Degree symbol
Encyclopedia
The degree symbol is a typographical symbol that is used, among other things, to represent degrees of arc
(e.g. in Geographic coordinate system
s) or degrees of temperature
. The symbol consists of a small raised circle, historically a zero glyph.
where the usage clearly shows that the symbol is a small raised zero, to match the symbols for minute, second, third, i.e. prime
′ (U+2032), double prime ″ (U+2033) and triple prime ‴ (U+2034), which originate as small raised Roman numerals for 1, 2, 3. Even finer subdivisions of degrees are also possible, though not common.
, film speed
, gravity in beer, specific gravity
(e.g. using the Baumé scale
), alcoholic proof, a musical diminished chord
, and other applications.
In medical shorthand, the degree symbol is also used to denote hours, for instance q4° or q4° meaning "every four hours." and also to denote a lack of a symptom for example °pyrexia.
Especially in the biological and medical fields, a variant glyph is used, consisting of an underlined raised circle. 1º, 2º, and 3º are common abbreviations for primary, secondary, and tertiary (although the Unicode
character º used here actually denotes the "masculine ordinal indicator
" for use in Romance languages)
A similar symbol is sometimes used to denote the interior
of a set in mathematics.
In the case of degrees of temperature, two scientific and engineering standards bodies (BIPM
and the U.S. Government Printing Office) prescribe printing temperatures with a space between the number and the degree symbol, as in 10 °C. However, in many works with professional typesetting, including scientific works published by the University of Chicago Press
or Oxford University Press
, the degree symbol is printed with no spaces between the number, the symbol, and the Latin letters "C" or "F" representing Celsius or Fahrenheit, respectively (as in 10°C). This is also the practice of the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research, which operates the National Center for Atmospheric Research. Others put a space between the degree symbol and the letter (10° C), which is probably no longer recommended by any of the major style guides. Use of the degree symbol to refer to temperatures measured in kelvin
s (symbol: K) was abolished in 1967 by the 13th General Conference on Weights and Measures (CGPM). Therefore, the freezing point of water, for instance, is correctly written today as simply 273.15 K. The SI fundamental temperature unit is now "kelvin" (note the lower case), and no longer "degree Kelvin".
set of 1963, but was introduced in the 1987 Latin-1 extension.
The Unicode
code point is U+00B0 (176 decimal), and the code point in CP437 etc is 0xF8 (248 decimal). The HTML entity is °.
Unicode characters similar in appearance include the "masculine ordinal indicator
" (U+00BA, º ), the "ring above" combining diacritic (U+02DA, ˚ ), "superscript zero" (U+2070, ⁰ ) and the "ring operator" (U+2218, ∘ ).
There are additional Unicode
code points for "Degree Celsius" (U+2103, ℃ ) and "Degree Fahrenheit" (U+2109, ℉ ).
layout as used in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, and the AZERTY
layout as used in France and Belgium, have the degree symbol available directly on a key. But the common keyboard layouts in English-speaking countries do not include the degree sign, which then has to be input some other way. The method of inputting depends on the operating system being used.
In the Mac OS
operating system, the degree symbol can be entered by typing . One can also use the Mac OS character palette, which is available in many programs by selecting Special Characters from the Edit Menu
, or from the Input Menu (flag) icon on the menu bar (enabled in the International section of the System Preferences).
In Microsoft Windows
, one can type or , or one can use the Character Map tool to obtain a graphical menu of symbols. In Microsoft Office
and similar programs, there is often also an Insert menu with an Insert Symbol or Symbol command that brings up a graphical palette of symbols to insert, including the degree symbol.
In LaTeX
, the packages
In Linux
operating systems, such as Ubuntu
, one can enter Unicode
characters in any text entry field by first pressing . For the degree symbol, this is done by entering . Alternatively, the Compose key
followed by , will write the degree symbol.
Degree (angle)
A degree , usually denoted by ° , is a measurement of plane angle, representing 1⁄360 of a full rotation; one degree is equivalent to π/180 radians...
(e.g. in Geographic coordinate system
Geographic coordinate system
A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system that enables every location on the Earth to be specified by a set of numbers. The coordinates are often chosen such that one of the numbers represent vertical position, and two or three of the numbers represent horizontal position...
s) or degrees of temperature
Degree (temperature)
The term degree is used in several scales of temperature. The symbol ° is usually used, followed by the initial letter of the unit, for example “°C” for degree Celsius...
. The symbol consists of a small raised circle, historically a zero glyph.
