONT FACE="Symbol">j</FONT> &phi;
chi
c
&#967; <FONT FACE="Symbol">c</FONT> &chi;
psi
y
&#968; <FONT FACE="Symbol">y</FONT> &psi;
omega
w
&#969; <FONT FACE="Symbol">w</FONT> &omega;

Miscellaneous Symbols
NAME SYMBOL NUMERIC
CODE
FONT FACE="Symbol" Code LITERAL
CODE
Blank space
 
None <FONT FACE="Symbol">&#32;</FONT> &nbsp;
Number sign
#
None <FONT FACE="Symbol">&#35;</FONT> None
Percent
%
&#37; <FONT FACE="Symbol">&#37;</FONT> None
Ampersand
&
&#38; <FONT FACE="Symbol">&#38;</FONT> &amp;
Prime
&#8242; <FONT FACE="Symbol">&#162;</FONT> &prime;
Double prime
&#8243; <FONT FACE="Symbol">&#178;</FONT> &Prime;
Quote
²
None <FONT FACE="Symbol">&#178;</FONT> &quot;
Therefore
\
&#8756; <FONT FACE="Symbol">&#92;</FONT> &there4;
Upper bar
`
None <FONT FACE="Symbol">&#96;</FONT> None
Infinity
¥
&#8734; <FONT FACE="Symbol">&#165;</FONT> &infin;
Degree
°
&#176; <FONT FACE="Symbol">&#176;</FONT> &deg;
Long dash
¾
None <FONT FACE="Symbol">&#190;</FONT> None
Aleph
À
&#8501; <FONT FACE="Symbol">&#192;</FONT> &alefsym;
Angle sign
Ð
&#8736; <FONT FACE="Symbol">&#208;</FONT> &ang;
Upside-down triangle
Ñ
&#8711; <FONT FACE="Symbol">&#209;</FONT> &nabla;
One-half
½
&#189;
None
&frac12;
Cent sign
¢
&#162;
None
&cent;
Registered sign
®
&#174; <FONT FACE="Symbol">&#210;</FONT> &reg;
Copyright sign
©
&#169; <FONT FACE="Symbol">&#211;</FONT> &copy;
Trademark sign
&#153; <FONT FACE="Symbol">&#212;</FONT> &trade;

Copyright © 1999-2005 by S D Comer (steve.comer@citadel.edu)