How do you properly pronounce subscripts in physics equations?

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In summary: There is also a number using a Hebrew character pronounced "bet-null" or...something like that?There is also a number using a Hebrew character pronounced "bet-null" or...something like that?:smile:There is also a number using a Hebrew character pronounced "bet-null" or...something like that?
  • #1
wrongusername
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How do you pronounce some variable with a subscript 0 attached to it, like "v0"? My first-semester physics professor pronounced it as something like "v nort," 2nd-semester prof said "v nut," and my current 3rd-semester prof says "v not" instead.
 
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  • #2
It doesn't matter.
 
  • #3
How about you just read it as-is, "V Sub-zero"?
Then you go on to V Scorpion, V Reptile, etc... Later on V Sektor and V Cyrax. For V Smoke you may need to indicate if it is the robotized version or not though.
Or you may chose not to index your variables with Lin Kuei members at all. V Liu Kang would demolish them all anyway.

:p
No, really, with a post like that, this answer could not be avoided at all.
But on a more serious note, I'd just read that notation "V zero"
 
  • #4
georgir said:
How about you just read it as-is, "V Sub-zero"?
Then you go on to V Scorpion, V Reptile, etc... Later on V Sektor and V Cyrax. For V Smoke you may need to indicate if it is the robotized version or not though.
Or you may chose not to index your variables with Lin Kuei members at all. V Liu Kang would demolish them all anyway.

:p
No, really, with a post like that, this answer could not be avoided at all.
But on a more serious note, I'd just read that notation "V zero"

Sadly, I had exactly the same thought.
 
  • #6
georgir said:
How about you just read it as-is, "V Sub-zero"?
Then you go on to V Scorpion, V Reptile, etc... Later on V Sektor and V Cyrax. For V Smoke you may need to indicate if it is the robotized version or not though.
Or you may chose not to index your variables with Lin Kuei members at all. V Liu Kang would demolish them all anyway.

:p
No, really, with a post like that, this answer could not be avoided at all.
But on a more serious note, I'd just read that notation "V zero"

Thanks for the laugh! lol :biggrin:
I remember one of my other professors do read it as "v zero," though the majority seem to prefer something like:

Amanheis said:

which does sound like what they all were trying to say. :tongue:
 
  • #7
That's obviously pronounced "v null" to me. But then, I have to be different, don't I?

Banter aside, I looked at that and said "v null".
 
  • #8
Char. Limit said:
That's obviously pronounced "v null" to me. But then, I have to be different, don't I?

Banter aside, I looked at that and said "v null".

But that sounds like http://www.thefreedictionary.com/venal" [Broken].
 
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  • #9
I've heard it pronounced V-nought and V-zero. I usually pronounce it however my professor at the time pronounces it. I don't have my own pattern yet.
 
  • #10
I am a man of the V-sub-zero clan. Nought sounds too much like ought, as in .30/06
 
  • #11
It's naught. v zero is :yuck:
 
  • #12
I've never really thought about this before, but it's curious that I pronounce a subscript v0 as "vee-naught", a zero on its own as "naught", and a zero before a decimal point 0.2 as "naught point two", but in almost all other contexts I pronounce a zero digit as "oh" (e.g. 306 = "three-oh-six").

But for some reason [itex]\aleph_0[/itex] is "aleph-null".
 
  • #13
Funny that now I know what it is, I prefer to call it "zero" instead. Dunno, "nought" just sounds... weird to me :smile:
 
  • #14
look at my name :)

μ0
 
  • #15
v_naught, naught is more than natural than zero
 
  • #16
V naught or "v sub zero"

but you have to say it almost like "veese of zero"

only "ob zero"

"veese ob zero"

or

"veese ob oh"
 
  • #17
Visaboh!
 
  • #18
v-sub-oh
v-not
 
  • #19
KalamMekhar said:
I am a man of the V-sub-zero clan. Nought sounds too much like ought, as in .30/06

Aught or ought: Same archaic word meaning 'nothing', apparently.

zero
aught
ought
naught
oh
null

the list grows.
 
  • #20
I think I use 'zero' with letters of the modern English alphabet, 'naught' with Greek symbols, and 'null' with Hebrew characters. :wink:
 
  • #21
Gokul43201 said:
'null' with Hebrew characters. :wink:

WTF. I've never thought about that before.

This is going to bother me for the rest of my life
 
  • #22
Gokul43201 said:
I think I use 'zero' with letters of the modern English alphabet, 'naught' with Greek symbols, and 'null' with Hebrew characters. :wink:

Huh? :smile: how would you write "naught" and "null"?
 
  • #23
wrongusername said:
Huh? :smile: how would you write "naught" and "null"?
All the same way.[itex]p_0[/itex] = "pee zero"

[itex]E_0[/itex] = "ee zero"

[itex]\mu_0[/itex] = "mu naught"

[itex]p_0[/itex] = "epsilon naught"

[itex]\aleph_0[/itex] = "aleph null" -> the generalization of that pronunciation to all Hebrew characters was a joke! I can't think of any others that I use.
 
  • #24
Gokul43201 said:
All the same way.


[itex]p_0[/itex] = "pee zero"

[itex]E_0[/itex] = "ee zero"

[itex]\mu_0[/itex] = "mu naught"

[itex]p_0[/itex] = "epsilon naught"

[itex]\aleph_0[/itex] = "aleph null" -> the generalization of that pronunciation to all Hebrew characters was a joke! I can't think of any others that I use.

Well, isn't there also a number using a Hebrew character pronounced "bet-null" or "beth-null"?
 
  • #25
I'm an Albertan. We pronounce "sub-zero" as "Brrrrr..."

I'm not sure if this is technically correct or not, but in my neck of the woods "naught" is a general term for "nothing", whereas "ought" refers specifically to the number zero.
 
  • #26
How would all the naught-y people pronounce v1 and so on then?
 
  • #27
georgir said:
How would all the naught-y people pronounce v1 and so on then?

"vee-one"
 
  • #28
Char. Limit said:
"vee-one"

Unless you were a member of the RAF, in which case you would pronounce it "buzz bomb"...
 

1. How do you pronounce "sub zero"?

The correct pronunciation of "sub zero" is "suhb zee-roh".

2. Is "sub zero" pronounced as two separate words or one word?

"Sub zero" is pronounced as two separate words, with emphasis on the first syllable of each word.

3. Are there any variations in the pronunciation of "sub zero"?

Some variations of the pronunciation of "sub zero" include "suhb zee-ruh" and "sub zee-roh". However, "suhb zee-roh" is the most commonly accepted pronunciation.

4. How is the letter "b" pronounced in "sub zero"?

The letter "b" in "sub zero" is pronounced as a soft "b", similar to the letter "v".

5. Are there any other words that are commonly mispronounced as "sub zero"?

Yes, there are other words that may be mistakenly pronounced as "sub zero" due to similar spelling or sound. These include "subzero", "subzealot", and "subzeroth". However, the correct pronunciation for each of these words is different from "sub zero".

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