Step 1: Determine the UTF-8 encoding bit layout
The character α has the Unicode code point U+03B1. In UTF-8, it is encoded using 2 bytes because its codepoint is in the range of
0x0080to0x07ff.
Therefore we know that the UTF-8 encoding will be done over 11 bits within the final 16 bits and that it will have the format:110xxxxx 10xxxxxx
Where thexare the payload bits.UTF-8 Encoding bit layout by codepoint range Codepoint Range Bytes Bit pattern Payload length U+0000 - U+007F 1 0xxxxxxx 7 bits U+0080 - U+07FF 2 110xxxxx 10xxxxxx 11 bits U+0800 - U+FFFF 3 1110xxxx 10xxxxxx 10xxxxxx 16 bits U+10000 - U+10FFFF 4 11110xxx 10xxxxxx 10xxxxxx 10xxxxxx 21 bits Step 2: Obtain the payload bits:
Convert the hexadecimal code point U+03B1 to binary:
00000011 10110001. Those are the payload bits.Step 3: Fill in the bits to match the bit pattern:
Obtain the final bytes by arranging the paylod bits to match the bit layout:
11001110 10110001
GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA·U+03B1
α
Character Information
Code Point
U+03B1
HEX
03B1
Unicode Plane
Basic Multilingual Plane
Category
Lowercase Letter
Character Representations
Click elements to copy| Encoding | Hex | Binary |
|---|---|---|
| UTF8 | CE B1 | 11001110 10110001 |
| UTF16 (big Endian) | 03 B1 | 00000011 10110001 |
| UTF16 (little Endian) | B1 03 | 10110001 00000011 |
| UTF32 (big Endian) | 00 00 03 B1 | 00000000 00000000 00000011 10110001 |
| UTF32 (little Endian) | B1 03 00 00 | 10110001 00000011 00000000 00000000 |
HTML Entity
α
URI Encoded
%CE%B1
Description
U+03B1 is the Unicode character code for the Greek lowercase letter 'alpha'. As an important letter in the Greek alphabet, it plays a crucial role in both ancient and modern textual applications. In digital text, the alpha character is often utilized to represent the beginning of a sequence or list, similar to how the Latin 'A' is used in English. This versatile symbol can also be employed as a variable in mathematical equations and computer programming due to its unique value. Beyond typography, the Greek alphabet has played a significant role in various historical and linguistic contexts, such as the foundational basis for the Roman alphabet that we use today.
How to type the α symbol on Windows
Hold Alt and type 0945 on the numpad. Or use Character Map.