LOGARITHMS

Definition
The three laws of logarithms
Common logarithms

A LOGARITHM is an exponent.
Since
23 = 8,
then 3 is called the logarithm of 8 with
base 2. We write
3 = log 8. 2

3 is the exponent to which 2 must be

raised to produce 8.
We write the base 2 as a subscript.
Thus a logarithm is the exponent to
which the base must be raised to produce a
given number.
Since
104 = 10,000,
then
log 10,000 = 4.
10

"The logarithm of 10,000 with base 10 is

4."
4 is the exponent to which the base 10
must be raised to produce 10,000.
"10 = 10,000" is called the
4

exponential form.
"log 10,000 = 4" is called the
10

logarithmic form.
Here is the definition:
logbx = n means bn = x.
 That base with that exponent produces
x.
Example 1. Write in exponential form:
log232 = 5
Answer. 25 = 32

Example 2. Write in 1
1 .
logarithmic form: 4−2 =
6

1 =
Answer. 1 −2.
log4 6

Problem 1. Which numbers have negative

logarithms?
To see the answer, pass your mouse
over the colored area.
To cover the answer again, click
"Refresh" ("Reload").
Do the problem yourself first!
P
r
o
p
e
r
f
r
a
c
t
i
o
n
 s
.
Example 3. Evaluate log 1.
8

Answer. 8 to what exponent produces

1? 8 = 1.
0

log81 = 0.
We can observe that in any base b, the
logarithm of 1 is 0.
logb1 = 0
Example 4. Evaluate log55.
Answer. 5 to what exponent will
produce 5? 5 = 5.
1

log55 = 1.
In any base, the logarithm of the
base itself is 1.
logbb = 1
Example 5. log22m = ?
Answer. 2 raised to what exponent
will produce 2m ? m, obviously.
log22m = m.
This is an important formal rule,
valid for any base b:
logbbx = x
This rule embodies the very meaning
of a logarithm. x -- on the right -- is
the exponent to which the base b must be
raised.

Example 1.
6 . Evaluate
9
 log3
1 1
Answe is equal to 3 with =
r. 9what exponent? 9 3 .
−2

lo 1 log33
−2
=
g3 9= −2

Example 7. log2 .25 = ?

Answer. .25 = ¼ = 2 . Therefore, −2

log2 .25 = log22 = −2 −2

Example 8. log3 = ?
Answer.. = 3 . (Definition of a
fractional exponent.) Therefore,
log3 = log33 = 1/5
Problem 2. Write each of the following
in logarithmic form.

a) logbx = b) 2 3

= 8 log28 = 3
bn = x n

c)
log10100 d) 5 log51/25
−2

102 =
= 2 = 1/25. = −2.
100
Problem 3. Write each of the following
in exponential form.
a) b) log232 =
bn =
logbx = 5 25 = 32
x
n

c) 2 = 82 = d) log61/36 6−2 =
log864 64 = −2 1/36
Problem 4. Evaluate the following.
 a) = b) =
log216 4 log416 2
c) = d) =
log5125 3 log81 0
e) = f) =
log88 1 log101 0
Problem 5. What number is n?
a) b) 5 =
100
log10n = log2n 32
0
3
c) d) 1 = 1
log2n = 0 1 log10n 0
1
e) 1 = f) =
4 logn 5
logn 1 −2 5−1
6

1
g) 1 = h) = −
log2 3 n −5 log2 2n 1
2
Problem 6. logbbx = x
Problem 7. Evaluate the following.
a) 1 = log99 −1
=
log9 9 −1

b) 1 = c) 1 =
log9 8 −2 log2 4 −2
1

d) 1 = e) 1 =
log2 8 log2 1 −4
−3
6
 f) = g) = −
log10 .01 −2 log10 .001 3

h) = i) =
log6 1/3 logb 3/4

The three laws of logarithms

1. logbxy =
logbx + logby
"The logarithm of a product is equal
to the sum
of the logarithms of each factor."

2. x
= logbx
lo
− logby
gb y
"The logarithm of a quotient is equal
to the logarithm of the numerator
minus the logarithm of the
denominator."

3. logb x n
=
n logbx
"The logarithm of a power of x is
equal to the exponent of that power
times the logarithm of x."
For a proof of these laws, see
Topic 20 of Precalculus.

