This article is not about the symbol for the set of prime numbers, ℙ.

The prime (′, Unicode U+2032, ′) is a symbol with many mathematical uses: In mathematics, a prime number (or prime) is a natural number greater than one whose only positive divisors are one and itself. ... In computing, Unicode provides an international standard which has the goal of providing the means to encode the text of every document people want to store on computers. ...

• A complement in set theory: A′ is the complement of the set A
• A point related to another (e.g., by a transformation T): A′ is related to A
• A first derivative or derived function: f′(x) is the first derivative of f(x)
• An arcminute or minute of time: 42′ means 42 arcminutes or minutes
• A foot: 7′ means 7 feet

A double prime (″, Unicode U+2033, ″) is the equivalent of two prime characters, and is used for similar purposes: In set theory and other branches of mathematics, two kinds of complements are defined, the relative complement and the absolute complement. ... Set theory is the mathematical theory of sets, which represent collections of abstract objects. ... Transformation has two meanings in molecular biology: Transformation is the genetic alteration of a cell resulting from the introduction, uptake and expression of foreign DNA. Transformation is also the process by which normal cells are converted into cells that will continue to divide without limit. ... The derivative in mathematics (specifically, differential calculus) is a quantity that measures, on continuous functions, the limit of a rate of change, , as approaches 0. ... A minute of arc, arcminute, or MOA is a unit of angular measurement, equal to one sixtieth (1/60) of one degree. ... A minute is: a unit of time equal to 1/60th of an hour and to 60 seconds. ... A minute of arc, arcminute, or MOA is a unit of angular measurement, equal to one sixtieth (1/60) of one degree. ... A minute is: a unit of time equal to 1/60th of an hour and to 60 seconds. ... A foot (plural: feet) is a non-SI unit of distance or length, measuring around a third of a metre. ... In computing, Unicode provides an international standard which has the goal of providing the means to encode the text of every document people want to store on computers. ...

• A second derivative: f″(x) is the second derivative of f(x)
• An arcsecond or second of time: 42″ means 42 arcseconds or seconds
• An inch: 7″ means 7 inches

As an extension of the above symbols, the triple prime (‴, Unicode U+2034) and quadruple prime (⁗, Unicode U+2057) are often used to indicate the third and fourth derivative of a function, respectively. (Not all Web browsers can display these symbols.) A second of arc or arcsecond is a unit of angular measurement which comprises one-sixtieth of an arcminute, or 1/3600 of a degree of arc or 1/1296000 ≈ 7. ... The second (symbol s) is a unit for time, and one of seven SI base units. ... A second of arc or arcsecond is a unit of angular measurement which comprises one-sixtieth of an arcminute, or 1/3600 of a degree of arc or 1/1296000 ≈ 7. ... The second (symbol s) is a unit for time, and one of seven SI base units. ... Mid-19th century tool for converting between different standards of the inch An inch is an Imperial and U.S. customary unit of length. ... Mid-19th century tool for converting between different standards of the inch An inch is an Imperial and U.S. customary unit of length. ...

To avoid counting the number of primes, the notation f⁽ⁿ⁾(x) can be used to mean the nth derivative of f(x) particularly when the numerical instance n is large. This is also mathematically useful as an abstraction of n as a variable.

History

The name "prime" is something of a misnomer. Through the early part of the 20th century, the notation "x′" was read "x prime" not because it was an "x" followed by a "prime symbol", but because it was the first in the series that continued with "x″" ("x second") and "x‴" ("x third"). It was only later, in the 1950s and 1960s, that the term "prime" began to be applied to the apostrophe symbol itself.

Non-mathematical uses

The prime can also be used in the transliteration of some languages, such as Russian, to denote palatalization. Transliteration in a narrow sense is a mapping from one system of writing into another. ... Palatalization means pronouncing a sound nearer to the hard palate, making it more like a palatal consonant; this is towards the front of the mouth for a velar or uvular consonant, but towards the back of the mouth for a front (e. ...

In physics, the prime is used to denote variables after an event. For example, v_A' would indicate the velocity of object A after an event. The willingness to question previously held truths and search for new answers resulted in a period of major scientific advancements, now known as the Scientific Revolution. ...

In molecular biology, the prime is used to denote the positions of carbon on a ring of deoxyribose or ribose. The prime distinguishes places on these two chemicals, rather than places on other parts of DNA or RNA, like phosphate groups or nucleic acids. Thus, when indicating the direction of movement of an enzyme along a string of DNA, biologists will says that it moves from the 5' end to the 3' end, because these carbons are hanging from the ends of the molecule. Prime can also be used to indicate which position a molecule has attached to, such as "5′-monophosphate". Molecular biology is the study of biology at a molecular level. ... Deoxyribose Deoxyribose (more precisely 2-deoxyribose) is a five-carbon sugar (a pentose) derived from the pentose sugar ribose by the repacement of the hydroxyl group at the 2 position with hydrogen, leading to the net loss of an oxygen. ... Ribose Ribose is a five carbon sugar (pentose) that is critical to living creatures. ... Space-filling model of a section of DNA molecule Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) or deoxyribose nucleic acid is a nucleic acid that contains the genetic instructions specifying the biological development of all cellular forms of life (and many viruses). ... Ribonucleic acid (RNA) is a nucleic acid consisting of a string of covalently-bound nucleotides. ... In chemistry, a phosphate is a polyatomic ion or radical consisting of one phosphorus atom and four oxygen. ... A nucleic acid is a complex, high-molecular-weight biochemical macromolecule composed of nucleotide chains that convey genetic information. ... Ribbon diagram of the catalytically perfect enzyme TIM. Factor D enzyme crystal prevents the immune system from inappropriately running out of control. ...

Representations

The prime symbol should not be confused with the apostrophe (', Unicode U+0027) or acute accent (´, Unicode U+00B4); the double prime should not be confused with the quotation mark (", Unicode U+0022). An apostrophe ( ’ ) is a punctuation and sometimes diacritic mark in languages written in the Latin alphabet. ... The acute accent ( Â´ ) is a diacritic mark used in many modern written languages with alphabets based on the Latin script. ... Quotation marks, also called quotes or inverted commas, are punctuation marks used in pairs to set off speech, a quotation, or a phrase. ...

When the character set used does not include the prime or double prime character (e.g. ISO 8859-1 is commonly assumed on IRC), they are often respectively approximated by normal or italic apostrophes and quotation marks. ISO 8859-1, more formally cited as ISO/IEC 8859-1 or less formally as Latin-1, is part 1 of ISO/IEC 8859, a standard character encoding originally developed by ISO, but later jointly maintained by ISO and IEC. The standard, when supplemented with additional character assignments, is the... Internet Relay Chat (IRC) is a form of instant communication over the Internet. ... Italic type is a form of type that slants slightly to the right and uses different glyph shapes, used to distinguish or otherwise set off certains words within text. ...