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In mathematics, the logarithm of a number is the exponent by which another fixed value, the base, must be raised to produce that number.For example, the logarithm of 1000 to base 10 is 3, because 1000 is 10 to the 3 rd power: 1000 = 10 3 = 10 × 10 × 10.
This relationship is true regardless of the base of the logarithmic or exponential function: If is normally distributed, then so is for any two positive numbers , . Likewise, if e Y {\displaystyle \ e^{Y}\ } is log-normally distributed, then so is a Y , {\displaystyle \ a^{Y}\ ,} where 0 < a ≠ 1 {\displaystyle 0<a\neq 1} .
Logarithms can be used to make calculations easier. For example, two numbers can be multiplied just by using a logarithm table and adding. These are often known as logarithmic properties, which are documented in the table below. [2] The first three operations below assume that x = b c and/or y = b d, so that log b (x) = c and log b (y) = d.
The product logarithm Lambert W function plotted in the complex plane from −2 − 2i to 2 + 2i The graph of y = W(x) for real x < 6 and y > −4. The upper branch (blue) with y ≥ −1 is the graph of the function W 0 (principal branch), the lower branch (magenta) with y ≤ −1 is the graph of the function W −1. The minimum value of x is ...
An important property of base-10 logarithms, which makes them so useful in calculations, is that the logarithm of numbers greater than 1 that differ by a factor of a power of 10 all have the same fractional part. The fractional part is known as the mantissa. [b] Thus, log tables need only show the fractional part. Tables of common logarithms ...
The natural logarithm of a number is its logarithm to the base of the mathematical constant e, which is an irrational and transcendental number approximately equal to 2.718 281 828 459. [1] The natural logarithm of x is generally written as ln x, log e x, or sometimes, if the base e is implicit, simply log x.
In mathematics, the binary logarithm (log 2 n) is the power to which the number 2 must be raised to obtain the value n. That is, for any real number x , x = log 2 n 2 x = n . {\displaystyle x=\log _{2}n\quad \Longleftrightarrow \quad 2^{x}=n.}
Mathematical tables are lists of numbers showing the results of a calculation with varying arguments.Trigonometric tables were used in ancient Greece and India for applications to astronomy and celestial navigation, and continued to be widely used until electronic calculators became cheap and plentiful in the 1970s, in order to simplify and drastically speed up computation.