Kappa Symbol
About Kappa Symbol
κ is the Kappa Symbol, the lowercase form of the 10th letter of the Greek alphabet (Κ / κ). The Kappa Symbol κ is among the most common Greek letters in scientific and technical literature, frequently used for It denotes curvature, thermal conductivity, and the von Kármán constant, common in fluid mechanics.
【Pronunciation】 In English, κ is most often pronounced KAP-uh (IPA: /ˈkæpə/). This is simply the anglicized name of the Greek letter.
The lowercase Kappa Symbol κ is written as a distinct Greek glyph and is assigned codepoint U+03BA in the Greek and Coptic Unicode block. In plain or sans-serif fonts it can be mistaken for the Latin letter k, so verify the typeface or context.
【Historical Origin】 Kappa derives from the Phoenician letter kaph and serves as a conventional symbol in physics and materials science.
【Common Uses】 κ is highly active across disciplines: It denotes curvature, thermal conductivity, and the von Kármán constant, common in fluid mechanics. It often appears alongside the uppercase Sigma Σ and lowercase Sigma σ in formulas, papers, and engineering drawings.
How to Type Kappa Symbol
Windows Input
Method 1: Hold Alt and type 954 on the numeric keypad, then release Alt to get κ.
Mac Input
Method 2: Press Control + Command + Space to open the Character Viewer, search for 'greek' or 'Kappa Symbol', then select κ.
HTML/CSS Input
Method 3: HTML: κ or κ or κ; CSS: content: "\03BA";
LaTeX Input
Method 4: Use the \kappa command in LaTeX math mode to produce κ.
Kappa Symbol FAQ
How is κ pronounced?
The English pronunciation of κ is KAP-uh (IPA: /ˈkæpə/). It is the anglicized name of the Greek letter, used directly rather than described as 'lowercase κ'.
What is the difference between κ and the Latin letter k?
κ (U+03BA) is a Greek lowercase letter, whereas k is a Latin letter; their codepoints and glyphs differ. In a proper typeface κ and k are clearly distinct, but in plain text or sans-serif fonts they can be confused, so rely on context.
How do I type κ in Word, web pages, and LaTeX?
On Windows use Alt+954 on the numeric keypad; on Mac open the Character Viewer and search 'greek' or 'Kappa Symbol'; on the web use the HTML entity κ; in LaTeX use \kappa. For bulk use, copy κ directly from this page.