Ad
related to: logarithms calculator exponent rules with fractions and examples and answers
Search results
Results From The WOW.Com Content Network
In mathematics, the logarithm to base b is the inverse function of exponentiation with base b. That means that the logarithm of a number x to the base b is the exponent to which b must be raised to produce x. For example, since 1000 = 10 3, the logarithm base of 1000 is 3, or log 10 (1000) = 3.
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 logarithm keys (log for base-10 and ln for base-e) on a typical scientific calculator. The advent of hand-held calculators largely eliminated the use of common logarithms as an aid to computation. The numerical value for logarithm to the base 10 can be calculated with the following identities: [5]
Typical ten-inch (25 cm) student slide rule (Pickett N902-T simplex trig) A slide rule is a hand-operated mechanical calculator consisting of slidable rulers for evaluating mathematical operations such as multiplication, division, exponents, roots, logarithms, and trigonometry. It is one of the simplest analog computers. [1] [2]
For example, logarithms are used to solve for the half-life, decay constant, or unknown time in exponential decay problems. They are important in many branches of mathematics and scientific disciplines, and are used to solve problems involving compound interest .
In the base ten number system, integer powers of 10 are written as the digit 1 followed or preceded by a number of zeroes determined by the sign and magnitude of the exponent. For example, 10 3 = 1000 and 10 −4 = 0.0001. Exponentiation with base 10 is used in scientific notation to denote large or small numbers.
For example, multiplication is granted a higher precedence than addition, and it has been this way since the introduction of modern algebraic notation. [ 2 ] [ 3 ] Thus, in the expression 1 + 2 × 3 , the multiplication is performed before addition, and the expression has the value 1 + (2 × 3) = 7 , and not (1 + 2) × 3 = 9 .
For example, log 10 10000 = 4, and log 10 0.001 = −3. These are instances of the discrete logarithm problem. Other base-10 logarithms in the real numbers are not instances of the discrete logarithm problem, because they involve non-integer exponents. For example, the equation log 10 53 = 1.724276… means that 10 1.724276… = 53.