Logarithms

What are they?

Logarithms are another way of writing exponents.

2
3
= 8
2 is the base and 3 is the exponent or logarithm

Therefore another way of writing the above statement is:

2
8 = 3

Being able to change between these two forms allows you to simplify statements
involving logarithms and solve more difficult exponential equations.
Write this in terms of logarithms:
If =

then

=

Or, if is to the power , then is the logarithm of , to base
5
3
= 125

5
125 = 3
Evaluate:
64
4
Essentially the question is asking:
64

= 4
What is the value of ?
4
3
= 4
1

3 = 1
=
1
3

Example 1
Example 2
Following on from laws of exponents that we know the following laws of logarithms hold
true:

= 1

1 = 0

is undefined for any base a if b is negative

0 is undefined

=
This is another way of saying anything to the power 1 is itself
This is another way of saying anything to the power 0 is 1
Some log expressions are undefined which means that you can not find solutions for them.
Consider the graph of an exponential
function here. At no point does the
graph take negative y values or 0.
Summary: Given that > 0
If =

then

= 1

1 = 0

is undefined for any base a if b is negative

0 is undefined

=
Logarithms to base 10
=
10
is the inverse of = 10

. This is an important logarithm as it is one of the

only ones that you can use the calculator to find. Base 10 logs are called common logs
and you can omit the base and just write log
Use a calculator to evaluate these expression correct to 3 significant figures:
a) log 3 b) 4 log 2 c)
log 4
log 5


d) log
4
5
e) log 3
2
f) log 3
2

Logarithms to base 10
=
10
is the inverse of = 10

. This is an important logarithm as it is one of the

only ones that you can use the calculator to find. Base 10 logs are called common logs
and you can omit the base and just write log
Use a calculator to evaluate these expression correct to 3 significant figures:
a) log 3 = 0.477 b) 4 log 2 = 1.20 c)
log 4
log 5
= 0.861

d) log
4
5
= -0.0969 e) log 3
2
= 0.228 f) log 3
2
= 0.954
Logarithms to base
The natural logarithm,

is the other important logarithm. You can write ln for

. There is an ln key on your calculator

Use a calculator to evaluate these expression correct to 3 significant figures:
a) ln 5 b)
ln 4
ln 5

Logarithms to base
The natural logarithm,

is the other important logarithm. You can write ln for

. There is an ln key on your calculator

Use a calculator to evaluate these expression correct to 3 significant figures:
a) ln 5 = 0.805 b)
ln 4
ln 5
= 0.861
Logarithmic function the inverse of an exponential function. The graph is, therefore, a
reflection in the line =
Properties of a logarithmic function
The domain is the set of all positive real numbers
The range is the set of all real numbers
The curve does not intercept the -axis
The -axis is a vertical asymptote
The -intercept is 1
The graph is continually increasing
Logarithmic functions can be transformed under the same transformations we have
already seen.