multiplication operator

A multiplication operator is an operator signifying multiplication among two or more operands. Common multiplication operators are $\times$, $\cdot$ and $\ast$ as well as the tacit multiplication operator. The iterated multiplication operator is the Greek capital letter $\mathrm{\Pi }$. Most of these can be used in Polish notation or reverse Polish notation just as easily as in standard infix notation. For example: $2\cdot 3\cdot 7$ or $2\mathit{\hspace{1em}}3\mathit{\hspace{1em}}7\times$.

Most computer programming languages (such as FORTRAN and C++ (http://planetmath.org/C)) use the asterisk ($\ast$), which is available as Shift-6 on almost all American typewriters and computer keyboards. For arithmetic computations by hand on paper, the cross ($\times$) is prefered and this is the symbol that appears on the multiplication key of most calculators. The tacit multiplication operator is mostly used in algebra to multiply named variables or constants, or a single literal by single or multiple named variables or constants.