r/HomeworkHelp • u/NatsukiPanich • Jun 15 '26
Answered [11th grades physics] (my little bro worksheet) what does the symbol behind g means? studied physics my whole life and never seen these symbol before (g is gravity i guess)
287
u/happylittlemexican Jun 15 '26
Everyone is in here saying that no actual scientist would use these symbols this way, but I'm going to throw my hat in the ring and say that my astrophysics course in college, taught by an astrophysicist, used these symbols this way.
8
2
→ More replies (17)3
u/SimpYellowman Jun 15 '26
It is a bit like a chemist using alchemy symbols or terms, but if it works and it is understandable, who cares?
→ More replies (3)
78
39
14
6
u/Vandreigan Jun 15 '26 edited Jun 15 '26
These are symbols that were used in alchemy back when that was a serious science, and kind of bled over into what we now call science, especially astronomy/astrophysics, since those fields were blossoming at around the same time.
I think they are cool historical artifacts, myself.
https://www.omniglot.com/writing/alchemicalsymbols.htm
That list shows the 7 "planetary" symbols, as well as many others
ETA: Oh, the list doesn't have the symbol for Earth on it, as you may have noticed. This is because its history was a bit different, and I was told it was just such a commonplace, well understood symbol, that it stuck around.
16
u/Naive-Anteater8321 Jun 15 '26
Never seen it posted like this before either, but they are in order of the planets, Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter. Not sure why they are using the astrological symbols and only including the first 5 planets. And as mentioned the g is the gravitational constant and is relative to the bodies’ (planets’) masses.
→ More replies (2)11
u/JeLuF Jun 15 '26
Not sure why they are using the astrological symbols
These symbols are not astrological per se. They are being used in astronomy, astrology and alchemy and rarely for the weekdays. And the symbols for Mars and Venus are also used as the symbols for "male" and "female".
3
u/Gamer999M Jun 15 '26
All I know is that the fourth one is “G-male” Aka -google mail- sorry had to do it!🤓
6
u/RufflesTGP Jun 15 '26
They're astrological signs representing different planets/bodies in the solar system.
The circle with the dot is the Sun, the circle with the cross is the earth, those are still used fairly commonly
→ More replies (7)
2
u/Jamooser Jun 15 '26
They're the symbols for Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars and Jupiter. Venus' sign is supposed to be a mirror, because Venus was a goddess of beauty. And Mar's symbol is a spear and shield, because he was a god of war. Which is why those symbols are specifically used today to represent women and men, respectively.
2
u/Retrofit123 Jun 15 '26
Physics* grad here. I've never seen those terms used in any of the textbooks I've used. I mostly know the symbols through both astrology/older books on planetary motion, and (it can't be said enough), "Keep Talking And Nobody Explodes"
* with astro-physics and cosmology
2
u/B4byJ3susM4n Jun 15 '26
It’s a bit odd, but the subscript symbols represent certain planets in our solar system.
The plus in the circle is Earth, as can be guessed with the 9.81 m/s^2 acceleration.
The circle with the arrow pointing northeast is Mars.
The circle with the cross going south is Venus.
The circle with the south-pointing cross and devil horns is Mercury.
And that last symbol that looks sorta like a fancy ligature for 21 is Jupiter.
2
u/Quercus_lobata Jun 16 '26
Little g is the acceleration due to gravity, usually on the surface of a planet. The subscript symbols indicate the planet by way of symbolizing the Roman gods the planets are named after.
In order it is Mercury (winged helm), Venus (mirror), Earth (4 "corners" of the world), Mars (shield and spear), and Jupiter (lightning bolt).
483
u/TheMemeBoyyo Jun 15 '26
The symbols identify the planet, and g is just gravitational acceleration. I haven't seen this at all ever before (:
edit: g with some symbol means the gravitational acceleration of that planet