p̂ P-Hat Symbol
P-hat (p̂) is the sample proportion in statistics — the estimate of the unknown population proportion p. It is written as the letter p plus a combining circumflex, not a single character.
Also known as: p hat, p hat symbol, sample proportion symbol, p with a hat.
Codes
| Symbol | p̂ | |
| Unicode | p (U+0070) + U+0302 | |
| Combining accent | U+0302 combining circumflex | |
| HTML entity (decimal) | p̂ | |
| HTML entity (hex) | p̂ | |
| CSS | \0070\0302 | |
| LaTeX | \hat{p} |
How to type p̂ (P-Hat Symbol)
There is no Alt code — p̂ is not a single character, so nothing in the Alt-code tables produces it. Copy it above, or use the Word method below.
No keystroke produces it. Do not use the Option + i dead key: on the US layout, Option + i then p gives ˆp (U+02C6 followed by p — the hat lands beside the p, not on it), which is a different string. Copy p̂ above instead.
Type p, then 0302, then press Alt + X — the code converts into the combining circumflex and settles over the p. (Equation editor: type \hat p and press space.)
Insert → Equation, then type \hat p followed by a space. Insert → Special characters does not offer a ready-made p̂, since no such single character exists.
Use \hat{p} in math mode. \widehat{p} draws a wider hat.
Usage
- p̂ is the sample proportion: p̂ = x / n, where x is the number of successes in a sample of size n.
- p vs p̂ — this is the distinction the notation exists for. p is the true population proportion (usually unknown); p̂ is what you actually measured in your sample and use to estimate p. A confidence interval is built around p̂ to make a claim about p.
- Why there is no Alt code: Unicode has no precomposed “p with circumflex” character. p̂ is always two code points — the letter p (U+0070) followed by the combining circumflex accent (U+0302), which renders on top of the preceding letter. Any site offering you a single Alt code for p̂ is wrong.
- Because it is two code points, a naive string comparison or search can fail to match p̂ even when it looks identical on screen.