Division sign (÷) in HTML
The division sign, or obelus, is the horizontal bar with a dot above and below. Its named reference is ÷ and its code point is U+00F7.
At a glance
- Character
- ÷
- Named entity
- ÷
- Decimal reference
- ÷
- Hex reference
- ÷
- Unicode code point
- U+00F7
- Unicode name
- DIVISION SIGN
- In the entity reference
- Math, and pinned in quick access
In detail
The obelus is primarily a teaching notation. It appears on calculator keys and in primary school arithmetic, and then almost entirely disappears from published mathematics above that level, where division is written as a fraction, as a solidus, or as a negative exponent. The international standard for mathematical signs explicitly advises against it, on the grounds that its precedence is read inconsistently.
That inconsistency is the substance of the viral arithmetic arguments that circulate every year. An expression combining the obelus with implicit multiplication has no single agreed reading, and the disagreement is genuine rather than a matter of one side being ignorant. The practical response is to add parentheses or to write the fraction properly, not to insist your reading is the correct one.
For a real fraction on a page, the character to reach for is the fraction slash at U+2044 rather than the ordinary solidus, because fonts with the relevant feature will compose the digits around it into a proper stacked fraction. For anything more complex than that, MathML expresses the structure rather than drawing a picture of it, which is what makes an equation navigable by assistive technology.
The character does still earn its place in one common context: showing a calculation to a reader who learned it that way, in a help page about a formula field or a pricing calculation. There it is the notation your audience recognises, and clarity for the reader beats the standards argument.
Examples
<p>Cost per unit = total ÷ quantity</p>
<p>120 ÷ 8 = 15</p><p>solidus: a / b</p>
<p>fraction slash: 3⁄4</p>
<p>vulgar fraction character: ¾</p>⁄ is U+2044. In a font with fraction support the digits around it are rendered stacked.
Things that catch people out
- An expression mixing the obelus with implicit multiplication is genuinely ambiguous. Parenthesise rather than argue about operator precedence.
- The fraction slash at U+2044 and the ordinary slash look almost identical but only one triggers fraction rendering, and a font without that feature draws both the same way.
- Drawing an equation with characters and CSS gives a picture, not structure. Anything a reader needs to navigate should be MathML or have a text description.
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Related HTML entities
All html entities →Multiplication sign (×) in HTML
The multiplication sign at U+00D7, its entity forms, why image dimensions should not use a letter x, and the other cross characters it is confused with.
Fraction characters: one half, one quarter, three quarters
The vulgar fraction characters at U+00BC, U+00BD and U+00BE, their entity forms, the wider fraction block, and when a fraction slash is the better answer.
Square root symbol (√) in HTML
The radical sign at U+221A, its entity forms, why it has no overbar, when parentheses are compulsory, and the cube and fourth root characters.
Minus sign (−) in HTML
The true minus sign at U+2212 and the hyphen-minus at U+002D. Why negative numbers in a table need the real character, and where it breaks copy and paste.
Not equal to sign (≠) in HTML
The not equal to sign at U+2260, its entity forms, why the composed and combining versions differ, and how it compares to the operators used in code.
Less than or equal (≤) and greater than or equal (≥)
The inequality signs at U+2264 and U+2265, their entity forms, the slanted variants used in some traditions, and when to keep the ASCII operators instead.
Tools for this
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