There is another symbol, the minus-plus sign (∓). It is generally used in conjunction with the "±" sign, in such expressions as "x ± y ∓ z", which can be interpreted as meaning "x + y − z" or/and "x − y + z", but not "x + y + z" nor "x − y − z". The upper "−" in "∓" is considered to be associated to the "+" of "±" (and similarly for the two lower symbols) even though there is no visual indication of the dependency. (However, the "±" sign is generally preferred over the "∓" sign, so if they both appear in an equation it is safe to assume that they are linked. On the other hand, if there are two instances of the "±" sign in an expression, it is impossible to tell from notation alone whether the intended interpretation is as two or four distinct expressions.) The original expression can be rewritten as "x ± (y − z)" to avoid confusion, but cases such as the trigonometric identity
are most neatly written using the "∓" sign. The trigonometric equation above thus represents the two equations:
but never
because the signs are exclusively alternating.
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