Constants standard mathematical symbols

Section 2 combines the former separate section on Mathematics with the material involving General Information and Conversion Tables. The fundamental physical constants reflect values recommended in 1986. Physical and chemical symbols and definitions have undergone extensive revision and expansion. Presented in 14 categories, the entries follow recommendations published in 1988 by the lUPAC. The table of abbreviations and standard letter symbols provides, in a sense, an alphabetical index to the foregoing tables. The table of conversion factors has been modified in view of recent data and inclusion of SI units cross-entries for archaic or unusual entries have been curtailed. 

Define all symbols for mathematical constants, variables, and unknown quantities the first time you use them in the text. If you use them in the abstract, define them there and then again at their first appearance in text. Do not define standard mathematical constants such as n, i, and e. 

This section lists some of the common mathematical symbols for operations, constants, and trigonometric functions. The symbols are in tabular form in a standard PDF document. 

More complex enzymatic reactions usually display Michaelis-Menten kinetics and can be described by Eq. (2). However, the forms of constants Km and Vm can be very complicated, consisting of many individual rate constants. King and Altman (7) have provided a method to readily derive the steady-state equations for enzymatic reactions, including the forms that describe Km and Vm. The advent of symbolic mathematics programs makes the implementation of these methods routine, even for very complex reaction schemes. The P450 catalytic cycle (Fig. 2) is an example of a very complicated reaction scheme. However, most P450-mediated reactions display standard hyperbolic saturation kinetics. Therefore, although the rate constants that determine Km and Vm are... 

Some standard usages and symbols for mathematical operations and constants need never be defined. They include the following ... 

I Variables, constants, and units are represented with standard symbols in scientific mathematics (for example, V for volume). Be sure to learn and use the standard symbols. 

---