Formules

Formules, the French plural of formula, refers to concise symbolic expressions used to express relationships and computations. In English, the equivalent term is formulas. Formulas appear across mathematics, science, and engineering to express how a quantity depends on others or to describe a law or rule.

A formula can be distinguished from an equation: a formula provides a method to compute a quantity from given inputs, whereas an equation states that two expressions are equal. A single field can include many related formulas, varying by assumptions or units.

Common types include mathematical formulas (A = l × w), chemical formulas (H2O), and physical formulas that summarize laws (PV = nRT, F = ma). In statistics and economics, formulas compute measures or forecasts.

Notation and conventions: formulas use variables (x, y), constants (π), and operators with parentheses to indicate order of operations. Units matter; dimensional analysis checks validity.

Applications: formulas are used in education to teach relationships, in design and analysis to perform calculations, and in software, spreadsheets and programming for automated computation.

Etymology and usage: the term originates from Latin formula; in French texts formules is standard; in other languages equivalents exist.