History
The first recorded modern use of the degree symbol in mathematics is from 1569where the usage clearly shows that the symbol is a small raised zero, to match the symbols for minute, second, third, i.e. prime
Prime (symbol)
The prime symbol , double prime symbol , and triple prime symbol , etc., are used to designate several different units, and for various other purposes in mathematics, the sciences and linguistics...
′ (U+2032), double prime ″ (U+2033) and triple prime ‴ (U+2034), which originate as small raised Roman numerals for 1, 2, 3. Even finer subdivisions of degrees are also possible, though not common.
Uses
The degree symbol was historically used for any system of gradation, and remains in use for numerous purposes, including specific systems of gradation of water hardnessHard water
Hard water is water that has high mineral content . Hard water has high concentrations of Ca2+ and Mg2+ ions. Hard water is generally not harmful to one's health but can pose serious problems in industrial settings, where water hardness is monitored to avoid costly breakdowns in boilers, cooling...
, film speed
Film speed
Film speed is the measure of a photographic film's sensitivity to light, determined by sensitometry and measured on various numerical scales, the most recent being the ISO system....
, gravity in beer, specific gravity
Specific gravity
Specific gravity is the ratio of the density of a substance to the density of a reference substance. Apparent specific gravity is the ratio of the weight of a volume of the substance to the weight of an equal volume of the reference substance. The reference substance is nearly always water for...
(e.g. using the Baumé scale
Baumé scale
The Baumé scale is a pair of hydrometer scales developed by French pharmacist Antoine Baumé in 1768 to measure density of various liquids. The unit of the Baumé scale has been notated variously as degrees Baumé, B°, Bé° and simply Baumé . One scale measures the density of liquids heavier than water...
), alcoholic proof, a musical diminished chord
Diminished chord
A diminished triad chord or diminished chord is a triad consisting of two minor thirds above the root — if built on C, a diminished chord would have a C, an E and a G. It resembles a minor triad with a lowered fifth....
, and other applications.
In medical shorthand, the degree symbol is also used to denote hours, for instance q4° or q4° meaning "every four hours." and also to denote a lack of a symptom for example °pyrexia.
Especially in the biological and medical fields, a variant glyph is used, consisting of an underlined raised circle. 1º, 2º, and 3º are common abbreviations for primary, secondary, and tertiary (although the Unicode
Unicode
Unicode is a computing industry standard for the consistent encoding, representation and handling of text expressed in most of the world's writing systems...
character º used here actually denotes the "masculine ordinal indicator
Ordinal indicator
In written languages, an ordinal indicator is a sign adjacent to a numeral denoting that it is an ordinal number, rather than a cardinal number. The exact sign used varies in different languages.- English :...
" for use in Romance languages)
A similar symbol is sometimes used to denote the interior
Interior (topology)
In mathematics, specifically in topology, the interior of a set S of points of a topological space consists of all points of S that do not belong to the boundary of S. A point that is in the interior of S is an interior point of S....
of a set in mathematics.
Typography
In the case of degrees of arc, the degree symbol follows the number without any intervening space.In the case of degrees of temperature, two scientific and engineering standards bodies (BIPM
International Bureau of Weights and Measures
The International Bureau of Weights and Measures , is an international standards organisation, one of three such organisations established to maintain the International System of Units under the terms of the Metre Convention...
and the U.S. Government Printing Office) prescribe printing temperatures with a space between the number and the degree symbol, as in 10 °C. However, in many works with professional typesetting, including scientific works published by the University of Chicago Press
University of Chicago Press
The University of Chicago Press is the largest university press in the United States. It is operated by the University of Chicago and publishes a wide variety of academic titles, including The Chicago Manual of Style, dozens of academic journals, including Critical Inquiry, and a wide array of...
or Oxford University Press
Oxford University Press
Oxford University Press is the largest university press in the world. It is a department of the University of Oxford and is governed by a group of 15 academics appointed by the Vice-Chancellor known as the Delegates of the Press. They are headed by the Secretary to the Delegates, who serves as...
, the degree symbol is printed with no spaces between the number, the symbol, and the Latin letters "C" or "F" representing Celsius or Fahrenheit, respectively (as in 10°C). This is also the practice of the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research, which operates the National Center for Atmospheric Research. Others put a space between the degree symbol and the letter (10° C), which is probably no longer recommended by any of the major style guides. Use of the degree symbol to refer to temperatures measured in kelvin
Kelvin
The kelvin is a unit of measurement for temperature. It is one of the seven base units in the International System of Units and is assigned the unit symbol K. The Kelvin scale is an absolute, thermodynamic temperature scale using as its null point absolute zero, the temperature at which all...
s (symbol: K) was abolished in 1967 by the 13th General Conference on Weights and Measures (CGPM). Therefore, the freezing point of water, for instance, is correctly written today as simply 273.15 K. The SI fundamental temperature unit is now "kelvin" (note the lower case), and no longer "degree Kelvin".
