Beta facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Greek alphabet
Αα	Alpha	Νν	Nu
Ββ	Beta	Ξξ	Xi
Γγ	Gamma	Οο	Omicron
Δδ	Delta	Ππ	Pi
Εε	Epsilon	Ρρ	Rho
Ζζ	Zeta	Σσ	Sigma
Ηη	Eta	Ττ	Tau
Θθ	Theta	Υυ	Upsilon
Ιι	Iota	Φφ	Phi
Κκ	Kappa	Χχ	Chi
Λλ	Lambda	Ψψ	Psi
Μμ	Mu	Ωω	Omega
Other letters
Ϝϝ	Digamma	Ϟϟ	Koppa
Ϛϛ	Stigma	Ϡϡ	Sampi
Ͱͱ	Heta	Ϸϸ	Sho
Ϻϻ	San

Beta (written as Β for uppercase and β for lowercase) is the second letter of the Greek alphabet. It's a very old letter with an interesting history!

In Ancient Greece, Beta was used to make a "b" sound, like in the English word "ball." But over time, the sound changed. In Modern Greek, Beta now makes a "v" sound, like in the English word "van."

Beta also has a special meaning in Greek numerals. It stands for the number 2. Many letters in our own alphabet, like the English letter B, came from Beta. The Cyrillic letter Б, used in languages like Russian, also came from Beta.

The Letter Beta's Journey

The sounds "b" and "v" are quite similar. Around 200 BC, the "b" sound that Beta made in Ancient Greek slowly changed into a "v" sound. This is why in the Cyrillic alphabet, the letter B now means the "v" sound. A new letter, called Б, was created in Cyrillic to make the "b" sound.

Beta in Science and Math

The letter Beta isn't just used in alphabets. It's also very important in many other fields, like finance, science, and mathematics.

For example, in math, there's something called the "beta function." It's named after the capital letter Β. In statistics, which is about collecting and understanding data, the lowercase β is used to show the chance of a specific type of mistake called a "type II error." This shows how a single letter can have many different uses!

Related pages

• Beta decay
• Beta particle

Images for kids

• 

  The Greek alphabet on an ancient black figure vessel. You can see the angular Beta from that time.

See also

In Spanish: Β para niños