⋅
Dot Operator
- Unicode
- U+22C5
- Category
- Math
- HTML Entity
- ⋅
- CSS
- \22C5
The dot operator (⋅) is a mathematical symbol primarily used to indicate multiplication or the dot product of two vectors. Positioned centrally along the vertical axis, it aligns perfectly between numbers and variables in equations. In algebra, it is frequently chosen over the traditional multiplication cross (×) to prevent any confusing mix-ups with the letter 'x'.
How to Type
- Windows
- In Word: type 22C5, then press Alt + X. Other apps have no standard Windows shortcut for it — copy it from this page
- macOS
- Control+Command+Space then search "dot operator"
- Linux
- Ctrl+Shift+U 22c5
- HTML
- ⋅ or ⋅
In Programming
While standard code logic universally relies on the asterisk (*) for multiplication, the dot operator is widely used in LaTeX (as `\cdot`) and MathML to render clean, readable mathematical equations in technical documentation.
Tags
LaTeX cdot
algebra multiplication
center dot
dot operator
dot operator math
dot product
dot product symbol
math dot symbol
mathematics
middle dot
multiplication
multiplication dot
scalar product
scalar product symbol
vector multiplication