Encoding
The degree character was missing from the basic 7-bit ASCIIASCII
The American Standard Code for Information Interchange is a character-encoding scheme based on the ordering of the English alphabet. ASCII codes represent text in computers, communications equipment, and other devices that use text...
set of 1963, but was introduced in the 1987 Latin-1 extension.
The Unicode
Unicode
Unicode is a computing industry standard for the consistent encoding, representation and handling of text expressed in most of the world's writing systems...
code point is U+00B0 (176 decimal), and the code point in CP437 etc is 0xF8 (248 decimal). The HTML entity is °.
Unicode characters similar in appearance include the "masculine ordinal indicator
Ordinal indicator
In written languages, an ordinal indicator is a sign adjacent to a numeral denoting that it is an ordinal number, rather than a cardinal number. The exact sign used varies in different languages.- English :...
" (U+00BA, º ), the "ring above" combining diacritic (U+02DA, ˚ ), "superscript zero" (U+2070, ⁰ ) and the "ring operator" (U+2218, ∘ ).
There are additional Unicode
Unicode
Unicode is a computing industry standard for the consistent encoding, representation and handling of text expressed in most of the world's writing systems...
code points for "Degree Celsius" (U+2103, ℃ ) and "Degree Fahrenheit" (U+2109, ℉ ).
Keyboard entry
Some computer keyboard layouts, such as the QWERTZQWERTZ
thumb|175px|A computer QWERTZ keyboardThe QWERTZ or QWERTZU keyboard is a widely used computer and typewriter keyboard layout that is mostly used in Central Europe...
layout as used in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, and the AZERTY
AZERTY
AZERTY is a specific layout for the characters of the Latin alphabet on typewriter keys and computer keyboards. The layout takes its name from the first six letters to appear on the first row of alphabetical keys...
layout as used in France and Belgium, have the degree symbol available directly on a key. But the common keyboard layouts in English-speaking countries do not include the degree sign, which then has to be input some other way. The method of inputting depends on the operating system being used.
In the Mac OS
Mac OS
Mac OS is a series of graphical user interface-based operating systems developed by Apple Inc. for their Macintosh line of computer systems. The Macintosh user experience is credited with popularizing the graphical user interface...
operating system, the degree symbol can be entered by typing . One can also use the Mac OS character palette, which is available in many programs by selecting Special Characters from the Edit Menu
Edit menu
The Edit menu is a menu found in most computer programs that handle files, text or images. It is often the second menu in the menu bar, next to the file menu....
, or from the Input Menu (flag) icon on the menu bar (enabled in the International section of the System Preferences).
In Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
, one can type or , or one can use the Character Map tool to obtain a graphical menu of symbols. In Microsoft Office
Microsoft Office
Microsoft Office is a non-free commercial office suite of inter-related desktop applications, servers and services for the Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X operating systems, introduced by Microsoft in August 1, 1989. Initially a marketing term for a bundled set of applications, the first version of...
and similar programs, there is often also an Insert menu with an Insert Symbol or Symbol command that brings up a graphical palette of symbols to insert, including the degree symbol.
In LaTeX
LaTeX
LaTeX is a document markup language and document preparation system for the TeX typesetting program. Within the typesetting system, its name is styled as . The term LaTeX refers only to the language in which documents are written, not to the editor used to write those documents. In order to...
, the packages
gensymb or textcomp that provides the commands \degree or \textdegree, respectively. In the absence of these packages one can write the degree symbol as ^{\circ} in math mode. In other words, it is written as the empty circle glyph \circ as a superscript.In Linux
Linux
Linux is a Unix-like computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution. The defining component of any Linux system is the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released October 5, 1991 by Linus Torvalds...
operating systems, such as Ubuntu
Ubuntu (operating system)
Ubuntu is a computer operating system based on the Debian Linux distribution and distributed as free and open source software. It is named after the Southern African philosophy of Ubuntu...
, one can enter Unicode
Unicode
Unicode is a computing industry standard for the consistent encoding, representation and handling of text expressed in most of the world's writing systems...
characters in any text entry field by first pressing . For the degree symbol, this is done by entering . Alternatively, the Compose key
Compose key
A compose key, available on some computer keyboards, is a special kind of modifier key designated to signal the software to interpret the following sequence of two keystrokes as a combination in order to produce a character not found directly on the keyboard...
followed by , will write the degree symbol.