Multiplication sign, using '*' or 'x'

Question

In Mathematics, the operator provide on keyboard is quite clear for addition, subtraction and divide as the follow + - /

The multiplication * might be familiar as the multiplication for programmer but i do not sure about ordinary user. I don't know should i use '*' or 'x' for multiplication sign.

The purpose is to provide user detail of how each field will be used

One drawback i can think of if using x might be rely on font face and if user changing to others font x might not be appear like multiple.

Also, by the standard * (asterik) should be used to multiplication but i don't sure for its readily.

Answer 1

It would certainly be a mistake to use the letter x as the multiplication symbol as x itself often denotes an algebraic term:

eg compare

x x y = c

vs

x × y = c

The × or × or &#D7; character looks like this: × so it is a proper cross, as opposed to the letters x (ex) or * (asterisk) symbols which are a lazy approach and don't create symmetrical symbols about the major axes.

The × version is simply the friendly version of the same code.

For additional reference, for divide you can also use ÷ or ÷ to get ÷

For minus you might expect to use direct from the normal key but there is a separate code for that too − − which aligns it vertically with the keyboard plus symbol, so you get (−+) instead of the keyboard minus and plus ( -+ ) which may not be aligned depending on the font.

You can get the plus/minus via ± or ± ±

There is another wikipedia entry for the symbol itself which currently consists of the information below:

(sorry, this is an image - so links are not real!)

Answer 2

It's a shame that I found the solution after posting my own question. So I will just share it there. Wikipedia recommends using The HTML entity × which will be resulted in × for multiplication:

Multiplication

List_of_XML_and_HTML_character_entity_references

Answer 3

Compare:

x x y = c - Bad for obvious reasons

x × y = c - Also bad, but less so. It looks like (x^x)*y (x raised to the x, times y)

x * y = c - I would consider this the obvious choice, especially since using dot for multiplication is standard for Pre-Algebra and beyond. (Roughly age 13 or 14 and older in the US)

Answer 4

In addition to all of the other pro voices for *, the numeric keypad on my keyboard has a * for times. That's another argument, IMO, for using it.