Example 1. Use the laws of

z.
logarithms to rewrite log 5

Answer. According to the first two

laws,
lo = log x + log
 g z − log z 5
5

Now, = y . Therefore, according to

½

the third law,

lo = log x + ½ log
z
g y − 5 log z
5

Example 2. Use the laws of

logarithms to rewrite log (sin x log
x)
Solution. This has the form log
ab. a = sin x, b = log x. Therefore,
log (sin x log x) = log sin x+ log log
x
Example 3. Use the laws of
logarithms to rewrite log .
Solution.

log= log (x cos x)

½ log (x cos x),

=
3rd Law

½ (log x + log cos

=
x), 1st Law.

Problem 8. Use the laws of

logarithms to rewrite the following.

ab = log a + log b −
a)
c log c
log

ab²
= log a + 2 log b −
 b)
c 4
4 log c
log

c) = 1/3 log x + 1/2

z log y − log z
log

d) log sin²x + log log

log (sin²x log= x</I< TD>
x)

= 2 log sin x + log log

x

e) log= log (sin x cos x)1/2

= ½ log (sin x cos

x)

= ½ (log sin x +
log cos x).

Common logarithms
The system of common logarithms has 10
as its base. When the base is not
indicated:
log 100 = 2
then the system of common logarithms --
base 10 -- is implied.
Here are the powers of 10 and their
logarithms:
Powers of 1 1 10 100 10,0
10: 1 1 1 0 0 0 00
1
 100 10
0
0 0
Logarithms −
−3 −2 0 4
: 1 1 2 3
Logarithms replace a geometric
series with an arithmetic series.
Problem 8.
a) log 105 = 5. 10 is the base.
b) log 10n = n
c) log 58 = 1.7634. Therefore,
101.7634 = 58
1.7634 is the common logarithm of
58. When 10 is raised to that
exponent, 58 is produced.
Problem 9. log (log x) = 1. What
number is x?
log a = 1, implies a = 10. (See
above.) Therefore,
log (log x) = 1 implies log x =
10. Since 10 is the base,
x =
1010

=
10,
000
,00
0,0
00
Example 4. Given: log 3 = .4771
Evaluate
a) log 3000
 Solution. Write 3000 in scientific
notation:
log log (3 ×
=
3000 10 ) 3

log 3 +
=
log 10 3

= .4771 + 3
= 3.4771
b) log .003
Solutio log . log (3 ×
=
n. 003 10 ) −3

log 3 +
=
log 10 −3

= .4771 − 3

= −2.5229
Problem 10 Given: log 6 = .7781
Use the laws of logarithms to
evaluate the following.
a) log (6 ×
= 10 )
log 600 2

= log 6 +
log 10 2

= .7781 + 2

= 2.7781

b) log (6 ×
= 10)
log 60
 = log 6 +
log 10

= .7781 + 1

= 1.7781

c) log (6 ×
= 10 )
log .06 −2

= log 6 +
log 10 −2

= .7781 − 2

= −1.2219

Example 5. Given: log 2 = .3010,

log 3 = .4771 Evaluate log 18.
Solution. 18 = 2· 3². Therefore,
log
= log (2· 3²)
18
log 2 + log
=
3²
log 2 + 2
=
log 3
.3010 +
=
2(.4771)
.3010 + .
=
9542
= 1.2552
Problem 11. Given: log 2 = .
3010 log 3 = .4771 log 5 = .
6990
Use the laws of logarithms to find
the following.
a) log 6 = log 2 + log 3 = .7781
b) log 15 = log 3 + log 5 =
1.1761
c) log 4 = log 2² = 2 log 2 = .
6020
d) log 8 = log 2³ = 3 log 2 = .
9030
e) log 30 = log 3 + log 10 =
1.4771
f) log 300 = log 3 + log 100 =
2.4771
g) log 3000 = log 3 + log 1000 =
3.4771
h) log 12 = log 3 + log 4 =
1.0791
i) 3 log 3 − log 5 =
=
5 −.2219
log
j) log = ½ log 3 = .2386
k) log = ½ log 5 = .3495
3
l) log 3
log = 2= .7157
1
m) log 2
log = 3= .1003
n) log = ½(log 2 − log 3) =
−.0881
o) log 1500 = log 3 + log 5 + log
100 = 3.1761