A Practical Use For Logarithms, Part 2 - How We Multiplied Large Numbers 40 Years Ago, and How Integral Transforms Use The Same Basic Idea - QED Insight PDF

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A Practical Use For Logarithms, Part 2: How We Multiplied Large Numbers 40 Years Ago, And How Integral Transforms Use The Same Basic Idea | QE
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A Practical Use For Logarithms, Part 2: How We Multiplied Large Numbers 40 Years Ago, And
How Integral Transforms Use The Same BasicIdea
Posted on April 22, 2011
(Click here for Part 1.)

A common argument for the use of technology is that it frees students from doing boring, tedious calculations,
and they can focus attention on more interesting and stimulating conceptual matters. This is wrong. Mastering
tedious calculations frequently goes hand-in-hand with a deep connection with important mathematical ideas.
And that is what mathematics is all about, is it not?
The desire to free students from boring technical matters is a false dichotomy: Mastering technique and deep
conceptual understanding go hand-in-hand, and there is absolutely no reason why one cant work on both in
tandem. This is what music students do: To learn to play a musical instrument, one must spend a certain amount
of time everyday on theory and technique, and a certain amount of time everyday practicing pieces of music,
developing musicality, and so on. Trying to take a short-cut by not doing scales every day is deadly for a music
student; cant we see that the same kind of short-cut is deadly for a mathematics student, too?
A case in point is some of the algorithms we used to learn 40-odd years ago that have now been relegated to the
slag heap. For instance, when I was in high-school (could it have been elementary school?) I learned an algorithm
for extracting the square root of a number; nowadays, this is never taught, because we can quickly determine the
result to many decimal places with hand-calculators, which were not available to students or teachers back then.
Another example is the use of trigonometric tables. But the example I want to talk about in this post is the use of
logarithm and anti-logarithm tables to facilitate the multiplication, division, and exponentiation of numbers,
particularly large numbers.
So take yourself back, back, back, back to a time when little me and my little classmates had no hand
calculators. Let me show you the technique we learned to multiply large numbers, and then well make a
connection to higher mathematics.
The technique depends on a property of logarithms:
Suppose little 1973 me had the task of multiplying 18793.26 by 54778.18. Using the multiplication algorithm
would take a bit of time, but its feasible. But here is the time-saving technique we were taught: Let A = 18793.26
and let B = 54778.18. Now look up the logarithm of each of the numbers from a table. (Back then we would have
relied on tables in the back of our textbooks, but the only book on my shelf that has such tables is my 1971 copy of
the CRC Standard Mathematical Tables, 19th edition. The upcoming 2011 edition is here.)
Reading from the table for figures close to A:
and
Now if we linearly interpolate between these two figures, for greater accuracy, we obtain the approximation
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Reading from the table for figures close to B:

and
Now if we linearly interpolate between these two figures, for greater accuracy, we obtain the approximation
Next, we use the property of logarithms mentioned earlier to estimate the logarithm of AB:
The process of adding logarithms is veryeasy, and this is the point of the method. Weve taken a relatively
complicated problem (multiplying two numbers that have many digits) and converted it to a much easier problem
(adding two numbers that have many digits). Now we have to convert the result back into the realm of the initial
problem.
Next, we convert
to exponential form:
Using a table of anti-logarithms, as they were called back then (i.e., a table of powers of 10), we read that:
and
Interpolating again, we get the approximation that Follow
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so the approximation using logarithms is correct to four significant figures.

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The only way to really appreciate how much work is saved using logarithms is to actually multiply A and B by
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hand.
Besides the value in taking a little trip down memory lane (which is always useful for students, to inform them
about how things were done in the past), there is a more general lesson that one can take from this little
calculation technique.
IDEA:Ifyouarehavingdifficultysolvingamathematicsproblem,seeifitispossibletotransfer
theproblemintoadifferentrealm,whereitiseasiertosolvearelatedproblem,andthentransfer
theresultbackintotheinitialrealmtoobtainthesolutiontotheoriginalproblem.
This is a valuable problem-solving idea. Another example of this idea is the use of Laplace transforms in solving
certain differential equations. The idea is to convert a differential equation into an algebraic equation, solve the
algebraic equation (which is easier than solving the differential equation directly), and then use an inverse
transform to convert the resulting algebraic expression back into the realm of the original problem.
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Pedagogically, its very useful to have the logarithm example of this post in your back pocket before you encounter
Laplace transforms; once you realize they are both instances of the same basic idea, it helps you to understand the
big picture in which Laplace transforms are writ, and it helps you to get the hang of the Laplace transform
method.
There are lots of other instances of the same basic idea. There are lots of other integral transforms (Fourier
transforms are just one type), and in signal processing one frequently switches back and forth from the time
domain to the frequency domain. Integral transforms are also used in the computer software that converts raw
data from medical imaging devices to the lovely images that doctors then peruse. The same ideas are used in
analyzing crystal structure using X-ray diffraction, and more generally in quantum mechanics one often switches
from configuration-space representations to momentum-space representations. (The crystallographers speak of
space and reciprocal space, and also reciprocal basis, and reciprocal lattice.)
One also encounters the same idea in a technique for solving troublesome real improper integrals: One switches to
the complex domain, evaluates a related contour integral using the techniques of complex analysis, then switches
back to the real line to evaluate the real integral.
Back to the technique described in this post. The same idea can also be used to divide numbers with many digits,
and to raise a number to another number; one just uses the appropriate properties of logarithms. Try it for
yourself and see if you can get this to work!
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AboutSantoD'Agostino
I am a former university prof, having taught mathematics and physics since the mid 1980s. I have also been a textbook
writer/editor since then. Currently I am working independently on a number of writing and education projects. I love math and
physics, and love teaching and writing about them. My blog also discusses education, science, environment, etc.
https://qedinsight.wordpress.com Further resources, and online tutoring, can be found at my other site
http://www.qedinfinity.com
View all posts by Santo D'Agostino
This entry was posted in Mathematics and tagged anti-logarithms, crystallography, Fourier transform, Integral transform, Laplace transform, logarithm tables, logarithms,
medical imaging, signal processing, X-ray diffraction. Bookmark the permalink.
17 Responses to A Practical Use For Logarithms, Part 2: How We Multiplied Large Numbers 40
Years Ago, And How Integral Transforms Use The Same BasicIdea
SudharsanRagavan says:
August 22, 2012 at 11:42 am
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Rate This
Immensely informative. Instills interest in oneself before moving into the real working maths. Wish this should be taught
first/made understood by the students before they are actually made to work out.
Only in India students are not taught the practicality and I learnt the real applications only when I was 24 years old. Till then
I frown at maths stating Math n all its calculations are okkay. But when am I going to use it in Life?
Keep it up Sir. Good Job.
Reply
SantoD'Agostino says:
September 11, 2012 at 9:32 pm
Rate This
Thanks for the kind words!

