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Logarithms and Their Properties

This document discusses logarithms and their properties. It begins by providing background on logarithms and their introduction. It then defines logarithms and outlines several key properties including: the logarithm of 1 is 0; the log of the base is 1; the log of a product is the sum of the logs; the log of a fraction is the difference of the logs. It describes three common logarithmic systems: natural logarithms which use e as the base, binary which use 2 as the base, and common logarithms which use 10 as the base. Finally, it discusses determining the characteristic and mantissa of common logarithms.

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Aditya Nanda
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129 views

Logarithms and Their Properties

This document discusses logarithms and their properties. It begins by providing background on logarithms and their introduction. It then defines logarithms and outlines several key properties including: the logarithm of 1 is 0; the log of the base is 1; the log of a product is the sum of the logs; the log of a fraction is the difference of the logs. It describes three common logarithmic systems: natural logarithms which use e as the base, binary which use 2 as the base, and common logarithms which use 10 as the base. Finally, it discusses determining the characteristic and mantissa of common logarithms.

Uploaded by

Aditya Nanda
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Logarithms And Their

Properties

Content

1.AboutLogarithms
2.Definition
3.Properties
4.LogarithmicSystems
4.1NaturalLogarithms
4.2BinaryLogarithms
4.3CommonLogrithms
5.CharacteristicandMantissa
5.1DeterminingCharacteristic
5.2DeterminingMantissa

1. About Logarithm
The Logarithms were introduced in the
17th century by John Napier.
The logarithms as we study them today was
contributed by Leonhard Euler,the most
productive mathematician of the 18th
century.
Logarithms simplyfy the arithmatical
calculations highly, tedious
multiplications can be replaced by table
lookups and simple addition.
Logarithmic scales reduce wide-ranging
quantities to tiny scopes.
They have very wide applicability in
other areas of science and engineering.
For example- pH which is logarithm of the
active mass of hydronium ion in an
aqueous solution, is used as measure of
acidity of the solution in chemistry.

Similar other important uses may be


stated of the logarithms and logarithmic
system.

2.Definition

The logarithm of any number to a given


base is the index of the power to which
the base must be raised to equal the
given number.
Hence,
if 'x' be the given number,'b'
be the base and 'y' be the required
logarithm then;
by = x
and this is expressed as;
y = logb(x)
here x is positive real number, and the
base b is positive number other than
unity.

3.Properties

The properties stated below are true for


all logarithms independently of base.
P-1: The logarithm of 1 is 0.
Note : The above property can be easily
proved as
b0 = 1 so ,log(1)=0 for all b.
P-2: The log of base b itself is 1.
Note : The above is also easily prove as
b1 = b so , logb(b)= 1 for all b.
P-3: The log of product is sum of
logs.
i.e. logb(m*n)= logb(m)+ logb(n)
P-4: The log of fraction is difference
of logs.
i.e. logb(m/n)= logb(m)- logb(n)
P-5: Log of pth power of number is p
times the log of the number
i.e. logb(mp)= p*(logb(m))
Note : here p can be an integer or a
fraction.
P-6: Base change rule:if y = logb(n)
then,
loga(n)= (logb(n))*loga(b)
Note : The above is easily prove as
n = by , loga(n)= loga(by)
loga(n)= y*(loga(b))
hence loga(n)= logb(n)*(loga(b))

4.Logaritmic Systems

Although we may have many possible


logarithmic systems but we primarily use
the following three.
4.1 Natural Logarithms
These logarithms use 'e' as their base
were e = 2.178... is an irrational
number.
This system is particularly used in
mathematics,statistics,economics and many
other branches of science and
engineering.
We represent this logarithm with a
special notation i.e.
If ey = x ,then ln(x) = y.
4.2 Binary logarithms
The logarithms which use 2 as base are
grouped in this system.It was first used
by our hero Leonhard Euler in music
theory.
It is widely used in computer science and
in branches of mathematics,bioinformatics
and also for sports scheduling in single-
elimination tournaments.
It is also given a special represntation
if 2y = x , then lb(x)= y.
4.3 Common Logarithms
This system uses number 10 as its base.
This is the most commonly used system in
engineering and sciences. It was first
introduced by Henry briggs in the 18th
century.
The use of this system greatly reduces
the burden of calculations and increases
the accuracy as the log tables which give
results high precision are easily
available, the most general is upto seven
decimal places.
Logarithms of this system are usually
represented as
if x = 10y ,then y = lg(x) or x = log(x)
The advantages of using this system for
practical purposes is given at the end of
section 5.
In the following section we will disscuss
a few points related to common logarithms
.
5.CharacteristicandMantissa
The integral part of the logarithm is
knownascharacteristicandthepositive
fractionalpartisknownasmantissa.

5.1DeterminingCharacteristic
wecandeterminethecharacteristicofa
numberasfollows
a.numberisgreaterthanunity.
If the integral part of a number is of
'n'digitsthenitliesbetween10n1 and
10n ,henceifxliesbetween 10n1 and
10nthen,x=10(n1)+fraction
andlog(x)=(n1)+Fraction.
Note: By above we see that if log of a
number,N>1hascharacteristic'y'then
theinegral partof thenumber Nmust be
'y+1'digitslong.
b.numberislessthanunity.
Ifthenumberislessthan1andcontains
nzerosjustfollowingthedecimalpoint;
thenumbermustliebetween10(n+1)and10(n)
hence,ifxliesbetween10(n+1)and10(n)
then,x=10(n+1)+fractionand
log(x)=(n+1)+fraction.
Note:Byaboveweseethatiflogofa
number<1hasnumericalvalueof
characteristic'y'thenitwillhave'y1'
zerosjustafterdecimal
5.3DeterminingMantissa

Thisisthe positivefractionalpartof
thelogarithmofanumber.
Animportantproperty
The mantissa of the logathims of all
numbers which are constituted of
identical digits i.e. if only the
position of decimal is different ,is
equal.Itcanbeeasilyprovedasbelow:

log(N*10p)=log(N)+P.
log(N*10p)=(characteristic+P)+mantissa
andalso,
log(N/10Q)=log(N)Q.
log(N/10Q)=(characteristicq)+mantissa

weseefromabovethatthemantissaisalways
the same irrespective of the position of
decimal.

Note: a) The mantissa is always positive


irrespective of the characteristic which may
bepositiveornegative.
b) In case of negative logarithms we use a
special notation such that only the integral
part is negative and the fractional part is
positiveasrequired. Thisisdonebyusing
abarsymbolovercharacteristic.

Mantissa for logs are known using log


tables.
The logarithm of all integers from 1 to
200000 for base 10 have been found and
tabulated. The above is a good argument
infavourofusingthecommonlogarithmic
system.Itoffersgreatadvantagesas:
a)characteristics can be known by
inspection so only mantissa is to be
knownfromtables.
b)The mantissa for log of all numbers
varying just by decimal places is the
same as noted above such that it is
enoughtotabulatethemantissaeoflogs
ofintegers.

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