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Graph of log 2 x as a function of a positive real number x. In mathematics, the binary logarithm (log 2 n) is the power to which the number 2 must be raised to obtain the value n. That is, for any real number x, = =.
Unlike a linear scale where each unit of distance corresponds to the same increment, on a logarithmic scale each unit of length is a multiple of some base value raised to a power, and corresponds to the multiplication of the previous value in the scale by the base value. In common use, logarithmic scales are in base 10 (unless otherwise specified).
The graph of the logarithm base 2 crosses the x-axis at x = 1 and passes through the points (2, 1), (4, 2), and (8, 3), depicting, e.g., log 2 (8) = 3 and 2 3 = 8. The graph gets arbitrarily close to the y-axis, but does not meet it. Addition, multiplication, and exponentiation are three of the most fundamental arithmetic operations.
The identities of logarithms can be used to approximate large numbers. Note that log b (a) + log b (c) = log b (ac), where a, b, and c are arbitrary constants. Suppose that one wants to approximate the 44th Mersenne prime, 2 32,582,657 −1. To get the base-10 logarithm, we would multiply 32,582,657 by log 10 (2), getting 9,808,357.09543 ...
A log–log plot of y = x (blue), y = x 2 (green), and y = x 3 (red). Note the logarithmic scale markings on each of the axes, and that the log x and log y axes (where the logarithms are 0) are where x and y themselves are 1. Comparison of linear, concave, and convex functions when plotted using a linear scale (left) or a log scale (right).
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.
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The logarithm keys (log for base-10 and ln for base-e) on a typical scientific calculator. The advent of hand-held calculators largely eliminated the use of common logarithms as an aid to computation. The numerical value for logarithm to the base 10 can be calculated with the following identities: [5]