What it means
The nineteenth Greek letter. τ is a time constant, torque, shear stress, proper time in relativity and Kendall's rank correlation.
Read aloud in real formulas
τ = r × F
Aethel says
tau equals r cross F
torque is the cross product of position and force
τ = RC
Aethel says
tau equals R C
the time constant of a resistor–capacitor circuit
Typing it
- LaTeX
- \tau (capital: T)
- Unicode
- U+03C4, U+03A4
Questions
How do you pronounce tau (τ)?
It is said “tau”, roughly TAW (rhymes with "cow") or TOR.
What does τ mean in maths?
The nineteenth Greek letter. τ is a time constant, torque, shear stress, proper time in relativity and Kendall's rank correlation.
How do you type τ?
In LaTeX, write \tau (capital: T). Its Unicode code point is U+03C4, U+03A4.