Question Number 33460 by Rio Mike last updated on 17/Apr/18
$$\:\:{why}\:{do}\:{we}\:{use}\:{greek}\:{letters}\:{like}\: \\ $$$$\alpha,\beta,\theta,\pi,\Omega,\rho\:\:\:{in}\:{mathematics} \\ $$
Answered by MJS last updated on 17/Apr/18
$$\mathrm{we}\:\mathrm{want}\:\mathrm{to}\:\mathrm{be}\:\mathrm{able}\:\mathrm{to}\:\mathrm{quickly} \\ $$$$\mathrm{distinguish}\:\mathrm{and}\:\mathrm{therefore}\:\mathrm{we} \\ $$$$\mathrm{use}\:\mathrm{many}\:\mathrm{different}\:\mathrm{sets}\:\mathrm{of}\:\mathrm{letters} \\ $$$$ \\ $$$$\mathrm{example}:\:\mathrm{triangle} \\ $$$$ \\ $$$$\mathrm{vertices}\:\mathrm{are}\:{A},\:{B},\:{C} \\ $$$$\mathrm{sides}\:\mathrm{are}\:{a},\:{b},\:{c} \\ $$$$\mathrm{angles}\:\mathrm{are}\:\alpha,\:\beta,\:\gamma \\ $$$$ \\ $$$$\mathrm{it}'\mathrm{s}\:\mathrm{easy}\:\mathrm{to}\:\mathrm{read},\:\mathrm{write}\:\mathrm{and} \\ $$$$\mathrm{understand}\:\mathrm{things}\:\mathrm{like}: \\ $$$$ \\ $$$${c}=\mid{AB}\mid \\ $$$${S}=\frac{{A}+{B}+{C}}{\mathrm{3}} \\ $$$$\frac{\mathrm{sin}\:\alpha}{{a}}=\frac{\mathrm{sin}\:\beta}{{b}} \\ $$$${c}^{\mathrm{2}} ={a}^{\mathrm{2}} +{b}^{\mathrm{2}} −\mathrm{2}{ab}\mathrm{cos}\:\gamma \\ $$