1

1 More Advanced Graphing - Use of Logs

1.1 Linearisation
In graphing experimental data so far the emphasis has been to rearrange an associated theoretical relationship to enable the plotting of a linear graph of the form y = mx + b m = the slope of the line b = the intercept with the yaxis To linearise the graph we calculated functions of the measured variables and plotted those on the axes instead of plotting the variables themselves (e.g. T 2 vs OR T when the formula was T = k ( ) ). vs (1.1)

1.2 Log Relationships

Logarithmic relationships have many special properties, some of which are particularly helpful with regard to manipulation of equations 1. When two quantities are multiplied together the logs are just added log(a + b) = loga + logb 2. When two quantities are divided the logs are just subtracted log(a b) = loga logb 3. When a quantity is raised to the power n the log is just multiplied by n. logan = nloga 4. The natural log ln is just the log to the base e and this means: ln(ex ) = xlne = x (1.5) (1.4) (1.3) (1.2)

and so the many relationships involving exponential terms can often be easily handled by natural logs.

1.3 Typical Equations Handled by Log Graphs (or linear graphs of the logs)
Special graph paper has axes ruled logarithmically on one or both axes. Log graphs can also be plotted conveniently on linear paper by plotting the log value of the variables concerned. The theory is the same in each case. Three cases are considered here.

1.3.1 Power relationships

The following data represents a power relationship between x and y. Logs have been calculated both with respect to base 10 and with respect to base e (i.e. natural logs, ln).

Figure 1.1 The Data, with calculated log values This has been plotted in dierent ways a. A linear plot of the data y vs x. This shows a curve, and could not easily be described by numerical parameters. An Excel plot has estimated a power relationship here - but that is not easily performed manually. In addition it is more dicult to quantify the degree of uncertainty in a curve t than in a linear t. b. A plot of log10 y vs log10 x plotted on linear graph paper. This is clearly linear in nature and therefore a slope and intercept can be determined for the plot,

(a)

(b)

Figure 1.2 a) Linear Plot b) Log10 P lotonLinearScale together with uncertainties in those values if appropriate. If m and b are determined, we conclude that: log10 y = m log10 x + b OR log10 y = mlog10 x + log10 B whereB = 10b (1.6) (1.7)

Using the properties of logs this can be rewritten as log10 [y] = log10 [Bxm ] and hencey = Bxm (1.8)

In other words, the slope of the graph gives the power of the relationship and from the intercept one can determine the multiplying constant of the relationship. c. A plot of ln y vs ln x . While the actual values of the logs dier with the dierent base , the theory applies as for any logs , so again the slope of the graph gives the power of the relationship and from the intercept one can determine the multiplying constant of the relationship. d. A plot of y vs x on log-log paper. This is clearly linear in nature and one can work with it as a linear plot, determining the slope and the intercept. The intercept in this case is the intersecting point of the graph when the horizontal axis = 1 (since both log10 1 and ln 1 = 0 ). When reading other values from the graph one is aware that each data point read is the log of the value, but the uniformity of the scaling in log log graphs means that the slope calculation is extremely easy.

(c)

(d)

Figure 1.3 c) ln Plot on Linear Scale d) Plot on Log-Log Scale

1.3.2 Exponential Decay or Growth relationships

Exponential Decay or Growth is quite commonly observed in physical situations for example radioactive decay or voltage rise in an inductor. In this case it is most convenient to plot the data on Log-Linear scaled paper. Note: A linear graph may be obtained, indicating a relationship of the form y = keax The intercept value may be easily read o - when x = 0 then the value of y = k. The slope cannot be simply measured by rule as in the loglog graph, but must be calculated as: m= ln(y2 ) ln(y1 ) x2 x1

In the above formula the slope calculation would then determine the power multiplier, a.

1.3.3 Data involving a large span of powers of 10

Graphs may be plotted for convenience on log scales. An example of this would be auditory scales, where sound intensities are recorded in powers of 10. An example of such graphs are curves based on the studies of Fletcher and Munson showing the response of the human hearing mechanism as a function of frequency and loudness levels. Notice that the vertical scale appears to be linear , being measured in decibels

which is itself a logarithmic scale. The horizontal ( frequency ) scale is logarithmic and therefore covers a much wider range of values than possible with a linear scaling. 100

10

LB

0.1 Run = 10.5 cm

0.02 0.01 1 2 10 100 1000 10000

Figure 1.4 Calculaton of slope from a log-log plot.

Figure 1.5 Audio (Fletcher Munson) Curves showing use of logarithmic scales.

Rise = 5.7 cm