When should I use symbols?
Symbols are another form of shorthand and are particularly common in certain types of texts (e.g. mathematical, scientific or economic). By and large, they should be used sparingly in general texts that do not contain a lot of figures, particularly if they are not widespread or well known.
Be careful not to use symbols in running text with numbers written as words. Instead, use words with words and symbols with figures. Thus, write €7 million or seven million euros, but not € seven million. See the section on currency below for the UOC's preferences regarding references to monetary sums.
How should I write the symbols for chemical elements?
The first letter of a chemical symbol is always uppercased (e.g. N, H, Ag, Mg). This is also true for each chemical symbol in a chemical compound (e.g. NaCl, H2O).
How should I write references to currencies?
Express monetary amounts in both running text and tables using the symbol followed by the amount in figures. Examples:
£150
Note that, unlike in Catalan, in English currency symbols are placed before the amount in figures. Moreover, decimals are indicated with a full stop, whereas thousands, millions, etc. are indicated with a comma. Example:
How should I express percentages?
Use per cent when writing the number in letters (e.g. five per cent) and % when writing it in figures (e.g. 13%). Always use figures when citing statistics. Examples:
Nearly 5% of all respondents agreed that…
How should I write temperatures?
Temperatures should be written in figures followed directly by the degree sign and the relevant unit without any spaces. Examples:
98.6°F
How should I write weights and measurements?
As a general rule, the UOC prefers to use International System of Units (SI) units; however, non-metric units are accepted in certain contexts and widely used phrases (e.g. square feet, a pint of beer).
SI units are written without stops, have no plurals and are separated from the preceding figures by a space (e.g. 10 kg, 25 m).
All letters in SI symbols are lowercased except those corresponding to proper names or to avoid confusion, e.g. bit (b) and byte (B). However, when the units are spelled out in full, no uppercase letters are used. Examples:
2 K, two kelvins
3 kB, three kilobytes
The standard prefixes for SI units are lowercased for kilo- (k) and below, and uppercased for mega- (M) and above. For more information on the SI, see the Wikipedia entry on the International System of Units.