Definition:Angstrom (Unit)
Angstrom
The angstrom is a metric unit of length.
| \(\ds \) | \(\) | \(\ds 1\) | angstrom | |||||||||||
| \(\ds \) | \(=\) | \(\ds 10^{-4}\) | micrometres | |||||||||||
| \(\ds \) | \(=\) | \(\ds 10^{-7}\) | millimetres | |||||||||||
| \(\ds \) | \(=\) | \(\ds 10^{-10}\) | metres |
Symbol
- $\mathring {\mathrm A}$
The symbol for the angstrom is $\mathring {\mathrm A}$.
Its $\LaTeX$ code is \mathring {\mathrm A} .
Source of Name
This entry was named for Anders Jonas Ångström.
Historical Note
The angstrom was formally used for measurements of wavelengths and intramolecular distances, but has been superseded by the nanometre ($10^{-9} \, \mathrm m$)
Linguistic Note
The word angstrom is derived from a Swedish name, and properly has diacritics: ångström.
However, this "correct" presentation is tedious to implement and a nuisance to maintain, so $\mathsf{Pr} \infty \mathsf{fWiki}$ prefers the simple version angstrom.
Its symbol, however, does need the small circle above the A in order to be accurate and unambiguous.
This, unfortunately, is not straightforward to render in $\LaTeX$ without including further expansion sets.
Hence the $\LaTeX$ form as $\mathring {\mathrm A}$ (not a strictly accurate rendition) is how it is presented on $\mathsf{Pr} \infty \mathsf{fWiki}$.
Sources
- 1978: A.P. French and Edwin F. Taylor: An Introduction to Quantum Physics ... (previous) ... (next): $1$: Simple models of the atom: $\text {1-1}$: Introduction
- 1998: David Nelson: The Penguin Dictionary of Mathematics (2nd ed.) ... (previous) ... (next): angstrom
- 2008: David Nelson: The Penguin Dictionary of Mathematics (4th ed.) ... (previous) ... (next): angstrom