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For example, the logarithm of 1000 to base 10 is 3, because 1000 is 10 to the 3 rd power: 1000 = 10 3 = 10 × 10 × 10. More generally, if x = b y, then y is the logarithm of x to base b, written log b x, so log 10 1000 = 3. As a single-variable function, the logarithm to base b is the inverse of exponentiation with base b.
Semi-log plot of the Internet host count over time shown on a logarithmic scale. A logarithmic scale (or log scale) is a method used to display numerical data that spans a broad range of values, especially when there are significant differences between the magnitudes of the numbers involved.
The mathematical notation for using the common logarithm is log(x), [4] log 10 (x), [5] or sometimes Log(x) with a capital L; [a] on calculators, it is printed as "log", but mathematicians usually mean natural logarithm (logarithm with base e ≈ 2.71828) rather than common logarithm when writing "log".
For example, two numbers can be multiplied just by using a logarithm table and adding. These are often known as logarithmic properties, which are documented in the table below. [2] The first three operations below assume that x = b c and/or y = b d, so that log b (x) = c and log b (y) = d. Derivations also use the log definitions x = b log b (x ...
The natural logarithm of x is generally written as ln x, log e x, or sometimes, if the base e is implicit, simply log x. [2] [3] Parentheses are sometimes added for clarity, giving ln(x), log e (x), or log(x). This is done particularly when the argument to the logarithm is not a single symbol, so as to prevent ambiguity.
For example, in Python, to print the string Hello, World! followed by a newline, one only needs to write print ("Hello, World!" In contrast, the equivalent code in C++ [ 7 ] requires the import of the input/output (I/O) software library , the manual declaration of an entry point , and the explicit instruction that the output string should be ...
For example, log 10 10000 = 4, and log 10 0.001 = −3. These are instances of the discrete logarithm problem. Other base-10 logarithms in the real numbers are not instances of the discrete logarithm problem, because they involve non-integer exponents. For example, the equation log 10 53 = 1.724276… means that 10 1.724276… = 53.
Differences in order of magnitude can be measured on a base-10 logarithmic scale in "decades" (i.e., factors of ten). [2] For example, there is one order of magnitude between 2 and 20, and two orders of magnitude between 2 and 200. Each division or multiplication by 10 is called an order of magnitude. [3]