Editing Alpha (section)

===Mathematics and science===
{{main|Alpha (disambiguation)}}
The letter alpha represents various concepts in [[physics]] and [[chemistry]], including [[alpha radiation]], [[angular acceleration]],<ref>{{Citation |last=Elert |first=Glenn |title=Special Symbols |date=2023 |work=The Physics Hypertextbook|quote= '''α''', α rotational acceleration |url=https://physics.info/symbols/ |access-date=2025-02-01 |publisher=hypertextbook |language=en}}</ref> [[alpha particle]]s, [[alpha carbon]] and strength of [[electromagnetic interaction]] (as [[fine-structure constant]]).<ref>{{Cite web |title=fine-structure constant |url=https://physics.nist.gov/cgi-bin/cuu/Value?eqalph%7Csearch_for=fine |access-date=2025-02-10 |website=physics.nist.gov}}</ref> Alpha also stands for [[thermal expansion coefficient]] of a [[Chemical compound|compound]] in [[physical chemistry]]. In [[ethology]], it is used to name the [[Alpha (ethology)|dominant individual]] in a group of animals. In aerodynamics, the letter is used as a symbol for the [[angle of attack]] of an aircraft and the word "alpha" is used as a synonym for this property.

In astronomy, α is often used to designate the brightest star in a constellation.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Rabinowitz |first=Harold |title=The manual of scientific style: a guide for authors, editors, and researchers |last2=Vogel |first2=Suzanne |date=2009 |publisher=Elsevier/Academic Press |isbn=978-0-12-373980-3 |edition=1st |location=Amsterdam Burlington, MA |pages=363 |quote=The primary designation system for bright stars, called Bayer designations… The Greek letters are assigned in order (α,β, γ,δ  etc.) according to brightness.}}</ref>

In [[mathematics]], the letter alpha is used to denote the area underneath a [[Normal distribution|normal curve]] in [[statistics]] to denote [[statistical significance|significance level]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.une.edu.au/WebStat/unit_materials/c5_inferential_statistics/what_alpha_level.html |work=Research Methods and Statistics PESS202 Lecture and Commentary Notes |title=Chapter 5: Analysing the Data Part II : Inferential Statistics |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110822143239/http://www.une.edu.au/WebStat/unit_materials/c5_inferential_statistics/what_alpha_level.html |archive-date=22 August 2011 }}</ref> when proving [[null hypotheses|null]] and [[Alternative hypothesis|alternative hypotheses]]. It is also commonly used in [[algebra|algebraic solutions]] representing quantities such as angles. In [[mathematical logic]], α is sometimes used as a placeholder for [[ordinal number]]s. It is used for [[Stoneham number|Stoneham numbers]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Weisstein |first=Eric W. |title=Stoneham Number |url=https://mathworld.wolfram.com/StonehamNumber.html |access-date=2025-01-31 |website=mathworld.wolfram.com |language=en}}</ref>

Most occurrences of alpha in science are the lowercase alpha. The uppercase letter alpha is not generally used as a symbol because it tends to be rendered identically to the uppercase [[A|Latin A]].

The proportionality operator "[[∝]]" (in [[Unicode]]: U+221D) is sometimes mistaken for alpha.