Why is the greek letter Pi used for Pi (product) notation?

Question

We are learning about it and my teacher didn't explain why either Sigma nor Pi were used.

I'm really not sure but to me Sum starts with and "S" and Product with a "P". See the connection ? — Zubzub, Nov 08 '16 at 20:07
Possible duplicate of Why sigma notation? For product see here. — Dietrich Burde, Nov 08 '16 at 20:14

score 3 · Answer 1 · answered Nov 08 '16 at 20:07

3

It's phonetic - $\Sigma$ stands for "sum" and $\Pi$ stands for "product.

answered Nov 08 '16 at 20:07

Noah Schweber

245,398

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Nov 08 '16 at 20:11

1

$\pi$ is a capital letter from the Greek alphabet called “Pi", it corresponds to “P” in our alphabet. So, "p"roduct notation is derived from the symbol of "Pi", $\pi$. A similar reasoning holds for the summation symbol, sigma.

answered Nov 08 '16 at 20:11

Shraddheya Shendre

2,431

Why is the greek letter Pi used for Pi (product) notation?

2 Answers2