All the best wishes!
Reply
mathew says:
September 4, 2012 at 11:08 am
1 0 Rate This
Very informative post professor, perhaps a sneak peek into your childhood for us.I worked out a few problems using the log
and anti log tables(never heard of it) and I agree with you on doing tedious calculations to appreciate the power of
logarithms.I took a course in Linear Algebra this summer and I found multiplying matrices of length 5 X 5 or 7 x 7 to find the
jordan canonical form too laborious and asked myself the question of whether Ill use this again but it has certainly enhanced
my appreciation of using maple/matlab.Is there anything interesting from your childhood that involves matrices that we are
not used to today?
Reply
September 11, 2012 at 9:34 pm
Rate This
Good question, Mathew. I didnt learn about matrices until my senior year in high school, and I cant recall any
topics learned then that are not learned nowadays.
Reply
Yunus says:
October 26, 2012 at 1:47 pm
Rate This
log (explanation) (good) = good

Reply
Mark says:
August 31, 2014 at 6:44 pm
Rate This
Nice work
Reply
Yunus says:
October 26, 2012 at 2:06 pm
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5/21/2015
0 0 Rate This
Good illustration.
Reply
Matt says:
November 12, 2012 at 12:06 am
0 0 Rate This
Seems to me that having logarithm tables isnt much different than having a calculator. You start out by stating the
importance of performing tedious calculations (like doing scales on the piano) and then go right in to using lookup tables to
perform a calculation. You dont find log tables anymore because its outdated technology.
I guess you learn something about logarithms and linear interpolation in the process.
Conrad Wolfram has another take on where computers fit in to teaching math:
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Teaching kids real math with computers
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Regardless, thank you for this illustration. This practical example of logarithms went a long way in furthering my
understanding.
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Reply
November 15, 2012 at 12:25 am
0 0 Rate This
Glad you enjoyed the post, Matt!
Im also glad to have viewed the Wolfram talk, which is interesting, even though I disagree with it in some aspects.
Thanks for the link.
Reply
Markus says:
January 16, 2014 at 12:17 pm
Rate This
Wow! I wish I had stumbled upon this blog while I was in college dong Laplace transformations. Really well explained and
informative!
Greetings from Finland!
Reply
Justin says:
February 8, 2014 at 10:45 pm
Rate This
Great post! Thanks for taking the time to write this. The first thing I thought of was how similar this idea was to the integral
transform techniques so its great to see you mention them.
Reply
tomcircle says:
May 19, 2014 at 2:56 am
0 0 Rate This
Great post, Prof. Thanks!
I also used the log table in high school for 2 years (1971), then advanced to Slide Rule in undergrad years, by the time I
graduated as engineer, the younger students switched to calculator by 1980
P.S. Spotted small typo errors at the Anti-log
section, should be 10^0.12 and 10^0.13
You typed 0.012 and 0.013.
Reply
May 19, 2014 at 8:17 am
0 0 Rate This
Thanks for your kind comments.
Thanks also for pointing out that there is a typographical error; Ive double-checked and the error appears one
display earlier than the one you mentioned; I should have typed 10^0.01261 instead of 10^0.1261. Ive made this
correction now.
Thanks again!
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Reply
tomcircle says:
May 19, 2014 at 8:28 am
0 0 Rate This
Great! my error pointed to your error made a correct one.
This is -(-) = +
Metaphorically mathematics.
Thanks.
tomcircle says:
May 19, 2014 at 2:56 am
0 0 Rate This
Reblogged this on Singapore Maths Tuition.
Reply
tomcircle says:
May 19, 2014 at 3:02 am
Rate This
Would like to share the similar idea of RMI (Relationship-Mapping-Inverse) technique developed by a Chinese prof.
Basically it is the same spirit of solving a problem in one area by using a method in another area of math.
Like (log X.Y = log X + log Y)
http://tomcircle.wordpress.com/2013/04/02/relationship-mapping-inverse-rmi/
Reply
Mark says:
August 31, 2014 at 6:48 pm
0 0 Rate This
I thoroughly enjoyed this Professor. Your introduction was most useful to me pointing out how logarithms apply to aspects of
our everyday life and most of us (well me) are unaware of their applicability.
Reply
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(Click here for Part 1.)

Reading from the table for figures close to B:

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so the approximation using logarithms is correct to four significant figures.

How Much Mathematics Should A Student

How Much Mathematics Should a Student

How Much Mathematics Should A Student

Thanks for the kind words!

log (explanation) (good) = good

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