∏ Product Symbol (N-ary Product)
The product sign (∏) is the multiplicative counterpart of ∑ — it multiplies a sequence of terms. It is a different character from the Greek capital pi Π.
Also known as: product mathematical symbol, capital pi, pi notation, product notation, Π.
Codes
| Symbol (product sign) | ∏ | |
| Greek capital pi | Π · U+03A0 | |
| Unicode | U+220F | |
| HTML entity (named) | ∏ | |
| HTML entity (decimal) | ∏ | |
| HTML entity (hex) | ∏ | |
| CSS | \220F | |
| LaTeX | \prod | |
| Windows Alt code | Alt + 8719 |
How to type ∏ (Product Symbol (N-ary Product))
Alt + 8719 gives the product sign ∏ in apps that accept decimal-Unicode Alt input. In Word type 220F then Alt + X. For the Greek letter Π instead, use Alt + 928 or 03A0 then Alt + X.
Option + Shift + p types ∏ on the US layout. (Or open Character Viewer and search “n-ary product”.)
Type 220F, then press Alt + X to convert it to ∏. Inside an Equation, typing \prod and a space also works.
Insert → Special characters, then search “n-ary product” — or inside an Equation type \prod.
Use \prod for the large operator with limits: \prod_{i=1}^{n} a_i. \Pi is just the Greek letter and does not take limits the same way.
Usage
- ∏ multiplies a sequence the way ∑ adds one: ∏ from i=1 to n of aᵢ means a₁ · a₂ · … · aₙ.
- n! = ∏ from k=1 to n of k — the factorial is the standard example, and probability of independent events is the other: P(all) = ∏ P(each).
- In LaTeX, \prod renders the large operator with limits above and below in display mode; \Pi renders only the letter.
- Which one to use — the exact same trap as Σ vs ∑: ∏ (U+220F N-ARY PRODUCT) is the math operator. Π (U+03A0) is the Greek capital letter pi. They look nearly identical, but only ∏ typesets as an operator and only ∏ is what a screen reader announces as “product”. If you copied a Greek letter into a formula, it is wrong even though it looks right.