Editing Encyclopedia:Manual of Style (section)

==Common mathematical symbols==
{{Shortcut|MOS:COMMONMATH}}
{{See also|Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Mathematics|Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Dates and numbers#Common mathematical symbols}}
*For a negative sign or subtraction operator, use a minus sign ({{xt|−}}, Unicode character U+2212 <small>MINUS SIGN</small>). Input by clicking on it in the insert box beneath the edit window or by typing <code>&amp;minus;</code>.
*For multiplication, use a multiplication sign ({{unichar|d7|MULTIPLICATION SIGN}}) or a dot ({{unichar|22c5|DOT OPERATOR}}), which are input by clicking on them in the edit toolbox under the edit window or by entering <code>&amp;times;</code> or <code>&amp;sdot;</code>. Care should be taken not to confuse the dot operator (in the "Math and logic" section of the edit toolbox) with an interpunct (in the "Insert" section of the edit toolbox) or a bullet. The letter {{xt|x}} should not be used to indicate multiplication, but it is used (unspaced) as the substitute for "by" in terms such as {{xt|[[4x4]]}}.
*[[Exponentiation]] is indicated by a superscript, {{xt|''a''<sup>''n''</sup>}} (typed as <code><nowiki>''a''<sup>''n''</sup></nowiki></code>.
*Do not use programming language notation outside computer program text. In most programming languages, subtraction, multiplication, and exponentiation are represented by the [[hyphen-minus]] <code>-</code>, the [[asterisk]] <code>*</code>, and either the [[caret]] <code>^</code> or the double asterisk <code>**</code> respectively; [[scientific notation]] is replaced by [[E notation]].
*Symbols for [[binary operator]]s and [[binary relation|relations]] are usually spaced on both sides:
**plus, minus, and plus-or-minus (as binary operators): {{xt|+}}, {{xt|−}}, {{xt|±}} (as in {{xt|5&nbsp;−&nbsp;3}});
**multiplication and division: {{xt|×}}, {{xt|÷}};
**equals, does not equal, equals approximately: {{xt|{{=}}}}, {{xt|≠}}, {{xt|≈}};
**is less than, is less than or equal to, is greater than, is greater than or equal to: {{xt|<}}, {{xt|≤}}, {{xt|>}}, {{xt|≥}}.
*Symbols for [[unary operator]]s are closed-up to their operand:
**positive, negative, and positive-or-negative signs: {{xt|+}}, {{xt|−}}, {{xt|±}} (as in {{xt|−3}});
**other unary operators, such as the exclamation mark as a [[factorial]] sign (as in {{xt|5!}}).
*Variables are italicized, but digits and punctuation are not; only ''x'' and ''y'' are italicized in {{xt|2(5''x''&nbsp;+&nbsp;''y'')<sup>2</sup>}}.
*{{tlx|math}} can be used to style formulas to distinguish them from surrounding text. For single variables, {{tlx|mvar}} is handy.