TeXipedia

mu

Represents the lowercase Greek letter used commonly in mathematics and science to denote means, micro units, and various physical quantities.

Overview

A versatile symbol that appears extensively across multiple scientific and mathematical contexts:

  • Statistical analysis: Denotes population means and expected values
  • Physics: Represents coefficients of friction and magnetic permeability
  • Chemistry: Indicates dipole moments
  • SI Units: Serves as the prefix for micro (10^-6)
  • Engineering: Used in mechanical equations for friction calculations

Particularly prevalent in academic papers, technical documentation, and scientific literature where Greek letters are standard notation.

Examples

Expressing the mean (average) of a statistical distribution.

xˉ=μ=1ni=1nxi\bar{x} = \mu = \frac{1}{n}\sum_{i=1}^{n} x_i
\bar{x} = \mu = \frac{1}{n}\sum_{i=1}^{n} x_i

Defining the coefficient of friction in physics.

Ff=μNF_f = \mu N
F_f = \mu N

Representing dynamic viscosity in fluid mechanics.

τ=μdudy\tau = \mu\frac{du}{dy}
\tau = \mu\frac{du}{dy}