comma with apposition (symbol): interpreting the force F

[fintland]

Hi,

I am writing my master's thesis and would like an advice on the following sentence. Please comment on punctuation:

"This technique is in use for interpreting the signal of deformation \Delta L and the force F."

Is it required to use:

"...the signal of deformation, \Delta L, and the force, F."

- Or is it just as good without the commas?

Any comments are appreciated.

 

[Copyright]

Because of your backslash and italicizing, I like it better without the commas, which just make more work for the eye and brain.

 

[entangledbank]

I agree with Copyright that the visual context means commas are just clutter. Grammatically it can be either: it can be integrated, which is how you'd probably say it for short names (the force F and the mass m), or it can be separated, which is how you'd more likely say something complicated (the signal of deformation, delta-L, is obtained by . . .).

It can perhaps be illustrated more clearly with a non-technical example:

My husband George is in the bathroom.
My husband, George, is in the bathroom.

Both can be said. The name can be bracketed off as extra information or it can be part of a single intonation.

 

[MilkyBarKid]

"...the signal of deformation \Delta L, and the force F."

You need the comma after L to indicate that it is |Delta L alone that is 'the signal of deformation', with F being a second factor.

 

[e2efour]

I would write "the signal of deformation \Delta L and the force F."
Alternatively \Delta L and F could go inside brackets.

If you put a comma before and after \Delta L, it looks to someone reading it who is not familiar with the subject matter that you are talking about three things.

I recommend that these variables are separated/distinguished in some way, either by the use of italics or by placing them inside parentheses (brackets).
If you use commas to separate them, it becomes a proofreader's nightmare. You can't expect proofreaders to understand what they read, especially when they read it the first time.

 

[fintland]

Thank you for your kind feedback!

I'll go for one comma after \Delta L and leave them in italics. I find it easy to read and expect any other reader to be able to follow that syntax.

I forgot to mention that I write in LaTeX so the \Delta letter is actually the greek one when printing. My apologies. )

Regards,

 

[e2efour]

If you have a comma after ΔL then you have to have one after deformation and after force.
The text then looks like "deformation, ΔL, and the force, F."

 

[pob14]

I didn't understand what that was saying at all until I saw e2efour's version with the commas. Of course, I'm not in whatever technical field this is from, so my opinion may not matter for a master's thesis. Also, I've been accused of overusing commas before.

 

[EStjarn]

Like pob14, I could understand the structure of the sentence only with the commas, not without them. However, if the sentence is part of a discourse where those symbols - ΔL and F - are introduced, then there should be no problem. As entangledbank suggests, a bracketed version would've worked as well:

This technique is in use for interpreting the signal of deformation (ΔL) and the force (F).
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Here's a Wikipedia quotation that uses brackets:

Relationship between force (F), torque (τ), and momentum vectors (p and L) in a rotating system.
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